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Chain Gang All Stars
Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America's own.
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry. It's the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE's corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar's path have devastating consequences.
Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors to the CAPE employees and beyond, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system's unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means.
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry. It's the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE's corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar's path have devastating consequences.
Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors to the CAPE employees and beyond, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system's unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means.
411 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 2023
About the author
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
10 books2,157 followersNana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is from Spring Valley, New York. He graduated from SUNY Albany and went on to receive his MFA from Syracuse University.
He was the '16-'17 Olive B. O'Connor fellow in fiction at Colgate University.
His work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications, including Guernica, Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing, Printer’s Row, Gravel, and The Breakwater Review, where he was selected by ZZ Packer as the winner of the 2nd Annual Breakwater Review Fiction Contest. Friday Black is his first book.
He was the '16-'17 Olive B. O'Connor fellow in fiction at Colgate University.
His work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications, including Guernica, Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing, Printer’s Row, Gravel, and The Breakwater Review, where he was selected by ZZ Packer as the winner of the 2nd Annual Breakwater Review Fiction Contest. Friday Black is his first book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 8,944 reviews
June 18, 2024
“suck my dick, america”
July 3, 2023
How do you describe a story that you didn't like but was unable to put down? I can't say I "enjoyed" this one in the true sense of the term. Darker than I had anticipated, shockingly violent but extraordinarily creative and powerful, this novel is a memorable read!
So here goes...
“It was all death, slow or fast. Painful or sudden. Nothing more. The culture of Chain- Gang was death.”
Set in a dystopian alternate reality, part dystopian action drama, part social commentary Chain- Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah revolves around the commercially successful Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program or CAPE in which convicted murderers in the prison system who sign up are divided into Chain Gangs comprised of “links” who fight death matches with links from other chain gangs – bloodsport that is televised, played at “The Battleground” to packed houses with a mass fan following. As the gladiators compete with their weapons of choice, those victorious gradually rise through the ranks toward the ultimate win – freedom as per the laws and rules set in place.
The narrative follows two of the most popular gladiators - Loretta Thurwar who has been in the Circuit for over thirty-five months, earning the rank of Grand Colossal and is a few wins away from freedom; next in line in her chain is Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker, also Thurwar’s lover. We also meet several other links from different chains, each of whom has a story to tell and reasons for joining the CAPE program. In contrast to the immense popularity and mass fan following , we also meet activist groups protesting the inhumane practices and violence at every match being played. We also get a glimpse into the forces at play behind the matches and the entities that have their own interests to protect - lawmakers, producers, and advertisers - their convictions, motivations and the extent to which they would go to protect their interests.
“There is a space in time when violence tears through from imagined to physical—and if that physical is met with more physical, then the violence can become both the vehicle and driver for all that comes after, and what has escaped can be incredibly difficult to contain.”
The narrative follows these characters and threads in the days leading up to Thurwar’s final match. Will she be “Freed”?
Those of you who follow my reviews will know that I do not shy away from dark, gritty reads but Chain- Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah both shook me and shocked me with its depiction of human depravity and graphic violence. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is brilliant as is the concept. The bond between the links, and how they are impacted by one another’s victories and defeats (deaths) are described with much insight and sensitivity as is the mental and physical effort that goes into their individual processes –the choices they make, and how they deal with their conscience in the aftermath of the violence they both inflict and endure, reminding us that ultimately these "links" and "chain gangs" are human beings whose lives are being toyed with in the name of profit and entertainment. The commentary on capitalism and commercialism, racism, and unfair practices in the American prison system, is cleverly done often using satirical elements and the footnotes to explain the rules and laws of the alternate version of America to do the same. Atmospheric and intense, with sharp writing and superb characterizations , this is a novel that I could not stop reading despite the dark and bleak content.
Initially, I was alternating between reading and listening to the full-cast audio narration by Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch and Lee Osorio. While the narrators have done a brilliant job of bringing the characters and the story to life, I found the numerous subplots and characters difficult to follow on audio alone. It was also difficult to differentiate between the narrative and the footnotes. I would recommend keeping the book handy or simply pairing the audio with the book to fully engage with the story.
Needless to say, this is not an easy read. Please note that there are scenes of graphic violence that may be triggering for some.
“They were all humans, and yet they had completely different ideas about what humanity meant.”
So here goes...
“It was all death, slow or fast. Painful or sudden. Nothing more. The culture of Chain- Gang was death.”
Set in a dystopian alternate reality, part dystopian action drama, part social commentary Chain- Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah revolves around the commercially successful Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program or CAPE in which convicted murderers in the prison system who sign up are divided into Chain Gangs comprised of “links” who fight death matches with links from other chain gangs – bloodsport that is televised, played at “The Battleground” to packed houses with a mass fan following. As the gladiators compete with their weapons of choice, those victorious gradually rise through the ranks toward the ultimate win – freedom as per the laws and rules set in place.
The narrative follows two of the most popular gladiators - Loretta Thurwar who has been in the Circuit for over thirty-five months, earning the rank of Grand Colossal and is a few wins away from freedom; next in line in her chain is Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker, also Thurwar’s lover. We also meet several other links from different chains, each of whom has a story to tell and reasons for joining the CAPE program. In contrast to the immense popularity and mass fan following , we also meet activist groups protesting the inhumane practices and violence at every match being played. We also get a glimpse into the forces at play behind the matches and the entities that have their own interests to protect - lawmakers, producers, and advertisers - their convictions, motivations and the extent to which they would go to protect their interests.
“There is a space in time when violence tears through from imagined to physical—and if that physical is met with more physical, then the violence can become both the vehicle and driver for all that comes after, and what has escaped can be incredibly difficult to contain.”
The narrative follows these characters and threads in the days leading up to Thurwar’s final match. Will she be “Freed”?
Those of you who follow my reviews will know that I do not shy away from dark, gritty reads but Chain- Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah both shook me and shocked me with its depiction of human depravity and graphic violence. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is brilliant as is the concept. The bond between the links, and how they are impacted by one another’s victories and defeats (deaths) are described with much insight and sensitivity as is the mental and physical effort that goes into their individual processes –the choices they make, and how they deal with their conscience in the aftermath of the violence they both inflict and endure, reminding us that ultimately these "links" and "chain gangs" are human beings whose lives are being toyed with in the name of profit and entertainment. The commentary on capitalism and commercialism, racism, and unfair practices in the American prison system, is cleverly done often using satirical elements and the footnotes to explain the rules and laws of the alternate version of America to do the same. Atmospheric and intense, with sharp writing and superb characterizations , this is a novel that I could not stop reading despite the dark and bleak content.
Initially, I was alternating between reading and listening to the full-cast audio narration by Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch and Lee Osorio. While the narrators have done a brilliant job of bringing the characters and the story to life, I found the numerous subplots and characters difficult to follow on audio alone. It was also difficult to differentiate between the narrative and the footnotes. I would recommend keeping the book handy or simply pairing the audio with the book to fully engage with the story.
Needless to say, this is not an easy read. Please note that there are scenes of graphic violence that may be triggering for some.
“They were all humans, and yet they had completely different ideas about what humanity meant.”
April 19, 2023
Videos of police violence inflicted on African Americans still shock the conscience of the nation, but an even vaster horror plays out unseen every day in prisons across the country. Although our incarceration rate leads the world, we’re inured to the irony that the land of the free is also the empire of the jailed.
Make no mistake: Black lives matter to the prison industry.
Like updates on climate change or reports on plastic in the ocean, stories about how many people we’ve shunted behind bars can feel easier to ignore than respond to. Indeed, over the last half century, fueled by a conspiracy of fear and political cynicism, America’s prison complex has swelled to such grotesque dimensions that it defies comprehension.
But if we’re still capable of being roused from this ethical stupor, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is a writer with sufficient energy to do it. In 2018, his first book, “Friday Black,” offered an unnerving collection of dystopian stories that satirized the interplay of racism and consumerism. The title story imagined the worst possible Black Friday sale in a shopping mall. “Zimmer Land,” one of several unforgettable pieces, described an amusement park where White people can experience the thrill of shooting Black people they think are threatening them.
But despite how brilliant and gut-wrenching “Friday Black” is, I wondered at the time if those tales were essentially one-time-only specials. Could Adjei-Brenyah push a story past its weird “what if” premise to sustain such a singular blend of wit and fury in a longer format?
His new novel, “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” answers that question with a searing affirmation. It’s a devastating indictment of our penal system and our attendant enthusiasm for violence. Like Orwell’s “1984” and Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Adjei-Brenyah’s book presents a dystopian vision so upsetting and illuminating that it should permanently shift our understanding of who we are and what we’re capable of doing. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
Make no mistake: Black lives matter to the prison industry.
Like updates on climate change or reports on plastic in the ocean, stories about how many people we’ve shunted behind bars can feel easier to ignore than respond to. Indeed, over the last half century, fueled by a conspiracy of fear and political cynicism, America’s prison complex has swelled to such grotesque dimensions that it defies comprehension.
But if we’re still capable of being roused from this ethical stupor, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is a writer with sufficient energy to do it. In 2018, his first book, “Friday Black,” offered an unnerving collection of dystopian stories that satirized the interplay of racism and consumerism. The title story imagined the worst possible Black Friday sale in a shopping mall. “Zimmer Land,” one of several unforgettable pieces, described an amusement park where White people can experience the thrill of shooting Black people they think are threatening them.
But despite how brilliant and gut-wrenching “Friday Black” is, I wondered at the time if those tales were essentially one-time-only specials. Could Adjei-Brenyah push a story past its weird “what if” premise to sustain such a singular blend of wit and fury in a longer format?
His new novel, “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” answers that question with a searing affirmation. It’s a devastating indictment of our penal system and our attendant enthusiasm for violence. Like Orwell’s “1984” and Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Adjei-Brenyah’s book presents a dystopian vision so upsetting and illuminating that it should permanently shift our understanding of who we are and what we’re capable of doing. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
June 20, 2024
oh my god.
this book is the most surreal and the most gory, and at the same time its dystopian world is so lifelike, so painful to read because it so closely mirrors the one we live in. one of injustice, one of violence. one of innocent people locked up and one of people who do bad and change. a world where punishments are not intended to reform, but to ignore.
reading about the criminal justice system in america is opening yourself to an injustice you will ever un-know.
this does the same through fiction.
bottom line: unforgettable.
4.5
---------------------
tbr review
had me at best book of the year
this book is the most surreal and the most gory, and at the same time its dystopian world is so lifelike, so painful to read because it so closely mirrors the one we live in. one of injustice, one of violence. one of innocent people locked up and one of people who do bad and change. a world where punishments are not intended to reform, but to ignore.
reading about the criminal justice system in america is opening yourself to an injustice you will ever un-know.
this does the same through fiction.
bottom line: unforgettable.
4.5
---------------------
tbr review
had me at best book of the year
April 9, 2023
3 1/2 stars. For a while I thought this was going to be a solid five stars because the opening was so strong-- bloody, nasty and compelling. In fact, parts of this book were awesome. The social commentary and criticism of the prison system were excellent and hard-hitting (though arguably the real world criticism got a little lost in this dystopian narrative). The fight scenes were horrific but impossible to look away from.
I think the book's main weakness was the choice to flit around between so many characters. Thurwar and Staxxx were interesting to me; not all the others were. It is not surprising to hear that Adjei-Brenyah is primarily a short story writer, as some of the chapters seemed like short stories themselves and often took me out of the flow of the main storyline.
I also wanted something more from the ending, though I agree a book like this is a tough one to wrap up. To be honest, I was confused as to what happened right there at the end. I found it difficult to follow.
I think the book's main weakness was the choice to flit around between so many characters. Thurwar and Staxxx were interesting to me; not all the others were. It is not surprising to hear that Adjei-Brenyah is primarily a short story writer, as some of the chapters seemed like short stories themselves and often took me out of the flow of the main storyline.
I also wanted something more from the ending, though I agree a book like this is a tough one to wrap up. To be honest, I was confused as to what happened right there at the end. I found it difficult to follow.
November 15, 2023
Are You Not Entertained? Are You Not Entertained? Is This Not Why You Are Here?
“Under the guise of economic stimulus and punitive prevention, we’ve allowed the state to administer public executions as entertainment.”
It all pointed out to an action-packed splurge into blood sports: Jason Statham coming back from Death Race to compete with Jenifer Lawrence in Hunger Games (or the reverse) while Russel Crowe waiting impatiently with his gladiatorial armour on for his final contest. I was just expecting a gruesome bloodthirsty storyline, but instead I’ve also found a beautiful overture to love, remorse, atonement, and hope. How can you keep your humanity amidst such physical and psychological carnage?
The linear, crisp narrative and the excellent addition of footnotes made the dystopian world come alive. The crowd-pleasing commoditization of the killing games and the action scenes worked perfectly to imprint a sense of moral depravity. Not often so much ferocity seemed so graceful. Although I needed a bit more power at the endgame, the main ideas of systemic racial bias, over-criminalization and inhumane incarceration resonated and provided a perfect platform for ethical reasoning and social awareness. Nana Kwama Adjei-Brenyah tried to transplant a voice of humanity and emotional authenticity into a destabilized, wicked world… and succeeded!
“Does each evil cancel the other out? Does disappearing one person from the earth clean it some?”
4.25/5
“Under the guise of economic stimulus and punitive prevention, we’ve allowed the state to administer public executions as entertainment.”
It all pointed out to an action-packed splurge into blood sports: Jason Statham coming back from Death Race to compete with Jenifer Lawrence in Hunger Games (or the reverse) while Russel Crowe waiting impatiently with his gladiatorial armour on for his final contest. I was just expecting a gruesome bloodthirsty storyline, but instead I’ve also found a beautiful overture to love, remorse, atonement, and hope. How can you keep your humanity amidst such physical and psychological carnage?
The linear, crisp narrative and the excellent addition of footnotes made the dystopian world come alive. The crowd-pleasing commoditization of the killing games and the action scenes worked perfectly to imprint a sense of moral depravity. Not often so much ferocity seemed so graceful. Although I needed a bit more power at the endgame, the main ideas of systemic racial bias, over-criminalization and inhumane incarceration resonated and provided a perfect platform for ethical reasoning and social awareness. Nana Kwama Adjei-Brenyah tried to transplant a voice of humanity and emotional authenticity into a destabilized, wicked world… and succeeded!
“Does each evil cancel the other out? Does disappearing one person from the earth clean it some?”
4.25/5
February 19, 2024
Will be back to talk about this soon. I don’t have the words just yet…
February 29, 2024
I have never wanted to love a book as much as I wanted to love this one. Unfortunately I was lost from page one.
At a point I thought maybe it's my fault because I'm not crazy about dystopian fiction, but take away the fact that I couldn't enjoy any part of the book, I felt nothing much for the characters because one, I couldn't keep track of them and two, whenever their backstory is mentioned, it just a few lines about their childhood. It made for half baked characters I couldn't care about even if they were all getting decapitated. I get the point of the story- America's unjust prison system, that came out very clearly and well thought out, I wish the story itself wasn't a mess and was put together better.
At a point I thought maybe it's my fault because I'm not crazy about dystopian fiction, but take away the fact that I couldn't enjoy any part of the book, I felt nothing much for the characters because one, I couldn't keep track of them and two, whenever their backstory is mentioned, it just a few lines about their childhood. It made for half baked characters I couldn't care about even if they were all getting decapitated. I get the point of the story- America's unjust prison system, that came out very clearly and well thought out, I wish the story itself wasn't a mess and was put together better.
March 17, 2024
Nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction 2023
Human beings are terrible, and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah turns this fact into absolutely captivating, angry writing. I already LOVED his daring short story collection Friday Black, and "Chain-Gang All-Stars", his debut novel about the prison-industrial complex and affect-based entertainment culture, doesn't disappoint either. In a dystopian future, people incarcerated in privatized prisons can opt to join their prison's battle squads, the so-called chains, and become combatants (links) in televised death matches, whose lives (and deaths) are turned into media spectacles on the Criminal Action Penal Entertainment channel (CAPE) - if they survive for three years, an almost impossible task, they are granted their freedom. Of course, the viewers devouring capital punishment as a past-time are not giving in to the worst human impulses, no: they are watching "hard-action-sports". This book is razor-sharp, brutal, and coming from a place of outrage.
The author, son of a defense attorney, was driven to activism for prison reform by The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, this novel (that developed from a short story originally intended for Friday Black) is his investigation into the topic by means of fiction. While we follow main character Loretta Thurwar, who almost made it to the three-year goal, and her lover Hurricane Staxx, Adjei-Brenyah extrapolates to other Links, viewers, protesters against the inhume system, and many other characters to give a full picture of the world he imagines and the topics he tackles. In footnotes, he also gives some actual info on the real-life US prison system, which renders his fictional story more plausible than one would like.
Sure, the story brings to mind such stories as Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, or the movie "Gladiator", but as all of these media, the real source is the Roman Colosseum: This novel tells us that the idea of panem et circenses is still true, that if people have something to eat and entertainment that appeals to their base instincts while simultaneously putting the fear of the mighty system into them, the ruling class can do whatever they want (and cash in). "Chain-Gang All-Stars" adds aspects of sex, class, and race (Thurwar is a Black woman), also talking about the sexualization and overall framing of links as marketable media personalities as opposed to their framing if they were average, anonymous prisoners.
Once again, Adjei-Brenyah goes all in, writing passionately and forcefully, aiming high and packing in many excellent ideas. The fighting scenes, for example, oscillate between reporting on full-contact sports like football (that also leads to widespread permanent brain injuries for pros), war reporting and psychological writing, and the effect is fantastic, as in unveils the full brutality of the system while also working as a particularly relentless satire. Still, of course the many storylines sometimes veer off course, the whole thing is slightly over-ambitious, but God, I have to give it to an author that goes all in and produces such an intense, fascinating outcome.
This guy is only getting started, and I'm excited to follow his career.
You can listen to my interview with Nana, my radio review and our podcast discussion (both in German, with sound bites by Nana) here:
- Interview: https://papierstaupodcast.de/special/...
- Radio: https://www.sr.de/sr/sr2/themen/liter...
- Podcast: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/...
Human beings are terrible, and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah turns this fact into absolutely captivating, angry writing. I already LOVED his daring short story collection Friday Black, and "Chain-Gang All-Stars", his debut novel about the prison-industrial complex and affect-based entertainment culture, doesn't disappoint either. In a dystopian future, people incarcerated in privatized prisons can opt to join their prison's battle squads, the so-called chains, and become combatants (links) in televised death matches, whose lives (and deaths) are turned into media spectacles on the Criminal Action Penal Entertainment channel (CAPE) - if they survive for three years, an almost impossible task, they are granted their freedom. Of course, the viewers devouring capital punishment as a past-time are not giving in to the worst human impulses, no: they are watching "hard-action-sports". This book is razor-sharp, brutal, and coming from a place of outrage.
The author, son of a defense attorney, was driven to activism for prison reform by The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, this novel (that developed from a short story originally intended for Friday Black) is his investigation into the topic by means of fiction. While we follow main character Loretta Thurwar, who almost made it to the three-year goal, and her lover Hurricane Staxx, Adjei-Brenyah extrapolates to other Links, viewers, protesters against the inhume system, and many other characters to give a full picture of the world he imagines and the topics he tackles. In footnotes, he also gives some actual info on the real-life US prison system, which renders his fictional story more plausible than one would like.
Sure, the story brings to mind such stories as Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, or the movie "Gladiator", but as all of these media, the real source is the Roman Colosseum: This novel tells us that the idea of panem et circenses is still true, that if people have something to eat and entertainment that appeals to their base instincts while simultaneously putting the fear of the mighty system into them, the ruling class can do whatever they want (and cash in). "Chain-Gang All-Stars" adds aspects of sex, class, and race (Thurwar is a Black woman), also talking about the sexualization and overall framing of links as marketable media personalities as opposed to their framing if they were average, anonymous prisoners.
Once again, Adjei-Brenyah goes all in, writing passionately and forcefully, aiming high and packing in many excellent ideas. The fighting scenes, for example, oscillate between reporting on full-contact sports like football (that also leads to widespread permanent brain injuries for pros), war reporting and psychological writing, and the effect is fantastic, as in unveils the full brutality of the system while also working as a particularly relentless satire. Still, of course the many storylines sometimes veer off course, the whole thing is slightly over-ambitious, but God, I have to give it to an author that goes all in and produces such an intense, fascinating outcome.
This guy is only getting started, and I'm excited to follow his career.
You can listen to my interview with Nana, my radio review and our podcast discussion (both in German, with sound bites by Nana) here:
- Interview: https://papierstaupodcast.de/special/...
- Radio: https://www.sr.de/sr/sr2/themen/liter...
- Podcast: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/...
October 13, 2023
This ambitious novel sets out to criticise the current prison system, which I can only applaud. But since the story is set in a dystopia where prisoners literally have to fight each other to the death (think Battle Royale, think Hunger Games), the message gets muddled.
Which is quite a feat, as the message is blasted through a megaphone inches from your ears, at the same time as you're getting beat over the head with a slab engraved with the message, all the while someone shoves a message-shaped cake down your throat.
Great intentions, potential for improvement.
Which is quite a feat, as the message is blasted through a megaphone inches from your ears, at the same time as you're getting beat over the head with a slab engraved with the message, all the while someone shoves a message-shaped cake down your throat.
Great intentions, potential for improvement.
August 7, 2023
The audiobook of this is outstanding. After having read this twice, you'd think I'd have found the words to talk about why and how much I love it. But, alas. I'm speechless. The interwoven POVs, the commentary, the twists. It just all adds up to a perfect book for me. No notes.
—
The people who are going to love this book, are going to LOVEEEE it. I am one of those people.
Damn near the heaviest and most gut wrenching subject matter. My head hurts, I just ran around my kitchen yelling in frustration. I’d do yourself a favor and put this one on your radar.
Thanks to Pantheon for the advanced reader copy.
I’m not a high fantasy reader, but I’d guess this book spends nearly as much time world building, despite the fact that it’s set in America. This satirical story about America’s prison system takes everything to the -nth degree. Prisoners who receive a sentence of 25+ years or who are given the death penalty are offered the option to enroll in a three-year program that may result in their freedom. The program? A gladiator-style sporting game where prisoners have to murder each other in order to advance to different tiers of the game. If you commit enough murder, you may just be freed. Oh and it’s all televised for America to watch, for companies to advertise on, and for gamblers to bet on.
Within the prison system in this book, technology has advanced torture in a dramatic way — driving prisoners to madness until they decide that the potential of dying in this competition is the better choice.
Which is all to say: this book is violent. But wow was it executed in an interesting way, with multiple POVs, foreshadowing, and the highest of high stakes.
To say I loved this feels odd, because it will probably bring any reader pain. But just an incredible debut novel from a new favorite writer of mine.
—
The people who are going to love this book, are going to LOVEEEE it. I am one of those people.
Damn near the heaviest and most gut wrenching subject matter. My head hurts, I just ran around my kitchen yelling in frustration. I’d do yourself a favor and put this one on your radar.
Thanks to Pantheon for the advanced reader copy.
I’m not a high fantasy reader, but I’d guess this book spends nearly as much time world building, despite the fact that it’s set in America. This satirical story about America’s prison system takes everything to the -nth degree. Prisoners who receive a sentence of 25+ years or who are given the death penalty are offered the option to enroll in a three-year program that may result in their freedom. The program? A gladiator-style sporting game where prisoners have to murder each other in order to advance to different tiers of the game. If you commit enough murder, you may just be freed. Oh and it’s all televised for America to watch, for companies to advertise on, and for gamblers to bet on.
Within the prison system in this book, technology has advanced torture in a dramatic way — driving prisoners to madness until they decide that the potential of dying in this competition is the better choice.
Which is all to say: this book is violent. But wow was it executed in an interesting way, with multiple POVs, foreshadowing, and the highest of high stakes.
To say I loved this feels odd, because it will probably bring any reader pain. But just an incredible debut novel from a new favorite writer of mine.
September 8, 2023
Interesting premise and important commentary about anti-Black racism, state violence, and the prison industrial complex in the United States. I felt a bit confused by the narrative because there were so many characters which made the plot difficult to follow. Still, I appreciate Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for trying something different even with some themes that have been explored previously in social justice-centered fiction and nonfiction.
April 13, 2023
This book is so bold and ambitious. Adjei-Brenyah is taking on A LOT with this one, and I think he does a very good job. Its not perfect (a bit long), but it is powerful and there are some moments that really sing. I was rooting for the characters even when I didn't know what I was rooting for. I liked this book a lot and think it was be a buzzy book as soon as people read it!
May 2, 2023
Update 5/2/23: Reposting my review to celebrate that today is publication day!
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for sending me an ARC of Chain-Gang All-Stars in exchange for an honest review.
The TV show “Chain-Gang All-Stars” is the crown jewel in a barely future America’s Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program. Inmates facing long sentences can volunteer to join their prison’s team where they will fight other teams to the death. Most of these “Links” die quickly (“low freed”) but if a Link can survive for three years with approximately one fight a month (plus unscheduled melees, backstabbing teammates, etc.), they will earn their freedom and be “high freed.” Loretta Thurwar upset a Colossal in her first fight and became an instant legend. Now, almost three years later, she’s the Grand Colossal and she leads the Angola-Hammond Chain-Gang along with her lover and almost-Colossal Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker. Loretta is just a few fights away from winning her freedom, but will she be able to survive the final obstacles in her path?
Chain-Gang All-Stars is an impressive exercise in world building. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah has presented this fictional prison program in great detail. There’s an entire system in place for the Links to acquire points they can use to buy better food and weapons, scouting reports for upcoming fights, etc. There’s the companion reality show, “LinkLyfe,” that draws in viewers by showing the Links in their daily life when not fighting. There’s also a wide collection of characters used to tell different parts of the story. We get to know the A-Hamm Links very well, and some other Links as well. But we also get to know the leaders of multiple protest groups, some of the passionate fans, and the “GameMasters” who run the program.
The story in Chain-Gang All-Stars is quite good. I was absorbed by Thurwar’s and Staxxx’s dilemma, which was not resolved until the final page. I also really liked the character arcs of One-Arm Scorpion Singer Hendrix Young and the Unkillable Simon Jungle Craft. I thought Emily’s progression from horrified opponent to sympathetic fan through getting to know the Links on LinkLyfe was a very clever depiction of how Americans generally don’t think much about convicts, but become very emotionally invested through presentations like Adnan Syed on the Serial podcast (I’ll admit I am as guilty of this as the next person).
Of course, Chain-Gang All-Stars is using this imagined future prison system, with its Roman gladiator/Hunger Games system of punishing prisoners by making them fight each other to the death for public entertainment, to examine America’s current prison system. The book has a series of footnotes with real-world facts, data, and stories demonstrating that the depravity and abuses of this imagined system are tragically quite true to life. The novel doesn’t provide an answer for what a world that abolished prisons would look like, and admits no one has all the answers, but it does lay out the case for how the current system is failing and requires wholesale changes. An entertaining yet also thought-provoking read. Recommended.
Mari kneeled down and kept the sign high in the air, proudly speaking the truth. You didn’t get to have it both ways. Either we loved one another or we did not.
The front of the sign read: where life is precious
And the back, which fell facedown when Mari dropped it, read: life is precious. And even though the men circled her, the entire stadium could see the message. And for a moment, before the producers had forced the Jumbotron cameras to black, the message had been magnified for all to see. Where life is precious, life is precious, and it dawned on the crowd, rapt and ready though they were for the doubles BattleGround match of the year, that life might not be precious here.
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for sending me an ARC of Chain-Gang All-Stars in exchange for an honest review.
The TV show “Chain-Gang All-Stars” is the crown jewel in a barely future America’s Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program. Inmates facing long sentences can volunteer to join their prison’s team where they will fight other teams to the death. Most of these “Links” die quickly (“low freed”) but if a Link can survive for three years with approximately one fight a month (plus unscheduled melees, backstabbing teammates, etc.), they will earn their freedom and be “high freed.” Loretta Thurwar upset a Colossal in her first fight and became an instant legend. Now, almost three years later, she’s the Grand Colossal and she leads the Angola-Hammond Chain-Gang along with her lover and almost-Colossal Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker. Loretta is just a few fights away from winning her freedom, but will she be able to survive the final obstacles in her path?
Chain-Gang All-Stars is an impressive exercise in world building. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah has presented this fictional prison program in great detail. There’s an entire system in place for the Links to acquire points they can use to buy better food and weapons, scouting reports for upcoming fights, etc. There’s the companion reality show, “LinkLyfe,” that draws in viewers by showing the Links in their daily life when not fighting. There’s also a wide collection of characters used to tell different parts of the story. We get to know the A-Hamm Links very well, and some other Links as well. But we also get to know the leaders of multiple protest groups, some of the passionate fans, and the “GameMasters” who run the program.
The story in Chain-Gang All-Stars is quite good. I was absorbed by Thurwar’s and Staxxx’s dilemma, which was not resolved until the final page. I also really liked the character arcs of One-Arm Scorpion Singer Hendrix Young and the Unkillable Simon Jungle Craft. I thought Emily’s progression from horrified opponent to sympathetic fan through getting to know the Links on LinkLyfe was a very clever depiction of how Americans generally don’t think much about convicts, but become very emotionally invested through presentations like Adnan Syed on the Serial podcast (I’ll admit I am as guilty of this as the next person).
Of course, Chain-Gang All-Stars is using this imagined future prison system, with its Roman gladiator/Hunger Games system of punishing prisoners by making them fight each other to the death for public entertainment, to examine America’s current prison system. The book has a series of footnotes with real-world facts, data, and stories demonstrating that the depravity and abuses of this imagined system are tragically quite true to life. The novel doesn’t provide an answer for what a world that abolished prisons would look like, and admits no one has all the answers, but it does lay out the case for how the current system is failing and requires wholesale changes. An entertaining yet also thought-provoking read. Recommended.
April 28, 2024
I was sooo excited when I saw that Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah would finally be coming out with his debut novel in 2023. Back in 2018, I really enjoyed his short story collection Friday Black, especially its first story "The Finkelstein Five", which deals with the brutal murder of five Black children at the hands of one white man who is ruled innocent. In "The Finkelstein Five" a group of Black people finally decide to take matters into their own hands and seek out brutal and bloody justice for themselves and their community. When I heard that Chain-Gang All-Stars would revolve around similar topics, I got even more excited.
I finally asked for a hardback copy for my birthday and started reading right away. Unfortunately, right from the first few chapters I could tell that this book would not be the book for me. I had a hard time connecting with Nana's writing style, and the constant jumping around between so many different characters was tiring and confusing. At the end I land somewhere between 2 and 3 stars, but leaning toward the lower end of that scale. :( I appreciate Nana's message surrounding prison abolition and systemic injustice, BUT (and that's a huge but!) this is not a good story. And the only reason I read fiction is that I want a good story. Otherwise, I'd rather read a nonfiction title on the subject with has a lot more substance and delivers even sounder arguments.
Chain-Gang All-Stars is, at heart, a dystopia. Nana flings the United States of America a few decades (centuries?) into the future. A future in which mass incarceration still reigns but televised duels offer prisoners a path to "freedom". Prisoners with life or death sentences are offered to participate in the 3-year-long Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE) program. They get to leave the confines of their (private) prisons to enter a more "glamorous" kind of captivity. Prisoners who participate in the program are known as Links, and they all belong to teams which are called Chains. Those Chains trudge in Marches all over the country, and are set up for fights with other Links from other Chains. And they have to fight to the death. These battles are presented for the world as pay-per-view sports. The rest of their daily lives, full of internal politics and wanton bloodshed, are filmed for episodic reality television. So as well as being a dystopia, we also find satirical and straight-up sportswriting elements in Chain-Gang All-Stars.
This exposure leads to celebrity for the most successful Links. The longer you've been in the program, the more people you've killed on the Battle Ground, and the more fans you have gathered. Famous Links are like stars with huge marketing potential and a fanbase whose willing to buy anything their "hero" promotes. They're like influencers. Grocery stores and fast-food chains vie for precious ad space on their skin and clothing. Drivers and soldier-police officers shepherd them to news conferences and civic engagement days. Before fights, the star talent leads fans in call-and-response chants. You have to be charismatic if you want to have success in the program.
After a triumph on the killing grounds, a fighter earns points with which to upgrade weapons or food or lodging. What all these fighters seek is freedom, a word that appears capitalized throughout the book, like a term of art or faith. It comes in two types: Low Freedom (death, however it might find them) and High Freedom (pardon, commutation or clemency after three years survived on the circuit). The twist is that no Link has ever been High Freed, except for one who was shepherded to High Freedom by the producers to "prove" that it was possible.
When the incarcerated fight to the death for public enjoyment, it is marketed as "hard-action sports". And while some people protest the institution of CAPE, many, many more happily fold it into their pop-cultural diet. They have figured out how to push through the cognitive dissonance of enjoying live murder, with always the right excuse on their lips why they follow the program so closely: "It was part of the cultural conversation; even if she was ambivalent about its ethics, she couldn't pretend it wasn't an interesting part of the world."
Personally, I struggled with the world building. I can see that all the ingredients are there but somehow Nana had me never convinced that the world he created was believable. I couldn't see the vision clearly, mainly because he exaggerated a lot of components (like the viewers' enthusiasm watching people kill each other, exemplified by the characters of Wil and Em, "normal" civilians, whose favorite pastime is watching and discussing CGAS). I felt like it was over the top. I know that voyeuristic shows like "Big Brother" are super popular but watching people kill one another is a whole 'nother leap, and call me an optimist, but I don't think we humans are that rotten. I guess some people are fascinated with seeing people's life drain out of them but I'm certainly not one of them (up to this day I haven't see the video of George Floyd's murder or any videos from the war zones in Gaza or Ukraine), and watching that shit gleefully for entertainment? I can't picture it, I'm sorry.
And whilst Nana described the death matches really well and detailed, I was never able to enjoy the action, whilst at the same time not being able to shake the feeling that Nana wanted me to enjoy them, to make the point that us readers are just as bad as the fictional fans sitting ringside or following the live-broadcast. I just didn't feel any excitement. Albeit, to be fair, I also didn't feel any horror or remorse. The characters and setting just never became real to me. The little tidbits in the footnotes, like the mention of George Stinney, Jr. – a 14-year-old Black boy who became the youngest person to ever be executed in the United States of America – were much more visceral and a sucker punch for me – which has me convinced that a nonfiction title would've worked much better for me regarding this subject matter.
The overall plot also didn't do much for me and of the two BIG plot points, only one (who killed Sunset Harkless?) was able to keep me engaged, the other (would Staxxx and Loretta have to fight one another?) I saw coming from a mile away (...from p. 25 to be exact, lol). However, what I really liked was Nana's anger and urgency. You could really tell that he had skin in the game. And whenever his anger came off the page, it was fucking awesome, so, in that sense, to quote the guy:
There are many characters we meet in Chain-Gang All-Stars from Links, police officers & law enforcement to TV hosts, protestors & viewers. But if I had to choose I would say that Loretta Thurwar, incarcerated for killing her lover Vanessa and beloved for bashing her peers to death with a large hammer, is the novel's protagonist. It is through her eyes that we are first introduced to the Battle Ground. Unfortunately, I was never able to connect to her, or any other character for that matter. They were just too many of them, and they all remained flat. I didn't find them believable.
Each character felt like a device to showcase the different ways incarceration harms people and society. Each backstory felt forced, molded so that Nana could link them to a real case he would educate us about. It just felt clunky. And whilst I appreciate that he tried different writing style and ways of narration for his different characters, that also didn't work for me. It wasn't well executed.
In The Hunger Games, and I hate to bring this up because these types of comparisons don't always work, it made sense for the tributes to fight one another to the death (they didn't sign up for it, they were selected, with the threat of having their entire families killed if they wouldn't cooperate) and it also made sense for the Capitol to revel in the Games, while in the other districts, the Games were hated, not just by family members having to watch their child/brother/sister get killed, but also by the whole community. There was this war in which the Capitol came out on top, thereby creating a caste system. They have no skin in the game. In Chain-Gang All-Stars, I had a hard time understanding why the viewership was so large, and why Links signed up for the CAPE program in the first place.
This confusion is even fuelled by the on-page conversations the Links have in this book. Apart from Nova Kane Walker who was shepherded to High Freedom by the producers, we meet three other Links who, this time through their own ability and achievements, are only one fight away from High Freedom: Melancholia Bishop, Sunset Harkless and Loretta Thurwar.
Melancholia throws her last fight and offers herself up to Loretta (then rookie, her first fight), teaching her her final lesson: "Don't play their game." Nana insinuates that Melancholia didn't wanna be set free because she "played their game" and could therefore never achieve real freedom outside of the prison/program. Sunset asks Staxxx to kill him before his final fight. He also feels that he doesn't deserve freedom. He tells her that he knows what he deserves and that he "will not force anyone else to have to consider forgiving me either" because he hasn't forgiven himself for his crimes. Loretta also admits to herself that while "she was no longer the person who killed her [Vanessa], she still believed that she'd forfeited her right to life for having done so." Of the three, she is the only one to achieve High Freedom at the end of the novel, but only because her lover Staxxx (who she is fighting to the death) sacrifices herself for her.
So it almost feels like Nana is telling us that people convicted of murder and rape are not worthy of freedom, and that those people see it the same way. They are too ashamed of what they've done to ever be free again. And I know this is a philosophical question and I haven't engaged with it that deeply (and also haven't talk to any convicts ever) but I still found the messaging to be a bit one-sided. I agree with Sunset Harkless when he said: "You forgive yourself, you're High Freed." because forgiveness is a weapon. And I also respect that Sunset wasn't able to forgive himself but I'm just not sure if every convicted murderer feels that way. Are they all unworthy of forgiveness or rather incapable of forgiving themselves? I do believe in repentance, even though it's a long tough road that's fucking hard.
To end on a more positive note, I want to highlight a character and a line of thought that worked really well for me. At the beginning of the novel, Staxxx thinks: "Chain-Gang All-Stars was her purpose on earth. It was a place to remind the world of something it had forgotten. And to fulfil that purpose, she needed Thurwar. That had been obvious from the beginning." Before her final fight with Loretta, she tells her: "You're my message and I'm yours. Whoever wins, it will be the same." In the arena, she tells the audience: "We are something you have never seen before. When you think of us, remember that just because something is, doesn't mean it can’t change, and just because you haven’t seen something before, that doesn't mean it's impossible. They call this a freeing ground. So who’s going to be freed: me or you?"
I really liked the progression of Staxxx's character and how she stayed true to herself. To me, it made a lot of sense that she sacrificed herself for Loretta, the woman she loved. Love was Staxxx's message from the start. I also loved it when Mari, Sunset's daughter and protester, says: "You didn't get to have it both ways. Either we loved one another or we did not." Because that's how I feel as well. No matter of your crime, you're still human, no one ever deserves to be treated inhumanely, and the condition of most prisons in the world are fucking inhumane. We don't get to have it both ways. The conditions under which the incarcerated toil is a stain on our humanity as well. It is one of the many areas of our lives and societies in which we continue to prove that we do not love each other.
Chain-Gang All-Stars is honest about the inhumanity of incarceration and the increasingly elaborate mechanisms we build in place of forgiveness and rehabilitation. Nana constantly uses footnotes to root his fiction in reality, reminding us that the brutality we see on the page is not as far-fetched as we might like. In the footnotes we might find bits of the U.S. penal code or the Geneva Conventions: eulogies for real-life victims of police violence, solitary confinement and wrongful conviction. Throughout and through the book, Nana presents sound arguments for abolition, from the fighters themselves and the activists supporting them from the outside, and for the brutal logic against it, voiced by the operators of these games, who believe them to be a deterrent to crime, a form of absolution for those who otherwise do not deserve it.
Personally, I think that Nana was up to the ideological but not the emotional task of such a novel. The novel can be read as an act of protest, and it is successful at that, but Nana preaches, he doesn't tell a story. Part of me feels that if you want to learn more about prison abolition and mass incarceration, you're better off with reading a nonfiction title like Davis' Are Prisons Obsolete? or Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. I know that might sound harsh, and believe me, I wanted to love this, but I just couldn't. This wasn't well told. I'm sorry.
I finally asked for a hardback copy for my birthday and started reading right away. Unfortunately, right from the first few chapters I could tell that this book would not be the book for me. I had a hard time connecting with Nana's writing style, and the constant jumping around between so many different characters was tiring and confusing. At the end I land somewhere between 2 and 3 stars, but leaning toward the lower end of that scale. :( I appreciate Nana's message surrounding prison abolition and systemic injustice, BUT (and that's a huge but!) this is not a good story. And the only reason I read fiction is that I want a good story. Otherwise, I'd rather read a nonfiction title on the subject with has a lot more substance and delivers even sounder arguments.
I thought about how the world can be anything and how sad it is that it’s this.World building & plot
Chain-Gang All-Stars is, at heart, a dystopia. Nana flings the United States of America a few decades (centuries?) into the future. A future in which mass incarceration still reigns but televised duels offer prisoners a path to "freedom". Prisoners with life or death sentences are offered to participate in the 3-year-long Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE) program. They get to leave the confines of their (private) prisons to enter a more "glamorous" kind of captivity. Prisoners who participate in the program are known as Links, and they all belong to teams which are called Chains. Those Chains trudge in Marches all over the country, and are set up for fights with other Links from other Chains. And they have to fight to the death. These battles are presented for the world as pay-per-view sports. The rest of their daily lives, full of internal politics and wanton bloodshed, are filmed for episodic reality television. So as well as being a dystopia, we also find satirical and straight-up sportswriting elements in Chain-Gang All-Stars.
This exposure leads to celebrity for the most successful Links. The longer you've been in the program, the more people you've killed on the Battle Ground, and the more fans you have gathered. Famous Links are like stars with huge marketing potential and a fanbase whose willing to buy anything their "hero" promotes. They're like influencers. Grocery stores and fast-food chains vie for precious ad space on their skin and clothing. Drivers and soldier-police officers shepherd them to news conferences and civic engagement days. Before fights, the star talent leads fans in call-and-response chants. You have to be charismatic if you want to have success in the program.
After a triumph on the killing grounds, a fighter earns points with which to upgrade weapons or food or lodging. What all these fighters seek is freedom, a word that appears capitalized throughout the book, like a term of art or faith. It comes in two types: Low Freedom (death, however it might find them) and High Freedom (pardon, commutation or clemency after three years survived on the circuit). The twist is that no Link has ever been High Freed, except for one who was shepherded to High Freedom by the producers to "prove" that it was possible.
When the incarcerated fight to the death for public enjoyment, it is marketed as "hard-action sports". And while some people protest the institution of CAPE, many, many more happily fold it into their pop-cultural diet. They have figured out how to push through the cognitive dissonance of enjoying live murder, with always the right excuse on their lips why they follow the program so closely: "It was part of the cultural conversation; even if she was ambivalent about its ethics, she couldn't pretend it wasn't an interesting part of the world."
Personally, I struggled with the world building. I can see that all the ingredients are there but somehow Nana had me never convinced that the world he created was believable. I couldn't see the vision clearly, mainly because he exaggerated a lot of components (like the viewers' enthusiasm watching people kill each other, exemplified by the characters of Wil and Em, "normal" civilians, whose favorite pastime is watching and discussing CGAS). I felt like it was over the top. I know that voyeuristic shows like "Big Brother" are super popular but watching people kill one another is a whole 'nother leap, and call me an optimist, but I don't think we humans are that rotten. I guess some people are fascinated with seeing people's life drain out of them but I'm certainly not one of them (up to this day I haven't see the video of George Floyd's murder or any videos from the war zones in Gaza or Ukraine), and watching that shit gleefully for entertainment? I can't picture it, I'm sorry.
And whilst Nana described the death matches really well and detailed, I was never able to enjoy the action, whilst at the same time not being able to shake the feeling that Nana wanted me to enjoy them, to make the point that us readers are just as bad as the fictional fans sitting ringside or following the live-broadcast. I just didn't feel any excitement. Albeit, to be fair, I also didn't feel any horror or remorse. The characters and setting just never became real to me. The little tidbits in the footnotes, like the mention of George Stinney, Jr. – a 14-year-old Black boy who became the youngest person to ever be executed in the United States of America – were much more visceral and a sucker punch for me – which has me convinced that a nonfiction title would've worked much better for me regarding this subject matter.
The overall plot also didn't do much for me and of the two BIG plot points, only one (who killed Sunset Harkless?) was able to keep me engaged, the other (would Staxxx and Loretta have to fight one another?) I saw coming from a mile away (...from p. 25 to be exact, lol). However, what I really liked was Nana's anger and urgency. You could really tell that he had skin in the game. And whenever his anger came off the page, it was fucking awesome, so, in that sense, to quote the guy:
Suck my dick, America.Characters & intention
There are many characters we meet in Chain-Gang All-Stars from Links, police officers & law enforcement to TV hosts, protestors & viewers. But if I had to choose I would say that Loretta Thurwar, incarcerated for killing her lover Vanessa and beloved for bashing her peers to death with a large hammer, is the novel's protagonist. It is through her eyes that we are first introduced to the Battle Ground. Unfortunately, I was never able to connect to her, or any other character for that matter. They were just too many of them, and they all remained flat. I didn't find them believable.
Each character felt like a device to showcase the different ways incarceration harms people and society. Each backstory felt forced, molded so that Nana could link them to a real case he would educate us about. It just felt clunky. And whilst I appreciate that he tried different writing style and ways of narration for his different characters, that also didn't work for me. It wasn't well executed.
In The Hunger Games, and I hate to bring this up because these types of comparisons don't always work, it made sense for the tributes to fight one another to the death (they didn't sign up for it, they were selected, with the threat of having their entire families killed if they wouldn't cooperate) and it also made sense for the Capitol to revel in the Games, while in the other districts, the Games were hated, not just by family members having to watch their child/brother/sister get killed, but also by the whole community. There was this war in which the Capitol came out on top, thereby creating a caste system. They have no skin in the game. In Chain-Gang All-Stars, I had a hard time understanding why the viewership was so large, and why Links signed up for the CAPE program in the first place.
This confusion is even fuelled by the on-page conversations the Links have in this book. Apart from Nova Kane Walker who was shepherded to High Freedom by the producers, we meet three other Links who, this time through their own ability and achievements, are only one fight away from High Freedom: Melancholia Bishop, Sunset Harkless and Loretta Thurwar.
Melancholia throws her last fight and offers herself up to Loretta (then rookie, her first fight), teaching her her final lesson: "Don't play their game." Nana insinuates that Melancholia didn't wanna be set free because she "played their game" and could therefore never achieve real freedom outside of the prison/program. Sunset asks Staxxx to kill him before his final fight. He also feels that he doesn't deserve freedom. He tells her that he knows what he deserves and that he "will not force anyone else to have to consider forgiving me either" because he hasn't forgiven himself for his crimes. Loretta also admits to herself that while "she was no longer the person who killed her [Vanessa], she still believed that she'd forfeited her right to life for having done so." Of the three, she is the only one to achieve High Freedom at the end of the novel, but only because her lover Staxxx (who she is fighting to the death) sacrifices herself for her.
So it almost feels like Nana is telling us that people convicted of murder and rape are not worthy of freedom, and that those people see it the same way. They are too ashamed of what they've done to ever be free again. And I know this is a philosophical question and I haven't engaged with it that deeply (and also haven't talk to any convicts ever) but I still found the messaging to be a bit one-sided. I agree with Sunset Harkless when he said: "You forgive yourself, you're High Freed." because forgiveness is a weapon. And I also respect that Sunset wasn't able to forgive himself but I'm just not sure if every convicted murderer feels that way. Are they all unworthy of forgiveness or rather incapable of forgiving themselves? I do believe in repentance, even though it's a long tough road that's fucking hard.
To end on a more positive note, I want to highlight a character and a line of thought that worked really well for me. At the beginning of the novel, Staxxx thinks: "Chain-Gang All-Stars was her purpose on earth. It was a place to remind the world of something it had forgotten. And to fulfil that purpose, she needed Thurwar. That had been obvious from the beginning." Before her final fight with Loretta, she tells her: "You're my message and I'm yours. Whoever wins, it will be the same." In the arena, she tells the audience: "We are something you have never seen before. When you think of us, remember that just because something is, doesn't mean it can’t change, and just because you haven’t seen something before, that doesn't mean it's impossible. They call this a freeing ground. So who’s going to be freed: me or you?"
I really liked the progression of Staxxx's character and how she stayed true to herself. To me, it made a lot of sense that she sacrificed herself for Loretta, the woman she loved. Love was Staxxx's message from the start. I also loved it when Mari, Sunset's daughter and protester, says: "You didn't get to have it both ways. Either we loved one another or we did not." Because that's how I feel as well. No matter of your crime, you're still human, no one ever deserves to be treated inhumanely, and the condition of most prisons in the world are fucking inhumane. We don't get to have it both ways. The conditions under which the incarcerated toil is a stain on our humanity as well. It is one of the many areas of our lives and societies in which we continue to prove that we do not love each other.
Chain-Gang All-Stars is honest about the inhumanity of incarceration and the increasingly elaborate mechanisms we build in place of forgiveness and rehabilitation. Nana constantly uses footnotes to root his fiction in reality, reminding us that the brutality we see on the page is not as far-fetched as we might like. In the footnotes we might find bits of the U.S. penal code or the Geneva Conventions: eulogies for real-life victims of police violence, solitary confinement and wrongful conviction. Throughout and through the book, Nana presents sound arguments for abolition, from the fighters themselves and the activists supporting them from the outside, and for the brutal logic against it, voiced by the operators of these games, who believe them to be a deterrent to crime, a form of absolution for those who otherwise do not deserve it.
Personally, I think that Nana was up to the ideological but not the emotional task of such a novel. The novel can be read as an act of protest, and it is successful at that, but Nana preaches, he doesn't tell a story. Part of me feels that if you want to learn more about prison abolition and mass incarceration, you're better off with reading a nonfiction title like Davis' Are Prisons Obsolete? or Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. I know that might sound harsh, and believe me, I wanted to love this, but I just couldn't. This wasn't well told. I'm sorry.
March 6, 2024
Suck my dick, America
(4.5 stars)
(4.5 stars)
June 16, 2024
Chain-Gang All-Stars is a blatant critique of the prison industrial complex and the media industry as we lead up to the weeks where Loretta Thurwar has her final gladiatorial style death match to become free after 3 years as a LINK in this profit-raising, deadly prison fight ring. There are a lot of points of view in this book which give a great visual and more room for talking points on prison abolition, police treatment of protestors, and more. The story is hit over the reader’s head a bit, but I think that that can be necessary in order for the message to not get muddled. The message is clear, as we see other horrific points of view and the way that civilians interact with the media/entertainment of the death matches and the more reality-esque tv-show of the lives of the LINKs. I personally found this to be done in a way where I was never entertained, because I felt a bit horrified, which shows to me that a good balance was struck of showing the “entertainment” that is being critiqued and other aspects to the story. While a gladiatorial combat death ring may seem a bit far-fetched, Adjei-Brenyah ties in how prisoners are used for-profit now and how this isn’t necessarily a big jump in the dystopian sense. Among other things, the facts that prison labor in the United States is the only legal form of slave labor in the USA and that the Angola Prison already has a biannual rodeo that has a very high injury rate and they incentivize the prisoners to participate in makes this dystopian reality seem not too far off. Like Angola prison's rodeo (but to a much higher degree), there are questions raised about whether or not a prisoner can consent to joining the death matches when the only other option are prisons with absolutely horrifying conditions. If the chain-gang is the only way out, are they really volunteering? I also really appreciate how abolitionists are questioned about what solutions exist outside of prison, and some of the abolitionists have to come to terms with their own prejudices of people in the prison system. While it stands incredibly well on its own, this is the only book that I feel even slightly comfortable giving a Hunger Games comp to.
I listened to the audiobook of this and have to add that the main narrator, Shayna Small, as well as the narrators with smaller roles, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and Lee Osorio, all did an incredible job. Would highly recommend the audio version.
4.5/5
I listened to the audiobook of this and have to add that the main narrator, Shayna Small, as well as the narrators with smaller roles, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and Lee Osorio, all did an incredible job. Would highly recommend the audio version.
4.5/5
June 28, 2023
4.5 stars, rounded down
I'll be honest, I had to psych myself up for listening to this. It’s got a really dark start and it doesn’t get any lighter. And the whole premise! In the future, prisoners in a private prison system are given a chance at freedom if they fight in death matches, which are treated as entertainment. But it requires three years of fighting to the death. This is “Survivor” taken to the ultimate extreme.
I always struggle with what constitutes satire. This has been described as satire. Certainly the premise is satire - a supposedly civilized society uses fighting to the death as a form of entertainment. The protestors call it “entertainment lynching”. But the story itself? I’m not so sure. Maybe because it cuts a little too close to the truth of how too often people are treated as fodder. I mean, Congress is fighting over a bill that would allow young teens to work in dangerous jobs such as mining, timber or agriculture. And sure, the gladiators have more feelings and souls than the capitalists, so ok, does that make it satire? But I think of this as more of a morality play. The truth at the heart of it is what is truly meant by freedom.
The gladiators aren’t all reformed either. There’s a lot of gray in these characters. But if most of the characters are nuanced, the story at times comes off as a little too didactic. But despite that, I was so enraptured by this story. Hope springs eternal and I wanted to see if there was anyway for there to be “a happy ending”.
The omniscient narrative lets us see all POVs - the gladiators, the protestors, the film producers, etc.
this was an intense audio experience. All the narrators did great jobs.
Note - this book includes footnotes. The narration makes an attempt to differentiate them, sometimes using a different narrator. And the footnotes include important info, which I appreciated. Adjei-Brenyah is careful not to overdo them. But it doesn’t work as smoothly as it probably does if reading.
I'll be honest, I had to psych myself up for listening to this. It’s got a really dark start and it doesn’t get any lighter. And the whole premise! In the future, prisoners in a private prison system are given a chance at freedom if they fight in death matches, which are treated as entertainment. But it requires three years of fighting to the death. This is “Survivor” taken to the ultimate extreme.
I always struggle with what constitutes satire. This has been described as satire. Certainly the premise is satire - a supposedly civilized society uses fighting to the death as a form of entertainment. The protestors call it “entertainment lynching”. But the story itself? I’m not so sure. Maybe because it cuts a little too close to the truth of how too often people are treated as fodder. I mean, Congress is fighting over a bill that would allow young teens to work in dangerous jobs such as mining, timber or agriculture. And sure, the gladiators have more feelings and souls than the capitalists, so ok, does that make it satire? But I think of this as more of a morality play. The truth at the heart of it is what is truly meant by freedom.
The gladiators aren’t all reformed either. There’s a lot of gray in these characters. But if most of the characters are nuanced, the story at times comes off as a little too didactic. But despite that, I was so enraptured by this story. Hope springs eternal and I wanted to see if there was anyway for there to be “a happy ending”.
The omniscient narrative lets us see all POVs - the gladiators, the protestors, the film producers, etc.
this was an intense audio experience. All the narrators did great jobs.
Note - this book includes footnotes. The narration makes an attempt to differentiate them, sometimes using a different narrator. And the footnotes include important info, which I appreciated. Adjei-Brenyah is careful not to overdo them. But it doesn’t work as smoothly as it probably does if reading.
May 24, 2023
I’m so proud of you, Nana Kwame, because this was fkn awesome.
More to come.
More to come.
July 31, 2023
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's novel Chain-Gang All-Stars is a dystopia of a near-future America where those imprisoned are recruited into televised gladiatorial events for a chance at freedom. It is a thoughtful critique of our broken justice system, mass incarceration, the commodification of prisoners, the violation of prisoner rights, and the commercialization of and subsequent desensitization to violence.
Peppered throughout the book are footnotes on actual laws, court rulings, studies, and prison data detailing all the ways our system is designed to punish POC, especially black Americans. These facts provide the basis for Adjei-Brenyah's fiction:
When racism is inherent to American policymaking, building into itself more and more ways to police black bodies, to keep them imprisoned in inhumane conditions, for for-profit private prisons to treat them as a revenue stream, their labor monetized, how far is our society from forcing the imprisoned to fight for entertainment?
The novel has a great concept, and never does it make a bad point; I just found its execution a little dry, a little lacking. The character work is very minimal, with the priority being Thurwar and Staxxx, their fighting power, and their love for one another. Anyone outside of them was secondary, with some characters only coming into existence when the story needed them, their backstories rushed.
As the book's main focus was Thurwar and Staxxx's relationship, I found the ending to be a bit cheap. It was a very obvious plot contrivance and felt like an emotional ploy, writing in a scenario almost impossible not to cry over.
While the twist works in regards to reality tv, a genre that thrives off this manner of drama, the book's primary focus isn't reality tv participant abuse. It's about the innately racist U.S. prison system treating the imprisoned as faceless, dehumanized numbers. The twist is too targeted, too specific that it doesn't reflect the actual attitudes that make imprisonment so cruel.
So great concept, admirable ambition, so-so execution.
Peppered throughout the book are footnotes on actual laws, court rulings, studies, and prison data detailing all the ways our system is designed to punish POC, especially black Americans. These facts provide the basis for Adjei-Brenyah's fiction:
When racism is inherent to American policymaking, building into itself more and more ways to police black bodies, to keep them imprisoned in inhumane conditions, for for-profit private prisons to treat them as a revenue stream, their labor monetized, how far is our society from forcing the imprisoned to fight for entertainment?
The novel has a great concept, and never does it make a bad point; I just found its execution a little dry, a little lacking. The character work is very minimal, with the priority being Thurwar and Staxxx, their fighting power, and their love for one another. Anyone outside of them was secondary, with some characters only coming into existence when the story needed them, their backstories rushed.
As the book's main focus was Thurwar and Staxxx's relationship, I found the ending to be a bit cheap. It was a very obvious plot contrivance and felt like an emotional ploy, writing in a scenario almost impossible not to cry over.
While the twist works in regards to reality tv, a genre that thrives off this manner of drama, the book's primary focus isn't reality tv participant abuse. It's about the innately racist U.S. prison system treating the imprisoned as faceless, dehumanized numbers. The twist is too targeted, too specific that it doesn't reflect the actual attitudes that make imprisonment so cruel.
So great concept, admirable ambition, so-so execution.
March 14, 2023
I had such high hopes for this with it being compared to squid game/hunger games/handmaids tale, but unfortunately I just found it really boring. I couldn’t keep track of the characters so didn’t really care about any of them - we’re following multiple perspectives but it didn’t tell you who was who at the start of each chapter so was confused half the time. Don’t think the idea of the dystopian world was explained properly so again was left confused. Also it had factual footnotes throughout the book which kept pulling me out of the story making it not flow well. I feel like this book has a lot to say about important topics but I just couldn’t follow the story enough to understand what message it was trying to get across.
December 17, 2022
I really enjoyed FRIDAY BLACK with its sharpness and its refusal to let you look away. You can still see a lot of that here, but taking one of his high-concept ideas and moving it out to novel length removes a lot of the oomph. I think I would have enjoyed a short story of this a lot, it could have fit well in his last collection. And the way he takes aim at the carceral world we live in and society's appetite for destruction and celebrity is an interesting combination.
I already have what would be considered extreme views on abolition and ending incarceration, so much of what Adjei-Brenyah wants to expose us to here isn't new to me. And I'm not sure that his points are always well taken. By pushing us to a future extreme, where incarcerated people are now heroic gladiators fighting to the death, it's removed enough from the present to almost feel like it isn't about our current prison system at all.
There is almost constant violence and brutality, we move from character to character to make sure that there is barely a space without these horrors. The respites we get are usually around our protagonists Loretta and Staxxx, who are the lead "links" in a "chain," a team of enslaved fighters who can be set free only if they kill long enough and with enough spectacle. Loretta and Staxxx are trying to make a new kind of chain, one where the members trust one another and don't commit violence against each other when upset or threatened. It's one of the most interesting parts of the book, this idea of creating trust in a world where violence is all you are valued for, but we do not get to dive deeply enough into it.
It is clear from quite early on, long before we find out, what the end of the book will be. I wish it felt like one of those inevitable endings of a great tragedy. But it doesn't. On one hand, I think that is the point. But on the other, I'm not sure it entirely is the point. It's never clear to me why Adjei-Brenyah is giving us a book whose goals are against violence but a book that also constantly displays violence as something delightful. It's not just the audiences that take pleasure, it's also the links. We see them as human, as sympathetic, despite their crimes. We know they are forced to kill. And yet, there is definitely pride and happiness taken from their previous kills. It muddles the themes for me, even though I understand that this would be a natural coping mechanism.
Overall it is more pastiche than novel, it can feel jarring in its movement from one scene to the next. The footnotes, which sometimes elaborate on a person who has died who was known only by a name, and other times elaborate on the horrors of our present-day prison system, can also be more jarring than affecting.
It took several days for me to read this, it is hard to get in a rhythm with it, and it's not something you can say you enjoy. I know this is purposeful. It wasn't enough to turn me off from the book. But I kept hoping for Adjei-Brenyah to say something to me about all the big ideas he dances around that went beyond the spectacle and the violence.
I already have what would be considered extreme views on abolition and ending incarceration, so much of what Adjei-Brenyah wants to expose us to here isn't new to me. And I'm not sure that his points are always well taken. By pushing us to a future extreme, where incarcerated people are now heroic gladiators fighting to the death, it's removed enough from the present to almost feel like it isn't about our current prison system at all.
There is almost constant violence and brutality, we move from character to character to make sure that there is barely a space without these horrors. The respites we get are usually around our protagonists Loretta and Staxxx, who are the lead "links" in a "chain," a team of enslaved fighters who can be set free only if they kill long enough and with enough spectacle. Loretta and Staxxx are trying to make a new kind of chain, one where the members trust one another and don't commit violence against each other when upset or threatened. It's one of the most interesting parts of the book, this idea of creating trust in a world where violence is all you are valued for, but we do not get to dive deeply enough into it.
It is clear from quite early on, long before we find out, what the end of the book will be. I wish it felt like one of those inevitable endings of a great tragedy. But it doesn't. On one hand, I think that is the point. But on the other, I'm not sure it entirely is the point. It's never clear to me why Adjei-Brenyah is giving us a book whose goals are against violence but a book that also constantly displays violence as something delightful. It's not just the audiences that take pleasure, it's also the links. We see them as human, as sympathetic, despite their crimes. We know they are forced to kill. And yet, there is definitely pride and happiness taken from their previous kills. It muddles the themes for me, even though I understand that this would be a natural coping mechanism.
Overall it is more pastiche than novel, it can feel jarring in its movement from one scene to the next. The footnotes, which sometimes elaborate on a person who has died who was known only by a name, and other times elaborate on the horrors of our present-day prison system, can also be more jarring than affecting.
It took several days for me to read this, it is hard to get in a rhythm with it, and it's not something you can say you enjoy. I know this is purposeful. It wasn't enough to turn me off from the book. But I kept hoping for Adjei-Brenyah to say something to me about all the big ideas he dances around that went beyond the spectacle and the violence.
May 29, 2023
Chain Gang All Stars is set in a dystopian future where prison inmates can participate in the CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment) program and fight until the death. If the inmate can survive all matches, then they can be released from Prison. The public loves watching these CAPE death matches and arenas stay packed with fans. But there are also those in the public that protest the matches and see it for what it is, a profit-raising program for the increasingly dominant privately owned prison system.
The story centers around two female fighters, Thurwar and Staxxx. Thurwar will be free in just a few more matches and she's preparing to leave her fellow inmates and leave their humanity intact. Since Thurwar is a popular fighter and a huge money maker, The corporate-owned prison will not make her exit easy.
I was on the fence about reading this one but after reading Washington Post’s Ron Charles’s stellar review, he convinced me to give this one a shot. This book is a mix of The Hunger Games and Gladiator. But mostly the story is about modern-day slavery aka institutional slavery.
The writing and her characterization were great.
Some of the characters in this book are good people who are forced to be punished forever for one mistake they made and some of the characters are simply bad people. Just like the synopsis insinuates, this book contains a ton of graphic violence in this story. Which I'm not a big fan of and my overall takeaway of the story was the underlying themes. The themes included in Chain Gang All Stars are moral reasoning, systematic racism, inhumane treatment of prisoners, how corporate greed could overrule our basic human rights, and what could happen when the government overreaches into our lives.
I listened to the audiobook version of Chain Gang All Stars and it was narrated by a full cast including, Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and Lee Osorio. Each narrator did a fantastic job of breathing life into the characters and making the story compelling. If you do decide to read this one, I highly recommend the audiobook.
Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was published on May 2 so it is available now! Many thanks to Libro FM, Pantheon, and Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted ALC.
Trigger warning:
Chain Gang All Stars is a very dark read. Like I said before, its full of violence and the prisoners have suffered unimaginable trauma. If any of this is triggering to you then I wouldn't recommend picking this one up.
The story centers around two female fighters, Thurwar and Staxxx. Thurwar will be free in just a few more matches and she's preparing to leave her fellow inmates and leave their humanity intact. Since Thurwar is a popular fighter and a huge money maker, The corporate-owned prison will not make her exit easy.
I was on the fence about reading this one but after reading Washington Post’s Ron Charles’s stellar review, he convinced me to give this one a shot. This book is a mix of The Hunger Games and Gladiator. But mostly the story is about modern-day slavery aka institutional slavery.
The writing and her characterization were great.
Some of the characters in this book are good people who are forced to be punished forever for one mistake they made and some of the characters are simply bad people. Just like the synopsis insinuates, this book contains a ton of graphic violence in this story. Which I'm not a big fan of and my overall takeaway of the story was the underlying themes. The themes included in Chain Gang All Stars are moral reasoning, systematic racism, inhumane treatment of prisoners, how corporate greed could overrule our basic human rights, and what could happen when the government overreaches into our lives.
I listened to the audiobook version of Chain Gang All Stars and it was narrated by a full cast including, Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and Lee Osorio. Each narrator did a fantastic job of breathing life into the characters and making the story compelling. If you do decide to read this one, I highly recommend the audiobook.
Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was published on May 2 so it is available now! Many thanks to Libro FM, Pantheon, and Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted ALC.
Trigger warning:
Chain Gang All Stars is a very dark read. Like I said before, its full of violence and the prisoners have suffered unimaginable trauma. If any of this is triggering to you then I wouldn't recommend picking this one up.
January 20, 2024
I tried but couldn't like or care for it better.
February 4, 2024
This is one of the most emotionally daunting books I’ve read in a long time. I needed to keep putting some distance between it and my reader’s heart. It honestly felt like the not so distant future—genuinely too real. And it’s terrifying. Sure, there is a lot of action and momentum, it’s easy to get swept up in the narrative but those footnotes! The footnotes ground the reader back in reality.
This dystopian society is our own.
More soon.
This dystopian society is our own.
More soon.
June 3, 2023
This novel is a revelation: so creative and so smart and so moving. A dystopian future in which criminals become gladiatorial bloodsport, hoping to "fight" their way to freedom in battles before a rabid TV and live audience that knows one convict will die in every match. The novel is a commentary on the flaws of the U.S. prison system, our cultural obsession with violent sports, and a deeply moving love story about the ties that bind (literally, in some cases) the chain-gang all-stars. And that ending? Never saw it coming. This novel is a gem. All the stars.
Read
March 23, 2023For the first time ever, I'm reviewing a book and not giving a star rating. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's upcoming novel, CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS is an Orwellian Hunger Games meets Squid Game. I am at a loss for words with what I just read, so I'll try to gather my thoughts as much as possible. This book takes place in a world in which America allows inmates to battle it out for a chance of freedom. The prison system in the United States has become a place for entertainment, where people become gladiators and battle to the death until their release is approved.
The story focuses mainly on Lorette Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx", who are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the most notable battlers in CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment). They are battling for a chance at freedom, with millions of viewers and packed arenas watching their lives closely. Becoming celebrities through this process, they also need to be mindful of the powers at be in CAPE. CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS is a book with many, many triggers involving racism and the effects of a capitalist government manipulating and abusing privilege. This depiction will be hard for readers and I honestly can't rate this book because it's a very painful and dark story. It's truly powerful in every rite and it is a book that every person who can handle the trauma should read. I am at a loss for words and I don't think my review will ever give this book justice.
The story focuses mainly on Lorette Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx", who are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the most notable battlers in CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment). They are battling for a chance at freedom, with millions of viewers and packed arenas watching their lives closely. Becoming celebrities through this process, they also need to be mindful of the powers at be in CAPE. CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS is a book with many, many triggers involving racism and the effects of a capitalist government manipulating and abusing privilege. This depiction will be hard for readers and I honestly can't rate this book because it's a very painful and dark story. It's truly powerful in every rite and it is a book that every person who can handle the trauma should read. I am at a loss for words and I don't think my review will ever give this book justice.
September 18, 2023
I was all prepared to say I have such a better result with the Read With Jenna selections than I do with America’s Darling, Reese . . . and then this one came along.
Chain Gang All-Stars tackles the penal system the same way S.A. Cosby tackled homophobia in Razorblade Tears . . . with a lot of gore and a heavy-handed Ted Talk sort of delivery. Per usual, the people who need a lesson on how unjust the American justice system can be will 100% be the people who would never even consider reading this. For me dystopia stories just aren’t really my jam to begin with and since I’m an old lady this had a been there/done that vibe a la the afore-giffed Mad Max, Gladiator, The Running Man, The Hunger Games, etc., etc., etc. but this one was somehow extremely boring.
Oh, and I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE bajillions of footnotes. (Because I am stupid and a wrongreader. There, save your breath folks. I trolled myself so you don’t have to.)
April 30, 2023
He clearly felt awe and respect for these two women but also was not bothered by the fact that they lived a razor's edge from death. He knew it likely helped that they were Black women; market research found that the public generally cared less for their survival. In the centre of the complicated nexus of adored and hated, desired but also easy to watch being destroyed, it had to be a Black woman.
This is as explosive as the cover and blurb promise and while the writing may not be the most smooth and 'literary' at the sentence level, this is literature as activism and that deserves the stars in my book.
Set in a barely-futuristic America, this is like a fevered combination of The Hunger Games and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? set against a background of the US industrial prison complex as an off-shoot of corporate capitalism and mass entertainment. Inmates choose or are tortured into signing up for the CAPE programme where they join gladiatorial chain-gangs and fight to the death in a brutal version of a sports league complete with huge sponsorship deals and crowd favourites.
But the fantasy is built on a solid foundation of facts about the US incarceration system and the 'justice' that condemns huge multiples of Black men to imprisonment, solitary confinement and state execution. The multiples of Black over white women imprisoned are less stark, but the shock is that 85% of women in prison have experienced some form of sexual violence. The story incorporates, as an example, a child prostitute of 16 given a life sentence for killing her rapist.
The book does a good job of interweaving a plotline that is always journeying to a defined climax with the political commentary and a more philosophical way of understanding the prisoners themselves, most of them murderers, some of the men also rapists. There is an especially potent strand of love as resistance that threads through the story and repeated instances of the idea of freedom through chosen death.
The whole thing makes compulsive reading not least via the engaging figures of Loretta Thurwar and Harmara Stacker, two 'queen' gladiators and lovers who command respect and a kind of twisted love from their hordes of fans... who also can't wait for the excitement of seeing them die.
Weaving together strands on how race intersects with the criminal 'justice' system, gender and violence, perverse cults of celebrity and the late capitalist commercialisation of everything where brutal death is the ultimate reality show that also makes billions for its organisers, this is an exciting 'now' book. The ending is a little psychologically opaque but this is nonetheless bracing and stirring.
Thanks to Random House, Vintage for an ARC via NetGalley
March 14, 2024
I just read Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and here is what I thought about it:
This was insanely good, and I am going to spend most of the review breaking down just how good this book is both in regard to the story it is telling and how the author is lifting that story with impeccable writing. I could right a whole essay about the many different things this book is doing, but I am most interested at this time to talk about the structure of this book, so that's what I am going to do. Before we jump in, here is a quick synopsis:
In an alternate America, the CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment) program is a controversial, popular, money-making program that allow prisoners to participate in gladiator style fights to the death. If an individual survives for three years in the program, they are granted freedom. We follow a myriad of characters that consist of links in their chains (some of the criminal athletes in their respectively owned groups), people that run the games from the outside, as well as protestors and consumers of the reality show that airs with the links as the central figures of the program.
And while there are several important figures in this story, some who you root for and others you want to see fail, there isn’t really a central main character which is, in my opinion, why this story works well. The book is rightfully compared to The Hunger Games in several of its themes and dystopian constructions, but the book is not about the characters (unlike in THG) and rightfully does not put any one character at the center of the story or develop a past/present/future for them in a way many readers might expect or enjoy. Instead, we are masterfully flung from POV to POV, from first person to third person, as the story emphasizes the public consciousness surrounding the morality, benefits, and drawbacks that the existence of this system begs you to consider.
If the story was only asking you to think about the atrocities of private prisons and the disproportionate criminalization of black Americans currently happening in America, the book would only come off a moralizing (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing by the way), but the book avoids only doing that because of how well written it is. Not that those themes aren’t important and central to the story, but something I like to think about with art is what makes this different and more useful than an essay about the same ideas? Why a novel? Why this story?
Let me see if I can explain why the construction of the book is unbelievably impressive. If you’ve been here for a while, you might know that my favorite book of all time is The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. Part of why I love that book so much is how it uses POV to decentralize the structure of the story from only focusing on the main characters to giving voice to every person they encounter along the way. It makes the world and the mission more impactful because we get to listen to everyone that participates in the scenario we are watching unfold. We do not get the same thing from CGAS, but we do get a similar effect as the story swings back and forth between POV characters without announcing itself or making itself obvious, and the writing is so stylized you can pretty immediately tell who you are following or in the head of immediately with little difficulty. The book is easy to understand (which is necessary for a book with this kind of purpose), and the effect of this swinging feels as though we are observers in the same way that people in the world of CGAS are observing the links and their lives filtered through the camera/editors of the show. The author only gives us pieces of people’s stories. We don’t get a lot of insight on Thurwar or Staxxx (two of our main characters in the story, definitely the pair that you are framed to root for) and we never get to see their POVs in first person. Alternatively, we get very surreal first-person clips of two links from another chain that are fated by the story to cross Thurwar and Staxxx in a death match.
Also, a reminder, at some point all of the links we see suffering at the hands of this program were people who ultimately committed crimes in the past. Some more extreme than others, and readers are going to feel different ways about their past actions when they are brought to light more clearly in the story. The viewers and the announcers (who we also get to follow at different times) don’t forget it. One of my favorite POVs in the entire story is the moments we get to follow a white woman who is in a relationship with a man who has been obsessed with the show and the battles for several seasons. She has not wanted to engage with the program because she felt it was immoral or wrong so it is only through the prompting of her SO that she begins engaging with the media which she feels terrible about but cannot help but be hooked by it. Her thoughts are much more complex about the show than her SO’s but at the end of the day she is still only considering the link in the program as people frozen in time, incapable of change… and that’s really at the heart of what this book is asking the reader to consider.
People change all the time. There is a pervasive narrative in America (and I’m sure in other places but I only know what I know) that genetics and experiences from your developmental stage of life predict who and how you are as an adult. If you get a low SAT score, they build a cell for you in prison. If you are black and come from a low-income neighborhood, they build a cell for you in prison. So, why are statistics and data that prove rapid cognitive development not used to incorporate interventions for people who are more likely to commit crimes based on their circumstances? Why are preventative and reformative programs underutilized in America?
Money.
The whole book proves that nobody cares about the morality of a thing as long as it makes people money, gives people power. And at the end of the day, that’s entirely the problem with our entire country. People with money sponsor politicians that vote for privatized interests. People with money invest in private prisons that make money off of the slave labor of prisoners.
But we know that (or at least some of us know that, for others this might be eye opening and if so that's also great), so why Chain-Gang All-Stars? It is my experience that people do not like being reminded of their failings, reminded of the “Well, I see the problem but what can I, and struggling white liberal who sympathizes but will never act, do about it?” But the book is asking you to think about that and also juggle your own place in this story with how much you want change the situation for these characters you feel absolute empathy for.
Readers, many of us are the viewers and the announcers. We are entertaining ourselves with a book condemning a system we are culpable in (of course not as much as other people but it’s still a reality we are watching unfold) and the book is asking us to come to terms with that. It’s not asking us to change, but it’s forcing us to look in the mirror and be satisfied with what we see, both as individuals and as citizens. Who are we in CGAS? The book was well written enough for us to see ourselves in this novel, in one of the many POV swings, and it’s likely we aren’t going to like what we see.
Then comes the question, when we don’t like what we see—what are we putting in front of us to distract us from that truth? How do we coach ourselves to manage our own cognitive dissonance? I'm not sure... but we should talk about it, right?
Ok. Well, it’s a 5/5 for me. Beautifully crafted. Beautifully paced. If you think the characters needed development, I ask you to think about the novel beyond the character level, it’s not about them. I should probably read it again because I only talked about a single part of what made the book good, but I’m done for now.
This was insanely good, and I am going to spend most of the review breaking down just how good this book is both in regard to the story it is telling and how the author is lifting that story with impeccable writing. I could right a whole essay about the many different things this book is doing, but I am most interested at this time to talk about the structure of this book, so that's what I am going to do. Before we jump in, here is a quick synopsis:
In an alternate America, the CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment) program is a controversial, popular, money-making program that allow prisoners to participate in gladiator style fights to the death. If an individual survives for three years in the program, they are granted freedom. We follow a myriad of characters that consist of links in their chains (some of the criminal athletes in their respectively owned groups), people that run the games from the outside, as well as protestors and consumers of the reality show that airs with the links as the central figures of the program.
And while there are several important figures in this story, some who you root for and others you want to see fail, there isn’t really a central main character which is, in my opinion, why this story works well. The book is rightfully compared to The Hunger Games in several of its themes and dystopian constructions, but the book is not about the characters (unlike in THG) and rightfully does not put any one character at the center of the story or develop a past/present/future for them in a way many readers might expect or enjoy. Instead, we are masterfully flung from POV to POV, from first person to third person, as the story emphasizes the public consciousness surrounding the morality, benefits, and drawbacks that the existence of this system begs you to consider.
If the story was only asking you to think about the atrocities of private prisons and the disproportionate criminalization of black Americans currently happening in America, the book would only come off a moralizing (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing by the way), but the book avoids only doing that because of how well written it is. Not that those themes aren’t important and central to the story, but something I like to think about with art is what makes this different and more useful than an essay about the same ideas? Why a novel? Why this story?
Let me see if I can explain why the construction of the book is unbelievably impressive. If you’ve been here for a while, you might know that my favorite book of all time is The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. Part of why I love that book so much is how it uses POV to decentralize the structure of the story from only focusing on the main characters to giving voice to every person they encounter along the way. It makes the world and the mission more impactful because we get to listen to everyone that participates in the scenario we are watching unfold. We do not get the same thing from CGAS, but we do get a similar effect as the story swings back and forth between POV characters without announcing itself or making itself obvious, and the writing is so stylized you can pretty immediately tell who you are following or in the head of immediately with little difficulty. The book is easy to understand (which is necessary for a book with this kind of purpose), and the effect of this swinging feels as though we are observers in the same way that people in the world of CGAS are observing the links and their lives filtered through the camera/editors of the show. The author only gives us pieces of people’s stories. We don’t get a lot of insight on Thurwar or Staxxx (two of our main characters in the story, definitely the pair that you are framed to root for) and we never get to see their POVs in first person. Alternatively, we get very surreal first-person clips of two links from another chain that are fated by the story to cross Thurwar and Staxxx in a death match.
Also, a reminder, at some point all of the links we see suffering at the hands of this program were people who ultimately committed crimes in the past. Some more extreme than others, and readers are going to feel different ways about their past actions when they are brought to light more clearly in the story. The viewers and the announcers (who we also get to follow at different times) don’t forget it. One of my favorite POVs in the entire story is the moments we get to follow a white woman who is in a relationship with a man who has been obsessed with the show and the battles for several seasons. She has not wanted to engage with the program because she felt it was immoral or wrong so it is only through the prompting of her SO that she begins engaging with the media which she feels terrible about but cannot help but be hooked by it. Her thoughts are much more complex about the show than her SO’s but at the end of the day she is still only considering the link in the program as people frozen in time, incapable of change… and that’s really at the heart of what this book is asking the reader to consider.
People change all the time. There is a pervasive narrative in America (and I’m sure in other places but I only know what I know) that genetics and experiences from your developmental stage of life predict who and how you are as an adult. If you get a low SAT score, they build a cell for you in prison. If you are black and come from a low-income neighborhood, they build a cell for you in prison. So, why are statistics and data that prove rapid cognitive development not used to incorporate interventions for people who are more likely to commit crimes based on their circumstances? Why are preventative and reformative programs underutilized in America?
Money.
The whole book proves that nobody cares about the morality of a thing as long as it makes people money, gives people power. And at the end of the day, that’s entirely the problem with our entire country. People with money sponsor politicians that vote for privatized interests. People with money invest in private prisons that make money off of the slave labor of prisoners.
But we know that (or at least some of us know that, for others this might be eye opening and if so that's also great), so why Chain-Gang All-Stars? It is my experience that people do not like being reminded of their failings, reminded of the “Well, I see the problem but what can I, and struggling white liberal who sympathizes but will never act, do about it?” But the book is asking you to think about that and also juggle your own place in this story with how much you want change the situation for these characters you feel absolute empathy for.
Readers, many of us are the viewers and the announcers. We are entertaining ourselves with a book condemning a system we are culpable in (of course not as much as other people but it’s still a reality we are watching unfold) and the book is asking us to come to terms with that. It’s not asking us to change, but it’s forcing us to look in the mirror and be satisfied with what we see, both as individuals and as citizens. Who are we in CGAS? The book was well written enough for us to see ourselves in this novel, in one of the many POV swings, and it’s likely we aren’t going to like what we see.
Then comes the question, when we don’t like what we see—what are we putting in front of us to distract us from that truth? How do we coach ourselves to manage our own cognitive dissonance? I'm not sure... but we should talk about it, right?
Ok. Well, it’s a 5/5 for me. Beautifully crafted. Beautifully paced. If you think the characters needed development, I ask you to think about the novel beyond the character level, it’s not about them. I should probably read it again because I only talked about a single part of what made the book good, but I’m done for now.
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