Asphalt: A Novel

By Carl Hancock Rux

Book Overview

Already a celebrated performance artist, vocalist, poet, playwright, and visionary, Carl Hancock Rux now presents a brilliant debut novel--a profound and lyrical portrait of urban life that will take... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743474007
• ISBN13: 9780743474009
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Atria
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Intriguing Read

In the lush heady atmosphere of a house party in a decaying Brooklyn mansion Racine mixes A Tribe Called Quest, Arvo Part, Rakim and Mary J. Blige. The DJ moves the crowd through a throbbing bass line. Loc's, Betty Paige bangs and sheared heads abound in the rich aesthetic of the underground in a post-war New York. The nuances of the urban moment and the self-discovery of colorful characters provide the backdrop for an artful piece of literature for the hip hop and neo-soul generation. Racine is the quiet DJ who deftly blends genres and sounds and expresses himself through his wheels of steel. He finds himself in the deteriorating yet vibrant post-war Brooklyn after the death of his older brother and dearth of love under the care of foster parents in the south and New York City. While finding lodging in a neighborhood devastated by poverty and despair, he meets a band of intriguing souls. Manny, the ambiguously gay free spirit with a penchant for architectural history, Mawepi the stout bouncer and translator for the clairvoyant Holy Mother and Couchette, the scarred dancer mired in denial comprise his new family. Immediately Racine finds himself creating the sonic backdrop for intense parties, orgies and conversations while Manny and the other residents chase their dreams in a transitional New York. Couchette is the troubled spirit with whom Racine shares physically intimate and emotionally frustrating moments. The story weaves in depictions of Racine's childhood, including his experiences in fostercare and ultimately forces a young man to reconcile his past and move on. Rux infuses a tale set in a modern urban environment with ancient Greek mythology that informs several themes in the book. Racine the character is influenced by Hippolytus' Phaedra which was re-written by J.P. Racine. The story of a young man who is physically dismembered by a monstrous force on his journey is a recurring thread throughout Asphalt . The characters have to lose parts of themselves that they may not be aware are hindering their growth, in order to move on. And the personalities in Asphalt all employ different strategies for abandoning experiences that have consumed and distorted their views of reality and themselves. As an Obie-winning playwright, spoken word artist and now novelist, Carl Hancock Rux has a masterful use of language which is evidenced throughout Asphalt . His description of a taciturn woman lying on the road and an intimidating lanky street orator selling socks are examples of the imaginative supporting characters. Similarly, Rux 's portrayal of the glorious yet depressed New York and the intensity of Racine's past, deeply orient the reader. At times the language is a bit too cerebral which obscures the clarity of events. Yet the descriptive quality of Rux 's work differentiates him from other contemporary young authors. Asphalt is compelling due to its complex and bea

Outstanding!

Asphalt Carl Hancock Rux 5 stars Outstanding Story! As a fan of Carl, I have to say that his use of words and his ability to craft a story so vivid makes him an exceptionally talented writer. I was expecting a well crafted story from him but I was in awe of just how vivid and emotionally charged this novel was. The story of Racine and his brother Francis was emotional as well as Couchette's story. This novel reads like part memoir of a boy bounced around the foster care system. Their emotions, feelings of abandonment, desires and dreams will grab you. The back drop of the book, a war torn NewYork was absolutely disturbing! After going through 9/11 these scenes are so vivid it put a lump in my throat reading it. The scene of the Brooklyn Bridge in ruins was devastating. With everything happening in the world today this wasn't hard to visualize and down right scary. The book may be hard to grasp for some. You may have to inhale this slowly and think about what he means at times. The poetics are Brilliant!. Carl's minimal use of words strike a big impact. This story was outstanding, emotionally charged and the descriptions will blow you away. reviewed by Dawn Mahogany Albany, N.Y.

Rux runs the voodoo down!

Carl Hancock Rux's debut novel is an astounding literary achievement. A feverdream of reconciliation and survival, his characters lug their personal baggage - filled to the brim with the lies, crimes, and struggles of generations past and present -through a devastated landscape in search of kind of fertile oasis. And through it all Rux displays an immense talent, as rule bending and visionary as a literary Basquiat. To be sure, he plunges his readers into the deep end of the pool, but it is a pool filled with stunning depth and vitality. I have no doubt that this novel will become required reading for future college students studying the African American Novel in the 21st Century. The good news is you don't have to wait that long to get hip to a new and very important voice on the scene today.

This generation's James Baldwin?

If James Balwin were thirtysomething, part of the hip-hop generation, living in a post 9/11 era this is a novel he might well have written. Rux's post-apocalyptic tale/myth is really at its core a journey of self-discovery told in a prose style that's poetic, at times dense, really heady, yet absolutely lyrical, even mesmerizing. If, like me, you are a reader who is dazzled by the simple beauty of words, Rux is the wordsmith for you: it is as if he labored over ever single sentence, agonizing until he found the precise sequence of words all to a positively mellifluous effect. This potpourri of greek mythology, urban reality and verbal gymnastics is a difficult but thoroughly enjoyable read. Half the fun is figuring out what is real and what is imagined.

Surprises, Dreams and Reality Twists

This novel is pretty trippy, like a dream you can't escape, but enjoy being trapped in.It's not so far fetched. Rux makes a war torn city that you can picture (Anybody watching the news?) without making it hyper-apocolyptic. In this book, post-war is how the South Bronx looked in the 80's, or how downtown Manhattan looks now. And he does an amazing job mixing jazz, hip-hop, rock and soul music into poetic and political storytelling. I'm surprised I've read two reviews where people seem to miss the fact that Rux's novel not only has a plot but a complicated one, full of questions about personal and family history.It's all in the contradictions. Racine is a DJ who comes back to a war torn NYC after a successful career in France. Or is he? He moves into a vacant building in Brooklyn he's never been to before. Or has he? Couchette is the daughter of a jazz musician who killed himself. Or did he? Manny is some kind of artsy cross-dressing terrorist. Or is he even real? The Brooklyn Bridge, torn in half during the war, explains the reason Rux plays with truths and lies for two thirds of the book. maybe that went over some people's heads. By the time you get to the end, you should understand the significance of the ghost of Racine's brother in the beginning, but you have to read it carefully to get to the meaning of the really powerful and violent ending of self renewal, but it's worth it. Rux has written a book we rarely see anymore. It's visual & sexy, like a movie you make in your dreams. I loved this book! Now if only more new Black fiction writers could stop writing "My Baby Mama" long enough to rise to the occassion."Asphalt" is WHEW!!!