Half-Resurrection Blues, Audio Edition

Half-Resurrection Blues, Audio Edition (2015) Daniel José Older, narrated by Daniel José Older (Bone Street Rumba)

This is the first audio book I started when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be listening to.

Carlos Delacruz works for the NYC Council of the Dead. Being half-dead–and inbetweener–it’s one of the few jobs he can do, keeping the dead in line.

Do your thing.
“Which thing?”
An icy pause. Eliminate him.
And me: “Care to elucidate further?”
And them: Nope.

One of the things I like best about Daniel Jose Older’s writing is his snark.

…another little guy is definitely Indian/ Pakistani or maybe Puerto Rican. Or half-black. Whatever he is, he gets randomly searched every time he’s within twenty feet of an airport.

Bureaucracy’s got its own special language. It’s trifling, of course, the lowest order of poetry, and manages to divest words of all meaning and still weigh them down with extra banality.

This book also has one of my favorite throw-away passages of all time.

The eight-year-old giggles every time her abuelo picks up a card. Her laughter rises to a joyous cackle and she crows, “Uno!” The old man fusses with his mustache, furrows his brow, and then picks a card. And then another. “Chingada madre,” he mutters as the laughter continues unabated across the table. “Mierda.” Finally, he puts down one with a sigh and the girl gets real serious, scrunches up her face, and draws a card, then slams it down, yells, “Uno!” again, and resumes laughing.

Publisher: Audible Studios
Rating: 8/10

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