Loving Day

Loving Day by Mat Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sum it up in a sentence (or two or five): Warren Duffy is black. And white. And, after the passing of his father, the owner of a decrepit mansion. When he comes back to Philadelphia to claim it, he also learns he can also call himself a father. Loving Day is Warren Duffy's exploration of the self, and extended metaphor for racial identity in America, in the 21st century.

First Thoughts: Absolutely loved this story. I loved the pacing, the dialogue, the characters. I'm slowly getting on board with the ghosts and what they are and/or represent in Loving Day.

Favorite Quotes:
"I see Caucasians in the room, looking over our way, puzzled and annoyed by the segregation. They stand in a pack of their own race, but their own race is invisible to them." -p24

"...she loves it and she loves everyone else here enough that she is willing to let them see all of who she is in this moment." -p95

Future Plans: I would love to see this in graphic novel form. There are plenty of visuals, heroes and villains, and a lot to play with in that medium. A movie would be welcome too. (Apparently Showtime is adapting it into a comedy series.)

Other Future Plans: As someone who plans on having biracial children someday (because my boyfriend is Hispanic and I am White), Loving Day felt real. My kids could very well look like their father but identify with their mother, or vice versa, or some combination of the two - something I never had to deal with growing up. Loving Day continues and furthers the conversation of identity, a conversation I personally never tire of having or learning about.

Final Thoughts: I highly recommend this book to readers, thinkers, people with families, people living in the present, and fans of comic books, Philadelphia, or racial discourse.


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