Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk | 
so-soSasha LaPointe ends her memoir with a poem (or perhaps song lyrics; she‘s a poet as well as member of the Seattle-based punk band Medusa Stare). Poetry strikes me as a much better format for her writing. LaPointe, a Coast Salish author from the Nooksack and Upper Skagit Indian tribes, is an “aging Millennial” who has not lived an easy life. She‘s been homeless, has survived sexual abuse, and has worked to heal herself from inherited trauma. 👇🏻
monalyisha 1/3: As a human being, my empathy for her lived experience makes me remiss to criticize her work. But as a reader, I have to admit that her story — told, as it is, in a linear format — comes across as relentlessly and brutally one-note. (edited) 2mo
monalyisha 2/3: Her audiobook, which she expertly reads herself (her severe asthma making itself known but not detracting from her story), is 4 hours & 45 minutes long. It‘s not until the last 45 minutes that you get relief from the rather desperate tone. The previous 4 hours are crammed full of wailing, gasping for breath, screaming, and collapsing. She writes, “If the women in my family were sick, we knew how to heal.” (edited) 2mo
monalyisha 3/3: I wish she‘d been able to strike a more nuanced balance between sickness and healing, personal narrative and ancestral history. From here, I‘m tempted to seek out her poetry, crank some Against Me!, and dive into a rewatch of Twin Peaks (a show Sasha unabashedly loves while actively critiquing). (edited) 2mo
monalyisha TW: Medical content, medical trauma, violence, racism, sexual assault, miscarriage, drug abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempt. 2mo
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