Friday, March 21, 2014

Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell

Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (April 2012)
210 pages, eBook (purchased myself for $9.99)
Book Rating: 5 Stars
Content Note: Includes Swearing, Violence and Sexual Situations

Jamalee is sick of her lot in life and has high aspirations.  She's hoping Jason, her younger brother and a pretty boy of legendary proportions, is her ticket to the big time, and refuses to acknowledge the problems with trying to pimp her gay brother to rich women. This story is told from Sammy's point-of-view, an ex-con who is taken into the fold a bit by accident, but it's a place he holds onto with desperation. This is raw and gritty and not pretty, but poetically presented. As is often the case in Woodrell's books, the one pure thing in the book is trampled and smeared into a oblivion, with the indifference of nature, as if to exemplify the survival of the fittest. The story explores a lot of themes involving the inequities between rich and poor, and the double standard that marks their lives. A riveting glimpse into the world of white trash.

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