dem - William Melvin Kelley

I am in awe of William Melvin Kelley. I feel excited when I have a new work to experience and a certain sense of loss when I’ve finished it! He’s permanently on my ‘reread ’ list.

I’ve just finished dem and something that struck me is how Kelly skilfully sustains a sense of continuity and commitment throughout his work. dem features Mitchell Pierce who Kelly readers might remember from the short story in Dancers on the Shore -  “The Servant Problem”. And we’re also reacquainted with Opal and Cooley. Not to mention Carlyle Bedlow who was also featured in Dancers on the Shore and is related to Wallace Bedlow who first appears in A Different Drummer!! Phew!

So all of that adds substance and understanding when you encounter these characters in a “new” work. It reinforces Kelly’s ability to raise awareness and consciousness to enduring issues of race in 60’s America and insist we confront these issues however uncomfortable they may be.

As displayed in A Different Drummer Kelly is master of satire, subtle and nuanced, and that’s one thing to be but he is also master of prose and dialogue so his narratives flow with a comfortable ease no matter how hard hitting his message and observations are. His style is so accessible and he allows his readers in and trusts them to reach the right conclusions from his work. There is no sense that he is preaching, or even that he has an axe to grind which make his works all the more powerful since he uses the art of story telling to make his points most forcefully.

dem begins with a dark occurrence for Mitchell and his wife Tam to experience. I had to re read several paragraphs because initially I just couldn’t believe what I’d read! There’s a sense of the absurd in it yet it also serves to illustrate the intrinsic arrogance of the protagonists. And the situation first introduced to us in the short story ‘The Servant Problem’ is further developed in dem to a powerful conclusion. As in A Different Drummer Kelly uses white people as his main protagonists. His understanding of mind sets and motivations display acute perception.

The novel progresses with an almost obsessive zeal on the part of Mitchell to achieve a certain outcome but ultimately reveals his sustained inadequacies and lack of understanding. I’d prefer not to give too much else away.

Whilst I’m not sure if dem reaches the perfection of A Different Drummer it is a powerful work and will leave you thinking long after the last full stop. Sometimes dubbed “the lost giant of American literature” Kelley will surely never be lost again and he will remain a giant not just of American literature but of literature, full stop.

My thanks to Elizabeth Masters and Ana McLaughlin of riverrun for a gifted copy.