By g emil reutter
Safe Colors by Thaddeus Rutkowski is presented in such a fashion that it is reminiscent of a yard master placing freight cars in place to develop a consist of similar yet not similar cars. Such is what Rutkowski has accomplished in this new book. He has coupled stories together in a consist of vignettes that brings the reader on a journey from rural to urban America and back again. His conversational style of writing endears us to each of his characters even those who may be considered unsavory.
The protagonist is met as a young boy in Appalachia of mixed-race parents. His father eccentric, an artist with military baggage. His mother steadfast, the family breadwinner and a brother and sister. The kids deal with racist slang at school and even an aunt states the protagonist doesn’t look like the family. Classic Rutkowski, yet in this book his style of writing draws the reader into each and every facet and in a very matter of fact manner exposes ongoing racism in America. It is an effective tool.
The writing of Rutkowski is layered in each story told. His effective use of humor; family; of pain and love; of substance; of being somewhere and nowhere. In these thinly veiled “fictions” we read of the transformation from young; to college age; to grown man, from rural to urban.
The novel is in three sections. The stream of Rutkowski’s prose flows without interruption from page to page. In the mix are a honeymoon; beach walking; cooking dinner; riding a bike; fishing in Appalachia and the adventures of his parents and siblings. The protagonist survives in the hills and survives in the urban caverns. It speaks to the inspirational inner strength of the character, flaws and all.
Much of Safe Colors occurs prior to the internet and transforms along the way to the current modern age. Rutkowski has documented a history many are unaware of and easily transitions into adulthood and marriage. Safe Colors by Thaddeus Rutkowski is a great read and leaves the reader with the feeling, let’s do this again.
Safe Colors is forthcoming from New Meridian : https://www.newmeridianarts.com/
g emil reutter can be found at : https://gereutter.wordpress.com/about/
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North of Oxford 