JM Holmes believes in dialogue.
The bulk of the books opening story titled Whats Wrong With You?
Whats Wrong With Me?
Credit: Little, Brown and Company
is pure, loose conversation, spurred by an initial inquiry: How many white women you been with?
But dialogue is the engine, the power, ofHow Are You Going to Save Yourself.
The sense of loss is extraordinary here.
Theres a lot of bad behavior for the reader to consider, bleakness to spare.
The trick doesnt work every time.
But the message sings throughout, and the final blow Holmes delivers is inescapably staggering.
To say this book is about race in America is to state the obvious.
Holmes contribution is to not unpack these themes theoretically, or even via plot.
Its by simply pushing us to listen to human beings.
The book ends by mirroring the first storys shocking reveal, only with a grim twist.
The very last line of dialogue goes, Say it!
It may not seem like much on the surface.
