Wings of Red
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An inventive and stylish debut written by a Black educator, Wings of Red is a clear-eyed, funny, imperfect, and observant work of autofiction that grapples with the absurdity of the New York City educational system as a substitute teacher—that, in the end, reads as an ode to the city itself
June Papers is a twenty-eight-year-old MFA grad with a felony record, “the classic young, Black and gifted American misfit.” He’s also a substitute teacher. He’s also homeless. With dreams of becoming a writer, June endures a host of trials and dilemmas as he reluctantly realizes mentoring and teaching might actually be a path forward for him.
Wings of Red is driven by June’s unique narrative style, a propulsive voice that intimately and vulnerably guides readers through the condemned external reality of a Black educator’s personal and professional world falling apart, and coming together again.
Populated by a host of true-to-life characters who are attempting to realize their dreams despite precarious professional and financial realities, Wings of Red elucidates the fallacy of the American dream while serving as a reminder of how powerful and necessary autofiction can be. Directed at students and educators but written for any audience, Wings of Red is an inspiring and poetic tour de force and an unexpectedly necessary ode to New York City that features a texture, velocity, and immediacy that speaks to the author's authentic and lived perspective.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jennings debuts with a gritty yet hopeful novel centered on June Papers, a 28-year-old Black man and aspiring writer in New York City. The story kicks off with June playing dice with his two roommates and godbrother, Hollywood, hoping to win enough to make his overdue rent. He has an MFA, but his felony record for fraud and theft makes it hard for him to secure gainful employment and stable housing. The narrative takes the form of his journal, in which he records daily interactions with friends, part-time shifts as a substitute teacher at a public school, and a visit with family on Martha's Vineyard. Though June makes some questionable decisions, like stealing a suit and causing his bank account to overdraft by staying at a hotel, he sincerely believes he's doing his best to get by. June's voice will hook readers from the jump with its mix of cheekiness and sincerity, such as in his translations of other characters' slang for readers not in the know (a gig done for "clean" money means it's legal), and in his words of wisdom for young people ("I realize that, to my younger readers, gambling for food and transportation is degenerate activity. I don't condone it"). Jennings shows promise.
