The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

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The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle



                    Well, I'll be damned. I was not expecting this. At all. I was in the mood for a quick, dark supernatural tale. What I got was a quick, dark, supernatural with an extremely stark and direct narrative about race. And when I say extremely stark and direct that is exactly what I mean including a brutal case of police brutality and critical observations of society.
                    This book takes place in 1924 New York and revolves around the life of a hustler, Tommy, a man trying to make ends meet while supporting his father. He meets a man, who offers to show him other worlds. When Tommy accepts the invitation he ends up becoming a monster bringing a promised destruction. This is an interesting concept and the execution is so well done because of how LaValle chooses to talk about race. Tommy is a black man whose entire existence is constantly policed by those around him. The actual police harass him. The people he interacts with constantly belittle and speak down to him, questioning his very existence. They envision him and other black men like him to be untrustworthy, suspicious and possible monsters. So that’s what Tommy becomes. The embodiment of the monster that everyone wants him to be.
                    LaValle executed this so smoothly. The way he narrates the story has readers constantly on edge, unsettled and uneasy. We are well aware of the stigma that exists around Black men like Tommy and we are aware of the weight that is laid on him because of that. But we aren't aware of how the supernatural elements of the story have transformed Tommy until the end of the book when he has become Black Tom. It was very interesting to read this story and see how it played out. The world building and characters were really well done. Definitely a story I would recommend. I give this 4 out of 5 stars.

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