The Age of Dreaming

The art of writing publishing fiction has become somewhat like the crack game. What started out as the therapeutic pursuit of a few whittled down through being recreation for tortured and complacent souls, and eventually ended up being the cheap, processed "quick hits" that usually line the shelves of any "African American Fiction" section you'll find in most American chain bookstores.

You probably won't find Nina Revoyr's work on the shelves of those chain bookstores , but if you ain't heard about her, you better ask somebody. Her third novel, The Age of Dreaming, is due out in April of 2008. She's the recipient of numerous literary awards, but even aside from the acclaim, the woman's got skills. She's one of those gifted writers who knows how to tell a story. Often, it's a heartbreakingly analytical one that's historically centered around the racial building blocks that have made Los Angeles the quagmire of politricks that it is. She writes with clarity and passion, artfully weaving in California's unique Japenese American and Black community histories with contemporary struggles of sexuality and growin' pains.

Her first novel, The Necessary Hunger, is a love story whose characters are painted so real that you fall in love with them as they're falling for one another. And it's about another first love, basketball. After the critically acclaimed success of her second serving, Southland, it looks like she's got the mystery game on lock. My inner literary nerd (actually, I flaunt that shit kinda regularly) is going crazy in anticipation for this third one.