Lowlife: Short Stories by Michael BoturMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The author reached out to me and asked for an honest review for this book. I am a big fan of short stories, and for championing the little guy, hence reading this book appealed to me. The stories explore the many aspects of Kiwi (low)life; these settings were a novelty in themselves as most literature is based in the Americas or United Kingdom.
Some of the slang was lost on me, though, and given how small the nation is it's no wonder that patterns begin emerging (everyone uses ice cream containers for carrying things and jandals are anathema) once you're partway through the book. These stories feature gritty, down-in-the-gutter characters who are often their own worst enemies.
The book is littered with a cast of colourful characters of many ages, races and genders. It is rare to read a book with people named Chiang, Weerasinghe and Hosseini playing a part in the proceedings. Unfortunately, not many of the main protagonists read as POC - not necessarily saying they weren't, but their names are generic and Eurocentric.
This book isn't meant to be enjoyed, I don't think - at least I didn't enjoy it. This is a hard read, mostly because the characters are distasteful - they are lowlifes not necessarily because of the situations they find themselves in, but because of the attitudes they have towards life and people. The writer's words thoroughly get under the skin of these people, which is a tremendous feat. While I liked the first story where a foolhardy worker chucks up his job in the hopes of rocking out with Metallica, I struggled with many of the others due to the rampant misogyny of the characters. The trouble with having so many male protagonists is that they all seem to view women the same way - as nothing more than sex objects. They are, in every way, objectified and stripped of any personality. It got tedious by the third such outing. I get that these characters are written as the lowest common denominator of a particular strata of society, but perhaps an alternative point of view may have spared us the overabundance of crude behaviour.
Additionally, none of the main characters identify as LGBTQIA+; but refreshingly the rainbow community isn't completely left out of the book, which is more than I can say about most contemporary literature.
I wish there had been more women with agency in the book (the ones we get are great), and less descriptions of objectification. But, as an unusual insight into a segment of society often forgotten about in mainstream publishing, this book is the one for you.
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