The pages of Lawrence Braithwaite's second novel crackle with nervous
and
lyrical energy. In this sometimes witty experimental work, a young black
skinhead finds himself immersed in a culture of frenzied drugs,
sex, violence, and punk rock. What is this novel like? Imagine a cross
between Louis-Ferdinand Céline. and H.R. of the Bad Brains.
Prochain pulled out the photoalbum from this drawer of Rhowanda boys/cut
with precision from magazines he contained btwn plastic sheets. Hiz
horniness was magnified by the beauty of boys//Leonardo DiCaprio and
auschwitz victims stark naked/ready for him. He tugged to photographs of
boys on lowriders in Slap and
Thrasher/belzin/dachau/treblinka/buchenwald/all piled up over him in a
pit/loving the desire of their sunken chests and bony hips. Prochain'd
kiss
them in their hollow holes and while staring into Keith Richards's
smackdead eyes/he'd caress ethiopia and the soft targets of brazilian
deathsquads.
An appended lexicon offers insights into terms like "antinigger
machine,"
"kinderwhore," and "bredda." This is more of an investigation
into language than plot or structure. Ratz Are Nice (PSP) may not
be a
great novel, but it's got an infectious spirit, and Braithwaite, whose
novel Wigger is already a cult legend, is a writer to be reckoned
with.
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