Jason Slatton has taught (mostly) 11th Grade English at ASFA for more than a decade. Prior to that, he earned a living playing music -- on his own and in bands -- and also writing about it (i.e., music). He's studied journalism at the University of Georgia and literature at UAB, where he earned a graduate degree in English and completed a collection of poetry as his creative thesis. Through it all (and well before), he's been a voracious reader.
With that in mind, Ollie recently sat down with him to talk books. As you'll soon see, it didn't take much to get him started!
OC: Any advice for good reads over the holiday break?
JS: This list is actually a bit more “What I’ve Read Lately That Knocked Me Out Along With Titles That Just Stick With Me…Authors, Too!” Caveat: I’ll read virtually anything that piques my interest, and I honestly don’t believe in distinguishing between what’s “literature” and what isn’t. A good rule of thumb is to never trust someone who tells you what’s acceptable to read and what isn’t. Choose your OWN adventure.
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson: non-fiction that incorporates history, memoir, and polemic, and among the best books I’ve ever read. Wilkerson parallels the systemic racism inherent toAmerican culture with that of the caste system in India and the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany in the 30’s. Wilkerson wraps the entire book with a brief snapshot moment between herself and a white HVAC repairman that had me openly weeping. Genius level.
The Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang: amazing bildungsroman high fantasy that is a retelling of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Protagonist Rin is almost an anti-hero, but I’m wary of telling you why. I read all three in a wild fever last holiday break, and I was completely transported. This is one of those books where the words fall away and you’re just…in it. Also check out her caustic little novel Yellowface. Kuang gives no quarter and takes none either.
Thirst by Amelie Nothomb: a novella from the perspective of Christ as he dies on the cross, i.e. we’re in first-person POV. The whole narrative is an interior journey in the mind of Christ as he reflects/meditates on his struggle between purported divinity and humanity, and his observations are wry, sardonic, dark, and powerful. 92 pages, but quite a journey!
Anything by Stephen Graham Jones, in particular The Only Good Indians: Jones is a Blackfeet Native American horror writer, and most of his novels are set in the world of the contemporary reservation. I love contemporary horror, and there are some amazing writers working in that world right now like Catriona Ward, Grady Hendrix, and Mariana Enriquez (whose book Our Share of the Night is top notch). The specific novel I mentioned above is the last book that frightened me so much that I had to close it and take a long walk. Also genius level.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr: This novel’s timeline ranges from 15th-century Constantinople, to modern day, to a spacecraft wandering through a dark and silent universe searching for a new Earth. If you dig David Mitchell or Kazuo Ishiguro, you’ll completely fall into the narrative. Doerr also wrote All The Light We Cannot See, which may have crossed your radar. This one defies synopsis, so…go in blind!
Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk by Kathleen Hanna: Hanna was ground floor in the punk scene of the early 90’s, and her band Bikini Kill more or less wrote blueprint for the “girls to the FRONT!” Riot Grrl movement. Hanna is a writer, an activist, a musician, and a total hero. This book absolutely puts you in those sweaty garage shows that were equal parts punk rock and protest rally. Essential reading, and proof positive that (some of) your parents listened to cool music back in the 90’s. Fun trivia: Hanna wrote the graffiti “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on a motel room wall beneath a sleeping Cobain, and…the rest is history.
The Overstory by Richard Powers: Have you ever stood at the base of a massive tree (like a California redwood) and just felt…humbled? In awe? If you’ve heard me going on and on about the role of nature in Their Eyes Were Watching God, well, this novel only encourages that sort of thing…like the Doerr, this book plays out over a wide expanse of time, and it often feels like a novel that is sort of “contemporary transcendentalist.” That may not sound like much of a rec, but friends, you’ll not encounter a book like this often.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman: This was described to me as “an infinitely darker Harry Potter for jaded people.” So there you have it. I mean, come on: the protagonist in this book is named Quentin Coldwater, a wildly unlikely (and sometimes unlikeable) protagonist. This is the beginning of a trilogy that I haven’t explored further (yet), but honestly this one could exist as a standalone.
…and here are a bunch of titles that I could go on and on about for days, but…just check these out! All genres represented:
In Ascension / Martin MacInnes
Punching The Air / Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam
The Three Body Problem / Liu Cixin
Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music / Franz Nicolay
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood / Ta-Nehisi Coates
Station Eleven / Emily St. John Mandel
The Underground Railroad / Colson Whitehead
Fever House and The Devil By Name / Keith Rosson
The Murderbot Diaries / Karen Wells (I know the title seems a little…ick, but this is occasionally hard sci-fi mingled with amazing, emotive first-person narration from the…murderbot)
A Wrinkle In Time / Madeline L’Engle (you should read this one every year)
Ours / Phillip B. Williams
Chronicles: Volume One / Bob Dylan
Anything by Donna Tartt (she’s written three books, all of which are total materpieces)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and Moonglow by Micheal Chabon
…and there’s so much more, but…just swing by my classroom. Also, I’m of the opinion that everyone should read Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” once a year, or more times if needed.
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