"Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations," by Mira Jacob

I have written here about some wonderful “graphic” books (with text plus drawings) – novels, memoirs, and others – in the past few years. I just “read” (but what is the right word for absorbing a book that has both text and drawings/photographs/illustrations?...the word “read” doesn’t seem quite right) “Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations” (Random House, 2018), by Mira Jacob. The main topic is race and racism. The book is organized around the author’s own experiences, as an Indian American (but one of her topics is trying to decide the correct term for those whose families originally arrive in the United States from India), with race and racism. She starts by quoting some questions her young son asks about himself and their family, including whether he could or should be like Michael Jackson, whom he greatly admires. Jacob’s husband is white and Jewish, so their son is biracial. The son asks, “Was Michael Jackson brown or was he white?” When Jacob replies that he was black but then he turned white, her son asks if she will turn white, and whether his father was always white. As he asks more questions, Jacob is torn about how to answer, how to help her son make sense of race and ethnicity in the U.S. She finds herself talking to him about such concepts as cultural appropriation. In any case, these conversations provide an entry into her memoir about her own experiences, feelings, questions, and resentments. She writes of her parents’ experiences and feelings as well, including regarding their arranged marriage. Bringing in her Indian ethnicity and history also raises questions of religion, especially regarding Muslims and Hindus. Her husband tries to explain the Holocaust to their son. Jacob also discusses gender and sexual identities. She is good at exploring and pointing out bigotry, but also the confusions and questions about race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexuality. She is also good at pointing out the small examples of “everyday” racism, including by well-meaning people. She doesn’t use the word “microaggressions,” but those are in fact what she is in some cases describing. Now I have to say that I can’t quite describe the particular mixture in this book of questioning, describing problems, wry commentary, confusion, hurt, and compelling portrayals of daily life in a “mixed” family in the U.S. I will also note that the non-text parts are mostly in grey, with flashes of other colors, and use an intriguing technique of drawings that look like they are modeled on photographs, and that repeat the same drawings of the same faces (at least of the main characters) throughout the book. The idea of “good talk” seems to be that it is important to talk about these issues and experiences, but at the same time the book gently mocks itself as it is clear that there are not always correct or obvious answers to racial questions as they play out in daily life, and talk is not enough.