Book Review: First Spring Grass Fire, by Rae Spoon
Jennifer LoveGrove, Special to National Post | Sep 7, 2012 11:00 AM ET | Last Updated: Sep 8, 2012 10:43 AM ET
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/09/07/book-review-first-spring-grass-fire-by-rae-spoon/Accomplished Canadian musician Rae Spoon's first book, First Spring Grass Fire, is a collection of very short, linked stories about coming of age in a suburban Alberta Pentecostal family. The book's narrator, not coincidentally, is also named Rae, suggesting that the lines of fiction and autobiography may be blurred. With a unique voice both wry and vulnerable, Rae Spoon — who is transgendered and prefers the pronoun "they" — compellingly characterizes their experiences of being queer in a hostile environment, dealing with a mentally ill father, falling in love, and seeking kinship, acceptance and home.
The yearning for genuine family connection underscores many of the stories, and contrasts with the isolated Pentecostal lifestyle that denies Rae's sexual identity.
