The seven days that follow are like a fevered dream: stories of love, trauma, sex, kinship, ambition, and the heartbreaking recollection of his beloved kokum (grandmother). Self-ordained as an NDN glitter princess, Jonny has one week before he must return to the “rez” - and his former life - to attend the funeral of his stepfather. Off the reserve and trying to find ways to live and love in the big city, Jonny becomes a cybersex worker who fetishizes himself in order to make a living.

“You're gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine” is a mantra that Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, repeats to himself in this vivid and utterly compelling debut novel by poet Joshua Whitehead. Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller PrizeĪ tour-de-force debut novel about a Two-Spirit Indigiqueer young man and proud NDN glitter princess who must reckon with his past when he returns home to his reserve. The exploration of the inherent kinship between Indigenous peoples and descendants of displaced Africans is well overdue, and emerging more and more.Winner, Lambda Literary Award Georges Bugnet Award for Fictionįinalist, Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction Amazon Canada First Novel Award Indigenous Voices Award Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award Firecracker Award for Fiction The fact that these two texts might be in conversation with one another is fascinating and, in a way, inevitable. Lastly, I was struck by the similarities between Jonny Appleseed and Toni Morrison’s writing, with a direct quote from Beloved appearing somewhere along the way. And as much as I love a literary sex scene, they quickly become superfluous and never reach the graphic levels of, say, Marlon James’ explicit writing, which I was waiting and hoping for. My only critique is the frequent display of sentimentality, grand speeches where characters disclose their love having kept their feelings bottled up for the preceding lifetime. There are lots of sex scenes, many fluids are mentioned (if you are squeamish or prudish, it may not be for you), but even more memorable is one scene about nails being cut that to this very moment makes me skin crawl to think about the description of clippers and blood and skin. The writing is incredibly vivid, and I mean incredible. He reflects upon his memories of growing up on rez, his relationship with his grandmother, mother, and friends/lovers from that recent past as he prepares to return for a funeral. Jonny Appleseed is a coming of age story of the title character who is Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, living in Winnipeg, and working in the cybersex industry. Whitehead’s voice is beautiful and melodic, and made the book even more enjoyable, even though I have nothing else to compare it to. I was fortunate enough to have Joshua Whitehead himself read me Jonny Appleseed on audiobook, and it was a treat.

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead