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If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

If I Survive You (MCD Books) by Jonathan Escoffery is a collection of interwoven short stories that reads like a novel, exploring the triumphs and tragedies of a Jamaican family that immigrates to Miami in a bid to escape increasing violence in their native country. Escoffery has already garnered critical praise and multiple awards for his shorter works of fiction, becoming a breakout star in the literary world. In this, his first full-length collection, Escoffery creates a kaleidoscope of composed, colorful narrative pieces to generate an immersive story. If I Survive You addresses themes of immigration, family, loyalty, and survival in the face of racism, poverty and betrayal.

If I Survive You is most notable and unique in employing a broad range of literary techniques and language throughout the course of the book. Rather than being limited to a single point of view, Escoffery switches from first person to third person, and even utilizes the less common second-person perspective.

“What am I?” you’ve repeated to your mother by now. You’ve been asked enough times by strangers to begin seeking answers.

Additionally, the author defies the narrative canon of writing in past, present or future tense for the entire work. In the hands of a less-skilled writer, these changes and shifts in style and point of view might seem distracting, but Escoffery uses each transition with purpose. The reader is given a multitude of angles and distances from which to view each character and their environment. A strong connection is created with the subject, conflict and emotion become more intense, and the setting gains additional layers of texture.

MULTIPLE RELATABLE STORYLINES AND OBSTACLES

The story begins with a recently relocated couple from Jamaica and their young boys trying to make a new life in Miami. We read narratives of the lives of young parents, Topper and Sanya, before they left their native country and the challenges they encounter in their new home. Facing discrimination, prejudice, economic hardship, and destruction at the hands of Hurricane Andrew, their struggle reflects the insurmountable challenges experienced by many.

Focus shifts in the second half of the book to the adult lives of brothers Trelawny and Delano. Trelawny has a violent falling out with his father, faces homelessness, crushing failure and a series of minimum wage jobs. Delano, once the preferred son of his parents, loses fortune, favor, and family when his wife leaves him and takes their young sons to the other side of the country. Trelawny and Delano’s relationship burns like a long fuse on a black bomb, leading to an inevitable explosion. The mishaps and failures of these young men are tragic, with a shadow of distinctly dark comedy. Throughout each caper a narrow glimpse of hope keeps the story moving and characters motivated by the expectation that things just might turn out okay in the end.

The desperation of these stories is relatable for many readers: We all need just a few more dollars, we have to hold on just a little longer, and we just have to survive until we get our big break.

A COLLECTION WORTH WAITING FOR

In one of the most anticipated debuts of the year, Jonathan Escoffery generates a vivid setting, multi-dimensional characters, and a profoundly moving message. If I Survive You demonstrates the broad range of this upcoming literary talent. Readers will enjoy this book for the variety of language and styles employed, the suspense found in each section, and the testament to human resilience even under the most difficult circumstances.

 

About Jonathan Escoffery:

Jonathan Escoffery is the author of the linked story collection, If I Survive You, a National Book Award Nominee, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, and an Indie National Bestseller. If I Survive You has been named a ‘best’ or ‘most anticipated’ book by Entertainment Weekly, Oprah Daily, Good Morning America online, Goodreads, BuzzFeed, Vulture, L.A. Times, Shondaland, TIME, The Root, Vanity Fair, Kirkus, The Millions, BET, O Quarterly Magazine, Real Simple and elsewhere.

Jonathan is the winner of The Paris Review’s 2020 Plimpton Prize for Fiction and is the recipient of a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts (Prose) Literature Fellowship. His story “Under the Ackee Tree” was among the trio that won the Paris Review the 2020 ASME Award for Fiction from the American Society of Magazine Editors, and was subsequently included in The Best American Magazine Writing 2020. His stories have appeared in The Paris Review, Oprah Daily, Electric Literature, Zyzzyva, AGNI, Pleiades, American Short Fiction, Prairie Schooner, Passages North and elsewhere.

He has received support and honors from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Aspen Words, Kimbilio Fiction, the Anderson Center, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Creative Writing MFA Program (Fiction) and attends the University of Southern California’s Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature Program as a Provost Fellow. He is a 2021-2023 Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Author: Jonathan Escoffery
Michael Ferry

Michael Ferry lives and writes in New Haven, CT. He prepares regulatory submissions for the medical device industry by day and enjoys writing short stories and articles about books and bookstores as a creative outlet in his free time. Four years ago, he decided to spend more time reading and less time watching television, and he now reads 40 – 50 books each year. He says that it has changed his life. Michael also enjoys spending time outside with his wife and kids, inventing new games to play, and snowboarding.

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