Danielle Evans - Before You Suffocate Your Own Foo

Evans first collection of short stories deals thoughtfully and incisively with considerations of class, race, and coming-of-age. That six of the stories are told in their female or male protagonists first-person voices brings them immediacy and emotional resonance. Sometimes, though, this device results in narrative voices that sound too much alike while the stories they tell lack thematic originality. Interestingly, two of the best storiesSomeone Ought to Tell Her Theres Nowhere to Go, about a deeply troubled veteran of the Iraq War, and Jellyfish, about the fraught relationship of a young woman and her fatherare told in third person. Yet, whether told in first or third person, what all of the stories share is a demonstration of the profound influence of the past on the present-day lives of their characters and the intricacies of relationships among African American, white, Hispanic, and mixed-race young people. Clearly, Evans lives up to her reputation as an important new voice in literary fiction.