Leaving Atlanta

Leaving Atlanta  by Tayari Jones

2002

Weight: 1 lb

Method of Disposal: Donating or giving to you if you ask for it.

I bought this book around 8 years ago, not knowing anything about it, and I promptly forgot about it.  I put it on a wishlist, not knowing anything about it, about a year ago.  I was going to check it out of the library this week, but I noticed it on my bookshelf just yesterday.  I had no idea I owned it, and I still had no idea what it was about when I started reading it before bed last night.

My mother called me when I was about twenty pages from the end of the book.  I was barely able to stop reading it while I was at work.  I was worried about the children.  My concerns and anxiety were rooted deep within me.  I wanted to protect them, but I felt helpless to do so.  There was a mother in me I never knew was there, as I do not want children.  I off-handedly told my mother that I was reading a horrible fictional account of child murders.  I told her it was a good book, but that I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked it up.  I did not want to see all of these children disappear and die.  I mentioned that I had only wanted to get it, in the first place, because I was looking for some modern fiction set in Atlanta.  She asked me if it was based on what happened with Wayne Williams in the early 80s and, I am embarrassed to admit, I had no idea what she was talking about.  I would have known when I read the author’s note at the end of the book, but it hit me hard.  I had been fictionalizing all of it, distancing myself in that way, and then I could no longer do that.  Do not misunderstand, this IS a fictional novel, but it is based on reality.  The author was a child in Atlanta during the time that this book was based on.

In real life, at least 28 black children, teenagers, and adults were murdered between 1979-1981.  There were others that were not officially included in the count, but potentially were killed by the same person.  Williams was arrested and charged with the murder of two adult men, and it was widely believed that he had also been responsible for the children’s murders.  There are, as Jones states, many people who do not believe it was Williams and think the murderer is still at large.  The most recent news story I saw on google was about veterinary forensics involving dog hair that also seems to link Williams to the crimes, but it can also be considered inconclusive.  The controversy continues, but that is not what I am writing about today.

I am writing about this book.  It was told from three different children’s points of view.  I felt so much for all of them.  The author invokes deep emotions and does not shy away from the brutal truths about class and race relations in her book.  I do recommend this novel, though it is difficult to get through.  If you want it.  I will give it to you.  Now that I know, I will never forget.  I cannot imagine the fear, the horror, and the pain Atlanta went through during this time and in the years that have followed.   So many broken families.  My heart goes out to them.  It is appalling that over 20 people were killed, mostly children, and that it took two years to even have someone to blame, no one was convicted. 

10 Cent Comic Books and Exchanging Letters

Maus by Art Spiegelman
1996
Weight: 1.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Shipped to my grandmother

I have always sent letters to my grandmother, but it was not until my own mom moved to Taiwan that we started a full-on exchange. I am loving it. We write to each other about different things, but we always mention the books we are reading at the time. The woman has read almost everything—whether you mention a classic piece of literature, a contemporary short story, or a new book on animal emotions. I recently wrote to her about Maus, which also led me to mention the brilliant Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy by Alison Bechdel. Two popular graphic novels that are popular for good reasons. I found Maus, but I could not track down Fun Home. This project has led me to search for various books that I loved and, apparently, lost mysteriously. It has been frustrating because I want to write about them, but it is also amusing because it almost validates the whole thing. I had not even realized they were gone until I was ready to let them go.
I am going to send Maus to her by way of the USPS. I have been looking at it a lot lately—not wanting to let it go. Today, I received a card from her in response to mine about the graphic novels. She told me about how she learned to read with 10 cent comic books when she was a child. She said she became interested in classical novels after reading several of them in comic book form. Les Miserables was the first classic comic that she read, and she was mesmerized. This woman’s life is a huge collection of incredible stories, and she always has a new one to tell me that I have not heard before. I am enthralled by all of them.
Maus was an excellent book about the Holocaust, surviving the Holocaust, and being the child of a survivor of the Holocaust. It was beautiful and intense. I could not stop reading it for anything. It is the author’s honesty about his own actions, attitude, and irritation that really separate the book from others. It is a careful examination of multiple people and the diversity of methods people have to deal with their lives and hardships. The book I have is the complete Maus, books 1 and 2. I am curious to know what she will say about it, but I know she will be impressed. It is hard to imagine that anyone wouldn’t be. In case you haven’t picked up on it already, I recommend reading it.