Real Life by Brandon Taylor is a poignant portrayal of a young man navigating adulthood, higher education, identity, and belonging. Although Wallace’s tale is rather plaintive, it is beautiful and thought-provoking.
Wallace is a gay, Black man working towards his master’s degree in a primarily white program in the midwest. Hailing from Alabama he has left behind the setting of childhood hurt and trauma, but those feelings have followed him to his new life. His friends are mostly white, and though Wallace frequently alludes to the closeness of their friendship going on four years, he endures microaggression upon microaggression at most of their gatherings.
"Perhaps friendship is nothing but controlled cruelty. Maybe that's all they're doing, lacerating each other and expecting kindness back." (229)
When Wallace enters a somewhat-relationship with one of his white friends he enters a space of vulnerability and confusion that require him to reflect on trauma, loss, and belonging. Throughout the book Wallace realizes that maybe he isn’t where he’s supposed to be, and in a room filled with white kids that have always been sure of what they wanted and that they could get it, no one can relate to his unease.
Wallace’s experience is so raw, so real, and it was hard to watch the world treat him with less genuineness than he was putting out into it. As he struggles with belonging and purpose, feeling like an outsider even with those that call him their closest friend, I just wanted to give him a hug.
Real Life is an own voices novel, and Taylor does a fantastic job capturing emotion in the most beautiful way. Seeing the world through Taylor’s (well, Wallace's) eyes was a privilege in itself, and reading about Wallace’s true experience at a primarily white institution was thought-provoking and emotional. I am luckily that I am able to learn about this reality through books and not through my own lived experience.
Though Real Life commented on very, well, real issues, it also captured gracefully the trivial aspect of being a young adult. Wallace’s ponderings on the ins and outs of friendships and relationships in your twenties, and the loneliness of it all, really resonated with me.
Real Life is truly a piece of literary art. Taylor was able to capture higher education in a realistic light that is rare in fiction, while also addressing serious topics and identities.
Rating: 5/5 evenings on the pier
xx, Lauren
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