Tannery Bay: A Novel

Completely unique and innovative, yet comfortable and familiar, Tannery Bay is unlike anything I have ever read. Its characterizations are lush, its imagery is evocative, its language is sensual. Steven Dunn and Katie Jean Shinkle invite the reader into an experience of both black and queer joy so sumptuous that if you identify differently, you yearn to luxuriate in its embrace. It is heady and hedonistic, raw, rough, and celebratory to the core. The new friends I encountered on these pages - Otis, Joy, Cristal, Willie Earl and all the rest - are consummately human. We feel them; we feel for them. As I moved through the pages, the word chortle took on new meaning as laughter and tears were summoned by prose as lyrical and brusque as the best poetry. This is a world in which you are so lost that you have no desire to be found. You have never encountered this world before, one so quirky, sad, and delightful that you feel totally at home. It is all the words and then some. A simply marvelous read. Spellbinding.

Once upon a time two novelists put their heads together and decided to write a book. One is a Black man, the other a lesbian woman (I know, that’s overkill, I shoulda edited out woman but inspired by their book imma write however I feel like even if it involves repetition and what my youngest baby child might call appropriation). Anyway, you all should read this here book. It’s poetic. It’s funny. It’s rich in sensual detail and language. You care for the characters. You find yourself drawn into a crazy-ass new world that makes perfect nonsense in a sensible way…. Full discloser: one of these writers helped me learn to write. The other writer helped him learn how to. And what’s your art, reader? What’re you gonna start doing—or keep doing—that’s beautiful and weird and lovely and caring and gives you life and helps you find yourself again every time you do it? That’s not only your art, it is—or is meant to be—your gift to the world. And if we weren’t all so caught up in the machine-like humdrummery of a capitalist world where our money is being sucked away by a few billionaire-ass crooks and shit, there’d be more justice in the world. Not to mention more fun.

When I read fiction the characters in the story must be developed in depth, they are real flesh and blood. I want to identify with the protagonist as if I have known him/her since high-school. Know them to be flawed but basically a person doing the best they can with the tools they have. The same goes for a villain in a book. I mean the antagonist must evoke dread when they endeavor to do harm. If I get deeply invoved in book. during a suspenseful part, my hands will begin to get icy cold and my feet will get sweaty. I will put the book down for a bit and take a short walk to gather myself. Tannery Bay is an exceptional read. I recommend it.

Sometimes I can figure out what’s going to happen from the first few clues that are introduced in a book, but there are so many layers and possibilities in Tannery Bay that it felt like I was figuring everything out along with the characters. It made me feel like I was part of their team and rooting for “us.”And once “we” figured out what was happening, it felt like we got our lives back in a more fulfilling way. The characters are lovable and feel like people I already know and love. Tannery Bay is a fun (and funny) read that points to large social issues without being heavy-handed.

The characters in this book are so funny and endearing. The writing is spectacular. It will keep you laughing and wondering what happens next. It’s about family and community and corporate greed, but it’s also got a few ghosts and a little magic.Steven Dunn is one of my favorite writers and Katie Jean Shinkle is amazing too!You won’t be disappointed.