Big Machine

I've been an editor for 20 years, and I can count on one hand the number of writers whose work holds a candle to Victor LaValle. The Big Machine is the first book I've read by LaValle, but it won't be the last. He is a genius, plain and simple. All I will say about The Big Machine is that it's a very weird plot, and if you don't like "supernatural" ideas in your fiction, then you probably won't like this book. But if you can handle some truly weird and surprising story elements, then you're in for a treat. Throughout a somewhat convoluted novel, LaValle manages to maintain stronger characterization and motivational consistency than I've seen in a very long time. His dialogue is spot-on, and subtly opens windows into his characters minds and backgrounds. As a reader, I totally believe in his characters, and I was moved and humbled by their agonizing struggles and transformations. For those reasons alone LaValle deserves five stars. But the (admittedly weird) story also is crafted in such an elegant and surprising way that it's worthy of more stars. I wish I could give him six or seven. Heartily recommended ... with the caveat that readers should be prepared for weirdness.

Ricky Rice, the protagonist in Victor LaValle's second novel, begins telling us his story in Utica, NY, which he has reached by way of even more podunk towns like Kingston, Elmira, and Troy. It's amazing to witness Ricky's transformation from a beaten-down bus-station janitor to a lead investigator on supernatural incidents for a covert operation. The insight into cultish responses to supernatural phenomena, coupled with fast, modern writing rings of Don DeLillo (Mao II: A Novel) or even Chuck Palahniuk (Survivor: A Novel). That the author is a black novelist writing of a black everyman protagonist, in a very tour-de-force way, puts me in the mind of Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man). This novel is a fiercely sweeping and original take on contemporary America as it wrestles with its demons, be they literal or metaphorical.

Over my lifetime, (47 yrs) I estimate that I have read about 1,000 books, (all fiction). This book breaks all conventional thought regarding expectations, and how the unexpected can blow your mind. Victor LaValle, and his Big Machine has reached deep into the hearts and thoughts of man, real men, with real life issues, and gives us heroes that are weak, afraid and left out of what most of us would call "real life". These heroes make you laugh, cry and very proud. Bravo Mr. LaValle for helping me see how those who "don't fit into the normal box of society" can do far more that those we think of as strong.