0
    • Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
    0 0
    Download high-resolution image

    Aquaboogie

    Author Susan Straight On Tour
    Ebook
    Catapult | Counterpoint
    On sale Oct 22, 2019 | 196 Pages | 9781640093584
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    “Aquaboogie is a love story in fragments . . . A book by a writer whose love for her characters infuses her work with the dignity and urgency they so clearly deserve.” —The New York Times Book Review

    Full of defiance and tenderness, Aquaboogie chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of the residents of Rio Seco. In “Aquaboogie,” art student Nacho finances his class out East by working as a janitor, subject to torment by his white coworkers. In “Back,” elderly Pashion sleeps wrapped around the body of her dying husband L. C., all the while recalling their 49 years of marriage and thinking about the sleeping pills she has secreted away for when life becomes unbearable. In “The Box,” Shawan carries her radio everywhere; since her best friend was gunned down, music is the only thing that can get her through the day. In these and other stories in this powerful collection, the author gives voice to those on the margins while demonstrating her great affection for her characters.
    Susan Straight has published eight novels and a memoir, In the Country of Women. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and received the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the O. Henry Prize, the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family.
    Susan Straight View titles by Susan Straight
    “The great strength of Aquaboogie, Susan Straight’s remarkable first work of fiction, is the way this ‘novel–in–stories’ brings to life the rich and vibrant life of an all–black community.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

    “Aquaboogie is a love story in fragments . . . A book by a writer whose love for her characters infuses her work with the dignity and urgency they so clearly deserve.” —The New York Times Book Review

    “Straight has taken the cadence and color of spirited voices, her community’s venerable oral tradition, and given it unequivocal form on page.” —LA Weekly

    “Rarely is a black community so precisely, humanly, and searchingly delineated.” —Star–Tribune (Minneapolis)

    “Vividly captures people who know the rhythm of their own lives. They twist and turn to its beats, yet they remain partially submerged, trying not to drown.” —The Washington Post

    “The dialogue in these stories flows like a river of talk, pulls you along with its rhythms until you’re in it; you’re the reader, then the listener, then the speaker.” —St. Louis Post–Dispatch

    “Straight has created an entire world, and her small neighborhood is overgrown and lush with legends—hardly a dry river. A rich collection of stories that demands to be read and reread.” —San Francisco Chronicle

    About

    “Aquaboogie is a love story in fragments . . . A book by a writer whose love for her characters infuses her work with the dignity and urgency they so clearly deserve.” —The New York Times Book Review

    Full of defiance and tenderness, Aquaboogie chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of the residents of Rio Seco. In “Aquaboogie,” art student Nacho finances his class out East by working as a janitor, subject to torment by his white coworkers. In “Back,” elderly Pashion sleeps wrapped around the body of her dying husband L. C., all the while recalling their 49 years of marriage and thinking about the sleeping pills she has secreted away for when life becomes unbearable. In “The Box,” Shawan carries her radio everywhere; since her best friend was gunned down, music is the only thing that can get her through the day. In these and other stories in this powerful collection, the author gives voice to those on the margins while demonstrating her great affection for her characters.

    Author

    Susan Straight has published eight novels and a memoir, In the Country of Women. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and received the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the O. Henry Prize, the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family.
    Susan Straight View titles by Susan Straight

    Praise

    “The great strength of Aquaboogie, Susan Straight’s remarkable first work of fiction, is the way this ‘novel–in–stories’ brings to life the rich and vibrant life of an all–black community.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

    “Aquaboogie is a love story in fragments . . . A book by a writer whose love for her characters infuses her work with the dignity and urgency they so clearly deserve.” —The New York Times Book Review

    “Straight has taken the cadence and color of spirited voices, her community’s venerable oral tradition, and given it unequivocal form on page.” —LA Weekly

    “Rarely is a black community so precisely, humanly, and searchingly delineated.” —Star–Tribune (Minneapolis)

    “Vividly captures people who know the rhythm of their own lives. They twist and turn to its beats, yet they remain partially submerged, trying not to drown.” —The Washington Post

    “The dialogue in these stories flows like a river of talk, pulls you along with its rhythms until you’re in it; you’re the reader, then the listener, then the speaker.” —St. Louis Post–Dispatch

    “Straight has created an entire world, and her small neighborhood is overgrown and lush with legends—hardly a dry river. A rich collection of stories that demands to be read and reread.” —San Francisco Chronicle

    Other Books by this Author

    Related Articles

    Subscribe

    Penguin Random House Higher Education

    © 2026 Penguin Random House

    Back to Top
    0
    Wish List (0)