A Review of Mira Jacob’s Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations (One World, 2019)

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A Review of Mira Jacob’s Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations (One World, 2019).
By Stephen Hong Sohn

Mira Jacob’s Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations (One World, 2019) was another one of those books I was saving for the right time. It looked like a graphic memoir to me, at least at first, but what becomes apparently is the Jacob is employing a sort of visual staging for something closer to a visual documentary. It’s really hard to explain without the visuals, but Jacob herself (when I was listening to a podcast) calls it a kind of puppet show. A given panel usually has a standard pictographic background and then some faces, usually a picture of her son Z and then a picture of herself. Then, there is a conversation staged. In any case, one of the most challenging elements that Jacob makes clear is how to explain race and racism to a child, especially if your own child is of mixed-race background (half Indian/ half Jewish). Jacob’s child is incredibly sensitive and inquisitive, which enables Jacob to explore difficult topics, especially those that have arisen amid Trump’s ascendancy to the white house. Let’s get a snippet from the official page! So, the excerpt first begins with some of Z’s questions: “How brown is too brown?” “Can Indians be racist?” “What does real love between really different people look like?” From there, we get this description: “Like many six-year-olds, Mira Jacob’s half-Jewish, half-Indian son, Z, has questions about everything. At first, they are innocuous enough, but as tensions from the 2016 election spread from the media into his own family, they become much, much more complicated. Trying to answer him honestly, Mira has to think back to where she’s gotten her own answers: her most formative conversations about race, color, sexuality, and, of course, love. Written with humor and vulnerability, this deeply relatable graphic memoir is a love letter to the art of conversation—and to the hope that hovers in our most difficult questions.” Frankly, I adored this memoir. There was a section where I definitely had the feels. In the middle, there is a sequence during which Jacob narrates the period of time when she gets some marijuana for her father, who is suffering from cancer. As her father’s appetite has fallen, she seeks anything that might help stimulate his eating habits. Jacob’s therapeutic approach succeeds but also has an extra benefit: they end up starting to get high together and bonding in that process. One of the difficult things, though, is that Jacob’s father does not survive his bout with cancer. The other part of the memoir that was absolutely outstanding is Jacob’s treatment of her in-laws, who are Trump supporters. Somehow, Jacob has to find the right balance between allowing her in-laws to have their own political views while also articulating the fact that, despite this great gulf, she can somehow still love them. Given all of the factionalism and hate speech that has emerged in recent years, Jacob’s memoir strikes at the very heart of a divided America. I can’t think of a better book to stimulate deep conversations in the classroom. Though I won’t be teaching for the next year, I will certainly adopt this particular work at the first chance I can get. It will certainly pair well with the numerous outstanding graphic memoirs that have been coming out lately by Asian American writers (e.g. the work of Thi Bui, Malaka Gharib, G.B. Tran, etc).

For more on the book go here:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/543942/good-talk-by-mira-jacob/9780399589041/ 

Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Nicholas Clark
Web Posting: Xiomara Forbez

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don't hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at sohnucr@gmail.com
Nicholas Clark, PhD Student in English, at nclar004@ucr.edu