Disgruntled: A Novel

Product Description
A Denver Post Best Fiction Book of the YearAn elegant, vibrant, startling coming-of-age novel for anyone who has ever felt the shame of being aliveKenya Curtis is only eight years old, but she knows that she’s different, even if she can’t put her finger on how or why. It’s not because she’s black – most of the other students in the fourth-grade class at her West Philadelphia elementary school are, too. Maybe it’s because she celebrates Kwanzaa, or because she’s forbidden from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe it’s because she call her father -a housepainter-slash-philosopher – “Baba” instead of “Daddy,” or because her parents’ friends gather to pour out libations “from the Creator, for the martyrs” and discuss “the community.”Disgruntled, effortlessly funny and achingly poignant, follows Kenya from West Philadelphia to the suburbs, from public school to private, and from childhood through adolescence, as she grows increasingly disgruntled by her inability to find any place or thing or person that feels like home.A coming-of-age tale, a portrait of Philadelphia in the late eighties and early nineties, and an examination of the impossible double-binds of race, Disgruntled by Asali Solomon is a novel about the desire to rise above the limitations of the narratives we’re given and the painful struggle to craft fresh ones we can call our own.
Review
One of The Denver Post’s “Best Fiction Books of 2015″“Disgruntled is . . . a smart, philosophical, coming-of-age tale featuring a vivid protagonist who battles ‘the shame of being alive.’ . . . Solomon is a masterful writer, and Disgruntled is entertaining and thought-provoking in equal measure . . . Solomon is a skillful guide who presents beauty and complex ideas in clear, accessible prose, with frequent punches of laugh-out-loud humor.” ―Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times“Disgruntled is tender, hilarious, perfectly remembered and rendered, that rare book that is both wildly imaginative and thrillingly true to life. Get Down established Asali Solomon as one of the finest writers of her generation; Disgruntled narrows it down to one of the finest writers alive.” ―Elizabeth McCracken, author of Thunderstruck & Other Stories“What’s childhood? It’s when you don’t know things. What things? The things you learn in childhood. This paradox is the heartbeat of Asali Solomon’s moving, tough-minded novel, which talks about all of it: family ties, highs and lows, pop culture, work, race, love, and all the other things that make up life.” ―Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson“Kenya Curtis’ coming-of-age story is fraught and touching and painful and very, very human. But Solomon’s exploration of how the political fits into the personal – as well as her insightful handling of black nationalist thought – is what elevates the story to something that is not only compelling as a narrative, but intellectually compelling, too. It’s a novel that should not be missed.” ―Emma Cueto, Bustle“An air of dissatisfaction pervades this unsentimental portrait of one girl’s rocky journey to adulthood, in an impressive debut novel from Solomon . . . The perpetual outsider, Kenya searches for her places in society as she bounces between schools, friend groups, and family members. Her incisive commentary is both arresting and painful, despite her ongoing dissatisfaction. This is a bildingsroman with a kick.” ―Publishers Weekly“In Disgruntled Solomon has created a masterful young woman’s coming-of-age story as Kenya struggles to create herself in spite of the numerous forces that would constrict her.” ―Thomas Chatterton Williams, San Francisco Chronicle“Preternaturally observant and mordantly funny, Kenya is a hypnotic narrator coping valiantly with an increasingly bewildering life . . . navigating the chill of a private, primarily white high school and dreaming of college. Solomon’s cultural references resound, her dialogue stings, and the intricate and surprising relationships she choreogra