Suitcase City - Sterling Watson

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Sterling Watson at the Writers in Paradise conference at Eckerd College in St Petersburg, Florida this last January. He's a wonderful writer and a great teacher, and brought both myself and, I think, the others in my workshop, to a better understanding of the inner bones of writing and short stories in particular. (What do you mean it's more than writing 'what happened'? What!) The piece that I workshopped drew influences from Malaysian folklore, and had some heavy fantasy elements, and I think that Mr. Watson perhaps wasn't as into the genre direction that I tend towards. He's very old-school literary fiction, but he was remarkably patient with my work and that of my group (and one particularly contentious participant) though I think we may have been something of a trial.

So I listened to him read a excerpt from this particular novel, his newest, Suitcase City. Afterwards there were signings, and I did purchase this book and have him sign it for me. If he put so much of his time and effort into working on my piece, it seems only fair that I should buy and read something he's poured his heart and soul into, yes?

Honestly I'm sure he had no idea what to say, but this was very kind.

Five months later I finally get to finishing it (DON'T JUDGE ME) and really, I'm glad that I did. Suitcase City takes place in 1980's Tampa, Florida, and follows Jimmy Teach, an ex-football player with a checkered past who finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of legal action when he punches a young black teenager in a bar restroom holding a razor--only nobody can find the razor and the kid claims it was a comb. Racial tensions and Teach's own past braid together to create a rich almost-mystery (but mysteries are genre, and we don't do genre here).

Watson really does a remarkable job of leading us back and forth through the main characters' lives in a way that reveals just enough information when we need it, but not so much as to spoil the action. As new elements are introduced that complicate Teach's situation, we go back to understand what brought them to that point. I think this really emphasizes the importance of understanding your narrative in its entirety and being judicious about what you reveal at what point. It's part of what keeps the mystery, dragging out the "But why?" just long enough that you maximize tension without losing the reader.

The only thing I didn't particularly care for was the characterization of Bloodworth Naylor. I get that he's supposed to be a fairly unbalanced person, but I just didn't follow him at all. He's got to be the world's worst criminal, even in an era where police aren't doing DNA tests or finding hairs and checking for fibers. Every development in his plans happens by chance: The journalist happens to come question him, he kills her, he puts her in the trunk of her own car, he gets the idea to leave it in Teach's neighborhood, he happens to find Teach's daughter, the detectives happen to show up at the house at the same time Teach does. It's believable that his plans would fall apart around him, sure, but--and I'm struggling to describe this, exactly--I wish it felt more planned.

There's also an interesting point to discuss in this book regarding race. Written by a white man, it deals heavily with racial tensions that were prevalent in Tampa for the time. But we find some interesting lines drawn regarding the types of characters that are cast. The good guy is white, his good daughter is white. The drug-addicted football player teen with the razor is black, Teach's nemesis Blood is black, the mean lawyer is black, the ex-girlfriend-turned-hooker is black. I find this interesting because yes, there are parts where I felt mildly uncomfortable with this casting: the majority of the 'bad' characters are black. However, with that being said, I tried to think about it in a more open way. This is the particular story that Watson wanted to tell, and it's not unreasonable to assume that, had something like this happened in real life in this place in this time, that's what these various characters would be. Logically it fits the period and place and context. I think it would be dangerous, artistically, to say that you can't write a story in which the protagonist is white and the antagonist is black, but I also think it's important to understand the baggage that many readers may bring to that kind of story. It's just something to think about when including race in writing, which I think is actually really important to do. 

With any luck, I'll be back at Writers in Paradise next year and can tell Mr. Watson how much I enjoyed his book. Only this time I'm shooting for the novel section rather than short story, so, you know, good luck on that and all.

"I told you I represent the Tribune, Mr. Naylor. I'm surprised you haven't heard of me. Do you read teh paper?" Blood thinking: Can you read, Mr. Naylor? It made his hands shake with anger. She said, "Haven't you seen my columns on the murdered women?" 

Blood walked over to the crate of parts, reached into it, and took out a table leg. It was about the size and heft of a baseball bat. 

"Look," the woman said, getting impatient, "it's hot back here, and I had a long night last night. If you aren't willing to talk to me, I can just print what I have now. I think you'll be happier with what comes out if you give me your side of it, starting with Tyrone Battles. Then maybe we can talk about your relationship with Thal--" 

The table leg hit her in the mouth. Blood had accelerated the blow because he did not want to hear her say Thalia's name. 

Overall: 4.5 stars

Amazon: Suitcase City

More reviews: Suitcase City on Librarything (Average 3.71 stars)

Suitcase City on Goodreads (Average 3.52 stars)