when we left xela for a week of traveling both natalie and i took only one book each. somehow she ended up starting mine and two hours later i was stuck with the one she brought. there wasn’t much i enjoyed in the first thirty pages beyond the opening sentence but as i continued i found the characters and events consistent with my own prejudices and it was impossible not to enjoy. the story occurs during the time of the colonization of australia and is loosely based on actual events. first sentence from the author: say a man catches a bullet through his skull in somebody’s war, so where’s the beginning of that?

an extremely candid history detailing the evolution of the self proclaimed ‘angriest man in america’. for me, the value of this history is the variety of thought it provoked. from the author: …next to me, was a white man. ‘malcolm x!’ he called out – and when i looked, he stuck his hand out of his car, across at me, grinning. ‘do you mind shaking hands with a white man?’ imagine that! just as the traffic light turned green, i told him, ‘i don’t mind shaking hands with human beings. are you one?’