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Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Graphic Novels & Comics (2019)Mira Jacob's touching, often humorous, and utterly unique graphic memoir takes readers on her journey as a first-generation American. At an increasingly fraught time for immigrants and their families, Good Talk delves into the difficult conversations about race, sex, love, and family that seem to be unavoidable these days.
Inspired by her popular BuzzFeed piece "37 Difficult Questions from My Mixed-Raced Son," here are Jacob's responses to her six-year-old, Zakir, who asks if the new president hates brown boys like him; uncomfortable relationship advice from her parents, who came to the United States from India one month into their arranged marriage; and the imaginary therapy sessions she has with celebrities from Bill Murray to Madonna. Jacob also investigates her own past, from her memories of being the only non-white fifth grader to win a Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest to how it felt to be a brown-skinned New Yorker on 9/11. As earnest and moving as they are sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, these are the stories that have formed one American life.
Inspired by her popular BuzzFeed piece "37 Difficult Questions from My Mixed-Raced Son," here are Jacob's responses to her six-year-old, Zakir, who asks if the new president hates brown boys like him; uncomfortable relationship advice from her parents, who came to the United States from India one month into their arranged marriage; and the imaginary therapy sessions she has with celebrities from Bill Murray to Madonna. Jacob also investigates her own past, from her memories of being the only non-white fifth grader to win a Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest to how it felt to be a brown-skinned New Yorker on 9/11. As earnest and moving as they are sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, these are the stories that have formed one American life.
349 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2019
540 people are currently reading
48.8k people want to read
About the author
Mira Jacob
7 books1,289 followersI am the author and illustrator of Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations. My first novel, The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, was a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick, shortlisted for India’s Tata First Literature Award, and longlisted for the Brooklyn Literary Eagles Prize.
My writing and drawings have appeared in The New York Times, Electric Literature, Tin House, Literary Hub, Guernica, Vogue, the Telegraph, and Buzzfeed, and I have a drawn column on Shondaland. I am currently the Visiting Professor at The New School, and a founding faculty member of the MFA Program at Randolph College.
If I could travel back in time, I would avoid long journeys by boat and take a pair of tweezers.
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing is my first novel. Good Talk is my first memoir, and my first drawn book. Apparently I am big on firsts.
My writing and drawings have appeared in The New York Times, Electric Literature, Tin House, Literary Hub, Guernica, Vogue, the Telegraph, and Buzzfeed, and I have a drawn column on Shondaland. I am currently the Visiting Professor at The New School, and a founding faculty member of the MFA Program at Randolph College.
If I could travel back in time, I would avoid long journeys by boat and take a pair of tweezers.
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing is my first novel. Good Talk is my first memoir, and my first drawn book. Apparently I am big on firsts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,918 reviews
December 19, 2019
“I'm supposed to be thankful for everything. Thank you for publishing me! Thank you for asking me to attend an event! Thank you for thanking me for writing characters you could relate to despite them being Indian! Thank you for saying you almost felt like they were just normal people!”
4 ½ stars. Mira Jacob has done such an amazing job with this graphic memoir that it's hard to know what to praise first. The meditation on interracial families and racism in America? The mixed media artwork? The warm and funny dialogue between Mira and the characters?
I guess I'll start with the first one. Good Talk literally is a "memoir in conversations". It begins with Mira discussing Michael Jackson and race with her six-year-old son. In order to answer his questions about being Indian-American, being brown, being white, and just why Donald Trump got elected, Mira must examine those questions herself.
She takes us back to her parents' arranged marriage, then to them coming to America, then to her own childhood of being deemed ugly because she is dark-skinned, and then to later struggles with dating and publishing her manuscript with distinctly Indian names.
She covers so many things like white men fetishizing Indian women, interviewers explaining how things are in America even though she was born there herself, and her white Jewish in-laws supporting Trump because they don't believe he is actually racist. It all builds up to what we know is coming - the 2016 election - but her hope throughout that America will be better and not make that choice is, with hindsight, just very sad.
Jacob uses a combination of drawings and photography to tell her story, which also worked really well for me. She combines this style with some really sweet and funny dialogue, especially between Mira and her son. I love how the book manages to talk about really serious and important issues, but is also full of heartwarming and hilarious moments. Mira getting stoned with her Dad cracked me up.
A wonderful memoir and a quick read. I think I've made this obvious, but note that the book contains racism, Islamophobia and drug use.
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August 8, 2018GOOD TALK isn’t just Mira Jacobs's personal story: it also illuminates the increasingly fractured world we live in. By turns hilarious and heart-rending, it plunges fearlessly into the murky gray areas of race and family, of struggling to find common ground, of trying to talk to our children and help them make sense of it all. It's exactly the book America needs at this moment.
December 18, 2024
two of my favorite things (memoirs and conversations).
this is a super lovely and unique medium for discussing topics that are pretty well-tread.
in other words, it is both super original (illustrations done by the author of herself and her loved ones and text bubbles of their conversations are interlaid over photos to create a kind of collage-y graphic novel effect) and filled with a lot of things i have heard a lot of times (it is mostly about how to deal with your in-laws who have voted for trump, a discussion i feel i have heard 900,000 times in the last 9 years).
but still, it's loving and thoughtful and the added touch of it being mostly conversations between the author and her son was also unique.
i think if i had read this when it was published, in 2019, i may have liked it more. but instead i'm a little burnt out of the same sort of discourse.
even if this is the best it's been done.
bottom line: i don't know why i'm complaining so much. i liked this! i'm just also running on 3.5 hours of sleep and waiting for a delayed train in an uncomfortable metal seat.
(review to come)
this is a super lovely and unique medium for discussing topics that are pretty well-tread.
in other words, it is both super original (illustrations done by the author of herself and her loved ones and text bubbles of their conversations are interlaid over photos to create a kind of collage-y graphic novel effect) and filled with a lot of things i have heard a lot of times (it is mostly about how to deal with your in-laws who have voted for trump, a discussion i feel i have heard 900,000 times in the last 9 years).
but still, it's loving and thoughtful and the added touch of it being mostly conversations between the author and her son was also unique.
i think if i had read this when it was published, in 2019, i may have liked it more. but instead i'm a little burnt out of the same sort of discourse.
even if this is the best it's been done.
bottom line: i don't know why i'm complaining so much. i liked this! i'm just also running on 3.5 hours of sleep and waiting for a delayed train in an uncomfortable metal seat.
(review to come)
October 11, 2019
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversation by Mira Jacobs is a 2019 One World publication.
Thought provoking, humorous, deeply revealing, and heart wrenching
A new- found interest in graphic novels led me to this book originally. When I started reading this book, I had no idea I was about to have my emotions put through the wringer. Despite the raw feelings exposed in this novel, I can’t stress how important I think the book is. All Americans should give this book a try, because so many people are too squeamish to have these tough discussions, and I think this book could help promote understanding and healing.
Mira Jacob’s six year old son begins asking his mother some pointed and blunt questions about skin tone, race, and other situations in his life, prompting Mira to think of the conflicted messages she received while growing up, while allowing a few pent up frustrations to surface, as she ponders the best way to address her son’s questions.
For regular readers of graphic novels, the artwork might come as a bit of a surprise. The graphics consist of real photographs with superimposed artwork added in. The art is not eye popping, with well -drawn facial expressions or vivid colorization. In fact, to be blunt, the author used some of the same artwork in several photographs more than once, and the features are very plain. However, there is a method to the madness, and if one thinks about it, this is a more fitting approach, and is most assuredly done by design.
I truly appreciated the reality of this memoir. It is frank, raw, messy, and very honest. Often there are no pat answers and each person’s situation is unique. For Mira, she is an Indian with a darker complexion and her husband is Jewish. Her mixed- race son, Z, is quite perceptive, especially in our current political climate, and his questions prompt some uncomfortable conversations. This is a good thing, though. Mira doesn’t always know how to answer Z, something all parents can understand. Yet, when it comes to race and bigotry, explanations can be a bit tricky.
At times Mira can seem a little sharp, as her frustrations spill over causing a little friction in her marriage. But this is part of her journey, which in having these frank conversations with her son, friends, husband, extended family and others on the periphery of her life, she discovers certain truths about herself.
I had a good, heaving cry while reading this book. It truly made my heart hurt. Dear Mira, I do hope you know that many people, despite not living within the same set of circumstances as yourself, do very keenly feel your pain.
As serious as all this sounds, the book is markedly funny at times, and it is even cathartic in some ways. The title of the book is apt- This is indeed a “Good Talk”, one we all should consider taking part in.
A must read!
Thought provoking, humorous, deeply revealing, and heart wrenching
A new- found interest in graphic novels led me to this book originally. When I started reading this book, I had no idea I was about to have my emotions put through the wringer. Despite the raw feelings exposed in this novel, I can’t stress how important I think the book is. All Americans should give this book a try, because so many people are too squeamish to have these tough discussions, and I think this book could help promote understanding and healing.
Mira Jacob’s six year old son begins asking his mother some pointed and blunt questions about skin tone, race, and other situations in his life, prompting Mira to think of the conflicted messages she received while growing up, while allowing a few pent up frustrations to surface, as she ponders the best way to address her son’s questions.
For regular readers of graphic novels, the artwork might come as a bit of a surprise. The graphics consist of real photographs with superimposed artwork added in. The art is not eye popping, with well -drawn facial expressions or vivid colorization. In fact, to be blunt, the author used some of the same artwork in several photographs more than once, and the features are very plain. However, there is a method to the madness, and if one thinks about it, this is a more fitting approach, and is most assuredly done by design.
I truly appreciated the reality of this memoir. It is frank, raw, messy, and very honest. Often there are no pat answers and each person’s situation is unique. For Mira, she is an Indian with a darker complexion and her husband is Jewish. Her mixed- race son, Z, is quite perceptive, especially in our current political climate, and his questions prompt some uncomfortable conversations. This is a good thing, though. Mira doesn’t always know how to answer Z, something all parents can understand. Yet, when it comes to race and bigotry, explanations can be a bit tricky.
At times Mira can seem a little sharp, as her frustrations spill over causing a little friction in her marriage. But this is part of her journey, which in having these frank conversations with her son, friends, husband, extended family and others on the periphery of her life, she discovers certain truths about herself.
I had a good, heaving cry while reading this book. It truly made my heart hurt. Dear Mira, I do hope you know that many people, despite not living within the same set of circumstances as yourself, do very keenly feel your pain.
As serious as all this sounds, the book is markedly funny at times, and it is even cathartic in some ways. The title of the book is apt- This is indeed a “Good Talk”, one we all should consider taking part in.
A must read!
April 18, 2019
Update... I'm back!! (2nd read).....physical book this time.
I can't say enough about this book!!!! After I listened to the Audiobook -- which I thought was BRILLIANT.... I ended up buying the physical -'graphic' book last week too.
Its AMAZING!!!!!
Mira Jacob outdid herself -A TRIPLE THREAT author, graphic artist, speaker: the storytelling of this MEMOIR, the graphics, READING her book -
I met Mira at a reading in Austin years ago (liked her very much) --read her first novel, "The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing".....but with 'this book'....she has elevated my deepest respect for her talent -ten times over!!!!
The very first sentence/page captures your attention:
"The Trouble began when my 6 year old son, Z, became obsessed with Michael Jackson".
"What's obsessed? Like Into?"
"Yes"
"I'm obsessed".
You can't go wrong with this graphic physical book --or the Audiobook!!!
As Author Celeste Ng says on the back of this book:
"Good Talk" illuminates the increasing fractured world we live in today. By turns hilarious and heart-rending, it plunges fearlessly into the murky gray areas of race and family, of struggling to find common ground, of trying to talk to our children and have them make sense of it all".
Hate to see readers miss this one! Highly recommend it!
Audiobook....narrated by Mira Jacob, and a wonderful full cast
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC..... A MUST LISTEN TO!!!!!!!
ITS HILARIOUS......but... WE FEEL THE PAIN!!!!!!
I laughed, I cried, I was in ‘aw’ with Mira’s son, Z. I fell deep in love with Mira - her family - and Mira’s ruthless passion.
WE REALLY GET the pain & hurt she has lived with her ENTIRE LIFE... WE GET THE MESSAGE....SOO deeply - I still have tears in my eyes as I type.
I was incredibly impressed with the styling- crafting - of BOTH THE BOOK ( written words Mira wrote), and the brilliant creativeness in the audiobook. There were added sounds that were outstanding and powerful. Why has nobody else thought of this yet? Mira may have started a trend in adding more creativity audiobooks.
This book is so gut wrenching RAW- and REAL. I listen from start to finish without stopping. It’s only 2 hours long....
........soooo wonderful -
You finish wanting everyone to get their hands on this!!!
I read Mira Jacob’s first book, “The Sleepwalker’s Guide To Dancing”, years ago. I later met her at a book festival in Austin. We had a great conversation. I liked Mira’s first book - remember much of it well.....
But in this book, she out does herself. REALLY A POWERFUL PUNCH!!!
****GOOD TALK****, like the title says! is ****GREAT TALK****!!!!
It’s been a long time since I was THIS jazzed about THE AUDIOBOOK ‘itself’.
Two other audiobooks gave me the chills - Goosebumps- as in SO FRICKEN FRESH - in delivery and dialogue. “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”, by Sherman Alexie moved me BIG TIME.....
AND NOW......
“GOOD TALK”..... moved me BIG TIME! It will move you!!!!!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
I can't say enough about this book!!!! After I listened to the Audiobook -- which I thought was BRILLIANT.... I ended up buying the physical -'graphic' book last week too.
Its AMAZING!!!!!
Mira Jacob outdid herself -A TRIPLE THREAT author, graphic artist, speaker: the storytelling of this MEMOIR, the graphics, READING her book -
I met Mira at a reading in Austin years ago (liked her very much) --read her first novel, "The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing".....but with 'this book'....she has elevated my deepest respect for her talent -ten times over!!!!
The very first sentence/page captures your attention:
"The Trouble began when my 6 year old son, Z, became obsessed with Michael Jackson".
"What's obsessed? Like Into?"
"Yes"
"I'm obsessed".
You can't go wrong with this graphic physical book --or the Audiobook!!!
As Author Celeste Ng says on the back of this book:
"Good Talk" illuminates the increasing fractured world we live in today. By turns hilarious and heart-rending, it plunges fearlessly into the murky gray areas of race and family, of struggling to find common ground, of trying to talk to our children and have them make sense of it all".
Hate to see readers miss this one! Highly recommend it!
Audiobook....narrated by Mira Jacob, and a wonderful full cast
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC..... A MUST LISTEN TO!!!!!!!
ITS HILARIOUS......but... WE FEEL THE PAIN!!!!!!
I laughed, I cried, I was in ‘aw’ with Mira’s son, Z. I fell deep in love with Mira - her family - and Mira’s ruthless passion.
WE REALLY GET the pain & hurt she has lived with her ENTIRE LIFE... WE GET THE MESSAGE....SOO deeply - I still have tears in my eyes as I type.
I was incredibly impressed with the styling- crafting - of BOTH THE BOOK ( written words Mira wrote), and the brilliant creativeness in the audiobook. There were added sounds that were outstanding and powerful. Why has nobody else thought of this yet? Mira may have started a trend in adding more creativity audiobooks.
This book is so gut wrenching RAW- and REAL. I listen from start to finish without stopping. It’s only 2 hours long....
........soooo wonderful -
You finish wanting everyone to get their hands on this!!!
I read Mira Jacob’s first book, “The Sleepwalker’s Guide To Dancing”, years ago. I later met her at a book festival in Austin. We had a great conversation. I liked Mira’s first book - remember much of it well.....
But in this book, she out does herself. REALLY A POWERFUL PUNCH!!!
****GOOD TALK****, like the title says! is ****GREAT TALK****!!!!
It’s been a long time since I was THIS jazzed about THE AUDIOBOOK ‘itself’.
Two other audiobooks gave me the chills - Goosebumps- as in SO FRICKEN FRESH - in delivery and dialogue. “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”, by Sherman Alexie moved me BIG TIME.....
AND NOW......
“GOOD TALK”..... moved me BIG TIME! It will move you!!!!!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
August 11, 2020
“I'm supposed to be thankful for everything. Thank you for publishing me! Thank you for asking me to attend an event! Thank you for thanking me for writing characters you could relate to despite them being Indian! Thank you for saying you almost felt like they were just normal people! [...] Thank you for telling me you wish you had been brave enough to date the Indian girls in high school! Thank you for asking me about whether or not you should take a vacation to India! Thank you for telling me that your Indian neighbor makes your hallway smell like curry! Thank you for apologizing for hating curry, like I am curry's mother!”
I love this book. Are you honestly sick of all the earnest and guilt-inducing books about race and/or need a few laughs and then might even still welcome a punch in the gut once again on the subject? You know, I picked up this book a couple times and put it down in spite of the general buzz in favor of it. Sometimes a book is just not right for you, or is the wrong time or place to read it. And then I picked it up again and read it through in almost one sitting and it’s one of the best books for me of the year. It’s a memoir that got put in the graphic novels category, but it’s really best described as a series of illustrated conversations—really, really good conversations, SO well-written, between Mira Jacobs (Indian-American, or East Indian, or South Asian), her Jewish husband, her (necessarily mixed-race 6-year-old son Z who is really the heart of the story, her parents, her parents-in-law, plenty of friends and several strangers, many of them tone-deaf with respect to the issue of race.
The book spans Jacob’s life, including her parents’s arranged marriage, their concern for her marrying someone non-Indian (as her husband’s family would have preferred her to be Jewish), her being disdained by some of her own family (and other Indians) for being too dark (yes, my second book on colorism in a single week, the first a picture book, Sulwe). It is sometimes wincingly painful to read but is mostly hilarious, including great kid questions Z asks her, a story about a woman who wants to hire her to write about her Founding Fathers family, her Daughters of the American Revolution award-winning essay, her attempts to get pot for her Dad as he suffers through cancer, and so on.
The dialogue is almost perfectly pitched on every page, just terrific. Good talk? Oh, it's better than that! It’s Great Talk. And oh my, yes, Jacobs can write, all the way through this:
“We think our hearts break only from endings - the love gone, the rooms empty, the future unhappening as we stand ready to step into it - but what about how they can shatter in the face of what is possible.”
If you are not already convinced, just read part of this note to her son and try to tell me you are not interested in this book:
“Once, before I had you, I saw you. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I was pregnant and standing alone outside a party, and when you kicked, I shut my eyes and saw you on a beach we would arrive at almost five years later. You were facing the water and wearing your blue swimsuit and I knew, from the curve in your spine and the nut brown of your skin, that you were mine to protect like nothing else ever will be. So when you first started asking me hard questions, the ones about America and your place here, I wanted to find you the right answers - the kind that would make you feel good, welcome, and loved. I thought if I could just remember the country I'd been raised to believe in, the one I was sure I would eventually get to, I'd be able to get us back there.
Here is the thing, though, the real, true thing I still have trouble admitting: I can't protect you from everything. I can't protect you from becoming a brown man in America. I can't protect you from spending a lifetime caught between the beautiful dream of a diverse nation and the complicated reality of one.
Even now, just writing that down, I want to say something that will make it okay, or even make it make sense, but I can't.
And this is maybe the part I worry about the most, how the weight of that will twist you into someone you don't want to be, or worse, make you ashamed of your own heart. I hope you will remember that you have nothing to be ashamed of. I hope you will remember that your heart is a good one, and that your capacity to feel love, in all its complexity, is a gift.”
Because it spans her life thus far, it does touch on Bush, Obama and Trump presidencies and what they have meant for people of color. One of the most painful moments is when she sees that her parents-in-law are Trump supporters--I can relate a bit, as some of my sibs are Trump supporters, but I am a white guy, so the implications are somewhat different, (not that it's a competition for most wronged here)-- after she was invited to their dog's Bark Mitzvah (I know, funny, right?) and was mistaken for being a servant by some of her mother-in-law's friends which she--the mom-in-law--dismissed as not believable. Anyway, I know, you’re sick of all the Trump stuff, but I swear, you need to read it. Ouch-laughter stuff.
The illustrations are sort of like cut-out still life drawings, often pasted on photographs, depicting Jacobs and whoever she is talking to facing us, in tableaux-fashion, which sounds sort of stilted, I know, but even though many images are just pasted in again and again, I found the surface of them sort of ironic, understated and increasingly poignant in keeping with the humor/anguish. I don't see this as a "graphic memoir" as it is not comics, but who cares, it's still visually interesting. And the tone moves from that hilarity to raw anguish and back as we move through Trump American 2016. I love this book and so highly recommend it.
I love this book. Are you honestly sick of all the earnest and guilt-inducing books about race and/or need a few laughs and then might even still welcome a punch in the gut once again on the subject? You know, I picked up this book a couple times and put it down in spite of the general buzz in favor of it. Sometimes a book is just not right for you, or is the wrong time or place to read it. And then I picked it up again and read it through in almost one sitting and it’s one of the best books for me of the year. It’s a memoir that got put in the graphic novels category, but it’s really best described as a series of illustrated conversations—really, really good conversations, SO well-written, between Mira Jacobs (Indian-American, or East Indian, or South Asian), her Jewish husband, her (necessarily mixed-race 6-year-old son Z who is really the heart of the story, her parents, her parents-in-law, plenty of friends and several strangers, many of them tone-deaf with respect to the issue of race.
The book spans Jacob’s life, including her parents’s arranged marriage, their concern for her marrying someone non-Indian (as her husband’s family would have preferred her to be Jewish), her being disdained by some of her own family (and other Indians) for being too dark (yes, my second book on colorism in a single week, the first a picture book, Sulwe). It is sometimes wincingly painful to read but is mostly hilarious, including great kid questions Z asks her, a story about a woman who wants to hire her to write about her Founding Fathers family, her Daughters of the American Revolution award-winning essay, her attempts to get pot for her Dad as he suffers through cancer, and so on.
The dialogue is almost perfectly pitched on every page, just terrific. Good talk? Oh, it's better than that! It’s Great Talk. And oh my, yes, Jacobs can write, all the way through this:
“We think our hearts break only from endings - the love gone, the rooms empty, the future unhappening as we stand ready to step into it - but what about how they can shatter in the face of what is possible.”
If you are not already convinced, just read part of this note to her son and try to tell me you are not interested in this book:
“Once, before I had you, I saw you. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I was pregnant and standing alone outside a party, and when you kicked, I shut my eyes and saw you on a beach we would arrive at almost five years later. You were facing the water and wearing your blue swimsuit and I knew, from the curve in your spine and the nut brown of your skin, that you were mine to protect like nothing else ever will be. So when you first started asking me hard questions, the ones about America and your place here, I wanted to find you the right answers - the kind that would make you feel good, welcome, and loved. I thought if I could just remember the country I'd been raised to believe in, the one I was sure I would eventually get to, I'd be able to get us back there.
Here is the thing, though, the real, true thing I still have trouble admitting: I can't protect you from everything. I can't protect you from becoming a brown man in America. I can't protect you from spending a lifetime caught between the beautiful dream of a diverse nation and the complicated reality of one.
Even now, just writing that down, I want to say something that will make it okay, or even make it make sense, but I can't.
And this is maybe the part I worry about the most, how the weight of that will twist you into someone you don't want to be, or worse, make you ashamed of your own heart. I hope you will remember that you have nothing to be ashamed of. I hope you will remember that your heart is a good one, and that your capacity to feel love, in all its complexity, is a gift.”
Because it spans her life thus far, it does touch on Bush, Obama and Trump presidencies and what they have meant for people of color. One of the most painful moments is when she sees that her parents-in-law are Trump supporters--I can relate a bit, as some of my sibs are Trump supporters, but I am a white guy, so the implications are somewhat different, (not that it's a competition for most wronged here)-- after she was invited to their dog's Bark Mitzvah (I know, funny, right?) and was mistaken for being a servant by some of her mother-in-law's friends which she--the mom-in-law--dismissed as not believable. Anyway, I know, you’re sick of all the Trump stuff, but I swear, you need to read it. Ouch-laughter stuff.
The illustrations are sort of like cut-out still life drawings, often pasted on photographs, depicting Jacobs and whoever she is talking to facing us, in tableaux-fashion, which sounds sort of stilted, I know, but even though many images are just pasted in again and again, I found the surface of them sort of ironic, understated and increasingly poignant in keeping with the humor/anguish. I don't see this as a "graphic memoir" as it is not comics, but who cares, it's still visually interesting. And the tone moves from that hilarity to raw anguish and back as we move through Trump American 2016. I love this book and so highly recommend it.
June 7, 2023
A fascinating study of race and identity in an increasingly fractured and angry world.
I am now more than a little in love with Mira Jacob.
I am now more than a little in love with Mira Jacob.
April 27, 2019
Gutted. My heart breaks for our country and its completely unnecessary, self-inflicted wounds. My heart breaks for the damage we are doing to ourselves and each other. This is a must-read.
Read
January 10, 2020If I had to pick one book that most honestly describes the reality of living in Trump’s America, it would be this one. In this gorgeous graphic memoir, Mira Jacob, an Indian American and the child of immigrants, relates the many hard conversations she has with her young biracial son before, during, and after Trump’s election. Woven throughout are stories of growing up, coming of age, and becoming a parent as a woman of color. Layered, funny, heartbreaking, full of urgency, anger, and hope, it’s a story about parenting amidst and grappling with the contradictions that define America. This book is a gift; do yourself a favor and use it.
April 29, 2019
Ever since I read Mira Jacob's 2015 Buzzfeed article about her son's obsession with Michael Jackson and the questions it raised (and subsequently began following her excellent Instagram account, @goodtalkthanks), I have been desperate to read Good Talk. I waited impatiently for the book to (finally!) be released, for my library to obtain a copy, for the copy to make it to my branch. When it (finally!) arrived just in time for my staycation, I was ECSTATIC. My expectations couldn't have been higher, is what I'm saying. Good Talk met them all.
In some ways, it's surprising that Good Talk worked as well as it did. Jacob is an excellent artist, but (as in the excerpt I linked to), she mostly uses the same images over and over again against different backgrounds. Somehow, this never got tedious for me; in fact, it was oddly effective to get familiar with these images and see them recur. Beyond that, the book was funny and quick and did not hesitate to ask hard questions and dive into uncomfortable situations and dilemmas regarding race. It all felt very real and couldn't be more timely; the parts regarding Trump's election felt so authentic, and authentically awkward, that it's hard to imagine the reader who wouldn't relate in some way.
Based on the Buzzfeed article, I'd expected Good Talk to be centered around Jacob's conversations with her son, but although those of course make up a significant portion of the book, this is actually a memoir of Jacob's entire life and career thus far, including her search for love, her beginnings as a writer, and the publication of her first novel. I was a bit surprised by this initially, but quickly realized this background not only made for a fuller reading experience but actually contributed to its main themes. Jacob's East Indian heritage, of course, is an inextricable part of her experience as an American, and these experiences, for better or worse, provide some of the book's most effective teaching moments.
Which may make the book sound grim. But somehow it's not grim. Well, it's not the most optimistic book out there, that's true. But it's a great read, everything I could have hoped for, and a valuable contribution to the conversations that have gained urgency across the U.S. and across the world in the past few years. I recommend it to everyone.
In some ways, it's surprising that Good Talk worked as well as it did. Jacob is an excellent artist, but (as in the excerpt I linked to), she mostly uses the same images over and over again against different backgrounds. Somehow, this never got tedious for me; in fact, it was oddly effective to get familiar with these images and see them recur. Beyond that, the book was funny and quick and did not hesitate to ask hard questions and dive into uncomfortable situations and dilemmas regarding race. It all felt very real and couldn't be more timely; the parts regarding Trump's election felt so authentic, and authentically awkward, that it's hard to imagine the reader who wouldn't relate in some way.
Based on the Buzzfeed article, I'd expected Good Talk to be centered around Jacob's conversations with her son, but although those of course make up a significant portion of the book, this is actually a memoir of Jacob's entire life and career thus far, including her search for love, her beginnings as a writer, and the publication of her first novel. I was a bit surprised by this initially, but quickly realized this background not only made for a fuller reading experience but actually contributed to its main themes. Jacob's East Indian heritage, of course, is an inextricable part of her experience as an American, and these experiences, for better or worse, provide some of the book's most effective teaching moments.
Which may make the book sound grim. But somehow it's not grim. Well, it's not the most optimistic book out there, that's true. But it's a great read, everything I could have hoped for, and a valuable contribution to the conversations that have gained urgency across the U.S. and across the world in the past few years. I recommend it to everyone.
September 22, 2019
I would like to start this review by saying that every once in a while I find a book that is completely not for me. I think that this book falls in that category. So keep in mind that this review is coming from someone that couldn't really connect to the story all that much.
Good Talk graphic novel version of conversations the author had as a child all the way through 2016. The conversations mainly deal with how race reflects relationships and how society views them. The setting is 100% big city. The elections of both Obama and Trump play a big part, so gauge how you feel about politics before deciding whether or not to read this - it is not a subtle theme here!
While the graphic approach was creative, I was not very moved by the artwork. It was mainly the same sketches used repeatedly superimposed over photographs. Perhaps this might be very cool to some, but for me it was not super impressive.
Some may find this book and story moving, powerful, and thought provoking. For me, the author was just a bit too intense.
Good Talk graphic novel version of conversations the author had as a child all the way through 2016. The conversations mainly deal with how race reflects relationships and how society views them. The setting is 100% big city. The elections of both Obama and Trump play a big part, so gauge how you feel about politics before deciding whether or not to read this - it is not a subtle theme here!
While the graphic approach was creative, I was not very moved by the artwork. It was mainly the same sketches used repeatedly superimposed over photographs. Perhaps this might be very cool to some, but for me it was not super impressive.
Some may find this book and story moving, powerful, and thought provoking. For me, the author was just a bit too intense.
June 14, 2019
I loved this graphic novel! It’s the author’s story of growing up as a person of color in the United States, with a special focus on raising her young son in a post 9-11 New York City. Her son has a lot of questions about race and her best attempts to answer them honestly are poignant.
Jacob uses an unusual visual format for her stories. She draws simple black and white portraits of herself and the main characters at certain ages and reuses those portraits repeatedly as dialogue occurs over the years. The portraits are superimposed on photographs of where the dialog is occurring. Some have ridiculed her drawings as childish and the technique as lazy, but I found it strangely affecting as the characters moved back and forth in time, frozen as snapshots of their former selves. I especially loved Jacobs’ drawing of her six year old son, so precious with his sweet little baby teeth and his wide-eyed gaze. Innocence personified.
Of Jacob’s own perspective on race and politics, I don’t completely agree with her viewpoints on everything, but it’s not my story or my reality - it’s hers. Books like this help me better appreciate other points of view and illuminate how our own life experiences uniquely shape our beliefs.
I thought this was truly something special and it’s pretty impressive to me that Jacob is as talented a graphic artist (think of this as a collage series of sorts) as she is a writer. I found it very original and arresting, a very clever idea executed perfectly.
And, umm.......don’t do this as an audiobook, please. This is truly a visual experience.
Jacob uses an unusual visual format for her stories. She draws simple black and white portraits of herself and the main characters at certain ages and reuses those portraits repeatedly as dialogue occurs over the years. The portraits are superimposed on photographs of where the dialog is occurring. Some have ridiculed her drawings as childish and the technique as lazy, but I found it strangely affecting as the characters moved back and forth in time, frozen as snapshots of their former selves. I especially loved Jacobs’ drawing of her six year old son, so precious with his sweet little baby teeth and his wide-eyed gaze. Innocence personified.
Of Jacob’s own perspective on race and politics, I don’t completely agree with her viewpoints on everything, but it’s not my story or my reality - it’s hers. Books like this help me better appreciate other points of view and illuminate how our own life experiences uniquely shape our beliefs.
I thought this was truly something special and it’s pretty impressive to me that Jacob is as talented a graphic artist (think of this as a collage series of sorts) as she is a writer. I found it very original and arresting, a very clever idea executed perfectly.
And, umm.......don’t do this as an audiobook, please. This is truly a visual experience.
August 20, 2020
Packing an emotional, powerful punch, Mira Jacob's
Good Talk
is a great read!!
The book is subtitled A Memoir in Conversations , and that’s exactly what it is. It recounts conversations that the author had at different points in her life with her husband, family, friends, her young son, people she dated, even strangers, about race, identity, prejudice, racism, and love.
Most of the conversations with her son occur in the lead-up to the 2016 election, as she tries to help an eight-year-old process the things Donald Trump said, the unease of many yet the embrace of many as well of his candidacy for president and the things he espoused, and what all of it would mean to a young Indian boy.
She also recounts snippets of post-9/11 life in New York City for a brown woman, what dating was like, the hope that came from President Obama’s election, and ultimately, the emotional realities of being in an interracial marriage, particularly in the Trump era.
This is gorgeously emotional and so thought-provoking. To read Jacob’s thoughts as a woman, an artist, a mother, a wife, and a woman of color in both good and tumultuous times was really eye-opening.
I didn’t know when I first started hearing about this book that it was a memoir of sorts told in a graphic novel-style, but in a tongue-in-cheek way. The pictures are hand-drawn or are actual photos and they’re superimposed on different backgrounds, so it almost looks like the start of a collage. I love it but don’t want people to be caught off-guard. I've seen some people comment on that, but it didn't bother me at all.
You’ve got to read this.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
The book is subtitled A Memoir in Conversations , and that’s exactly what it is. It recounts conversations that the author had at different points in her life with her husband, family, friends, her young son, people she dated, even strangers, about race, identity, prejudice, racism, and love.
Most of the conversations with her son occur in the lead-up to the 2016 election, as she tries to help an eight-year-old process the things Donald Trump said, the unease of many yet the embrace of many as well of his candidacy for president and the things he espoused, and what all of it would mean to a young Indian boy.
She also recounts snippets of post-9/11 life in New York City for a brown woman, what dating was like, the hope that came from President Obama’s election, and ultimately, the emotional realities of being in an interracial marriage, particularly in the Trump era.
This is gorgeously emotional and so thought-provoking. To read Jacob’s thoughts as a woman, an artist, a mother, a wife, and a woman of color in both good and tumultuous times was really eye-opening.
I didn’t know when I first started hearing about this book that it was a memoir of sorts told in a graphic novel-style, but in a tongue-in-cheek way. The pictures are hand-drawn or are actual photos and they’re superimposed on different backgrounds, so it almost looks like the start of a collage. I love it but don’t want people to be caught off-guard. I've seen some people comment on that, but it didn't bother me at all.
You’ve got to read this.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
December 27, 2022
12/27/2022 Upgrading to 5 Stars. This really is brilliant!
How do you respond when your six year-old bi-racial son asks ,"Is it bad to be brown?" and follows up with, "Are white people afraid of brown people?" "Is Daddy afraid of us?" If you're Mira Jacob, you dig in deep and give clear, candid answers, followed by soul searching and discussion with those close to you.
"Every question Z asked made me realize the growing gap between the America I'd been raised to believe in and the one rising fast all around us.”
Compelled to excavate her formative years to see how she has come up with her own answers, Jacob interweaves her conversations with her son, Z, with her memories. Jacob permits herself to be open and vulnerable--sharing experiences from feeling other to the ups and downs of an interracial marriage to navigating being a woman author of color to maintaining a relationship with her in-laws who don't understand her upset about their support for Donald Trump. Jacob allows us to see her interiority and her complexity.
The graphics are pen and ink drawings sometimes layered over photographs that enhance their effect. I appreciate how some of the ink drawn faces repeat as stock characters in this work. Her text is deceptively simple; she conveys complex ideas and they linger once the reading is over. Jacob's writing is frequently humorous and always raw and frank and human.
Unwilling to cancel people, Jacob is bravely hopeful for our country and for the world that her son will help create.
How do you respond when your six year-old bi-racial son asks ,"Is it bad to be brown?" and follows up with, "Are white people afraid of brown people?" "Is Daddy afraid of us?" If you're Mira Jacob, you dig in deep and give clear, candid answers, followed by soul searching and discussion with those close to you.
"Every question Z asked made me realize the growing gap between the America I'd been raised to believe in and the one rising fast all around us.”
Compelled to excavate her formative years to see how she has come up with her own answers, Jacob interweaves her conversations with her son, Z, with her memories. Jacob permits herself to be open and vulnerable--sharing experiences from feeling other to the ups and downs of an interracial marriage to navigating being a woman author of color to maintaining a relationship with her in-laws who don't understand her upset about their support for Donald Trump. Jacob allows us to see her interiority and her complexity.
The graphics are pen and ink drawings sometimes layered over photographs that enhance their effect. I appreciate how some of the ink drawn faces repeat as stock characters in this work. Her text is deceptively simple; she conveys complex ideas and they linger once the reading is over. Jacob's writing is frequently humorous and always raw and frank and human.
Unwilling to cancel people, Jacob is bravely hopeful for our country and for the world that her son will help create.
March 6, 2023
4 solid stars. A easy & quick to read graphic novel that says a lot about racism, colorism, Trumpism & feminism as related through the author’s life experiences and relayed primarily to her very, very inquisitive son (who really loves Micheal Jackson!). Recommend to everyone
September 27, 2021
My only regret about Good Talk is that I waited so long to read it. I’ve heard great things about the book since it came out in 2018 — It’s relevant, for better or worse, and has a welcome dose of humor throughout the book.
Good Talk is a memoir in conversations and a graphic novel. Many of Mira’s conversations are with her son, Z, who is 6 years old in the opening of the book. He’s learning about the world, about race — his mom is Indian and his dad is white — and about his white grandparents who support DT despite him being racist. Other conversations in the book are with Mira’s husband, Jed, her parents and family, with her friends, and some contacts through her career as a writer.
I don’t read many graphic novels but thoroughly enjoyed Good Talk. It’s a book I’ll recommend to everyone.
Good Talk is a memoir in conversations and a graphic novel. Many of Mira’s conversations are with her son, Z, who is 6 years old in the opening of the book. He’s learning about the world, about race — his mom is Indian and his dad is white — and about his white grandparents who support DT despite him being racist. Other conversations in the book are with Mira’s husband, Jed, her parents and family, with her friends, and some contacts through her career as a writer.
I don’t read many graphic novels but thoroughly enjoyed Good Talk. It’s a book I’ll recommend to everyone.
May 31, 2021
So good. The balance of vulnerability and humor in this one is spot on. The aesthetic is so cool. The story is so spot on for the feelings of 2016 and the fear of Trumpism and all the anxiety of that election for folks who aren’t white. Mira Jacob is a master of tone and style.
July 21, 2019
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I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one but I ended up liking it a lot. GOOD TALK is a graphic novel memoir told in conversations. The art is static, set against photographs or hyper-realistic drawings, and at first this kind of felt lazy to me and I wasn't sure I liked this style, but I realized it was probably so the art wouldn't be a distraction from the text panels since that was the important stuff. The conversations are mostly between Mira and her young son, Z. Z has lots of questions, especially about what it means to be biracial and brown in a post-9/11, post-Trump political climate, where so many people in the United States still have biases.
One of the things I ended up loving about this book is the raw honesty. Mira's dating life shines light on a lot of the difficulties that women of color face in the dating world, especially women who are also LGBT+. She also talks about colorism, the difference between racism and bigotry, and privilege. Even though she loves her husband, they have to have a lot of conversations because he is white and a man, and there are some things about her world that he will never fully understand, not without having to stop and think about it, because part of privilege is that it allows you to glide past a lot of problems that are deeply entrenched into the institutional framework of our country, being the status quo.
I thought Z asked interesting questions. Kids don't have a filter or a shame button, so sometimes they end up asking some pretty brutal, uncomfortable questions that aren't fun or easy to answer. I actually think that can be a good thing, though. Mira seems to agree, although at times even she struggled with how to answer, because she wants to protect her son, even as she wants him to take pride in his identity without feeling the shame of not being "enough" that so many people-- either consciously or unconsciously-- try to project onto people who look, speak, or act different. I loved both of Mira's parents, and I thought the scenes and dialogues that arose from her husband's parents voting for Trump hit hard. How can you vote for someone who is totally against the people you love? It's a question that has an easy answer, and yet millions of Americans did that exact thing.
I definitely recommend this to people who would like to broaden their minds and think more critically about privilege, multiracial or biracial families, intersectionality, and parenting. There's a lot of really valuable ideas in here, and it's delivered in an easy-to-read format that manages to convey pretty complex concepts in an easily understandable way. The ending, with the letter to her son and the photo of him as a baby next to a paper announcing Obama's win, was especially poignant.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
3.5 stars
August 20, 2020
So good. Read it and immediately gave it to my daughter to read.
December 19, 2019
First a confession: from the advance blurb (“Who taught Michael Jackson to dance?” “Are white people afraid of brown people?”), my expectations for this book weren’t high. I suspected it might be another one of those feel-good, politically-correct books. But I loved Mira Jacob’s first novel, The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, and on a whim, I decided to take a chance.
And – wow! This is the real deal, raw, wrenching, funny, fearless, and honest. Mira Jacob is an American of Indian descent, married to a Jewish man, and their young son, referred to here as Z, is an inquisitive boy who inherited her dark skin and her poignant need to understand the “lifetime caught between beautiful dream of a diverse nation and the complicated reality of one.”
Using her own illustrations to tell her story, Mira Jacobs walks us through pivotal moments in her back history. She recalls winning an essay contest, sponsored by the DAR, as a child. However, Mira wasn’t quite the “American” the DAR envisioned in granting her the prize. She highlights the “tragedy of my skin color” on visits back to India, where the fairer someone is, the more value they seem to have. She writes humorously about a Boston radio producer who wishes to interview her after her book is published but insists on pigeonholing her characters into some “Asian Indians” that his audience can fully understand.
But to me, the most wrenching part was the schism that occurs when her mother-in-law (who Mira loved enough to instantly call “mom”), decides to vote for Donald Trump at the same time that she and her young son are petrified of the racist undertones of his campaign. She asks her husband, “How can they see what this guy is about and support him! He’s stoking religious hatred! Racial hatred! How do they think this is going to affect our lives?” When her husband assures her that they love her, she answers, “You think they’d feel the same about me if I voted for an anti-Semite?” He answers, “They don’t see it that way.” She answers, “But it is that way.
If you are an apologist for Donald Trump, you’d best skip this book. But if you believe, as the author does, that our growth potential is tied into being “the kind of person who ass questions about who you are why things are the way they are, and what we could do to make them better,” then this is the book for you.
And – wow! This is the real deal, raw, wrenching, funny, fearless, and honest. Mira Jacob is an American of Indian descent, married to a Jewish man, and their young son, referred to here as Z, is an inquisitive boy who inherited her dark skin and her poignant need to understand the “lifetime caught between beautiful dream of a diverse nation and the complicated reality of one.”
Using her own illustrations to tell her story, Mira Jacobs walks us through pivotal moments in her back history. She recalls winning an essay contest, sponsored by the DAR, as a child. However, Mira wasn’t quite the “American” the DAR envisioned in granting her the prize. She highlights the “tragedy of my skin color” on visits back to India, where the fairer someone is, the more value they seem to have. She writes humorously about a Boston radio producer who wishes to interview her after her book is published but insists on pigeonholing her characters into some “Asian Indians” that his audience can fully understand.
But to me, the most wrenching part was the schism that occurs when her mother-in-law (who Mira loved enough to instantly call “mom”), decides to vote for Donald Trump at the same time that she and her young son are petrified of the racist undertones of his campaign. She asks her husband, “How can they see what this guy is about and support him! He’s stoking religious hatred! Racial hatred! How do they think this is going to affect our lives?” When her husband assures her that they love her, she answers, “You think they’d feel the same about me if I voted for an anti-Semite?” He answers, “They don’t see it that way.” She answers, “But it is that way.
If you are an apologist for Donald Trump, you’d best skip this book. But if you believe, as the author does, that our growth potential is tied into being “the kind of person who ass questions about who you are why things are the way they are, and what we could do to make them better,” then this is the book for you.
February 5, 2022
I knew I would like this book, I just was not ready for it to emotionally wreck me.
Watch my review for more thoughts: https://youtu.be/c2iFCCBsHAo
Watch my review for more thoughts: https://youtu.be/c2iFCCBsHAo
August 19, 2022
This was a fantastic audiobook. A memoir in conversations. It was performed by a cast, so each person had a unique voice. My thanks to my friend, Elyse, who had it on her best audiobooks list, so I immediately picked it up.
This book tackles many issues- the main one is race. How do you talk to your child about his skin color? How do you explain why people hate you based on that fact alone.
There was lots of humour at the start of the book. Mira is of Indian descent. Her conversations with her parents and family were very funny at times. They had to do with her marrying a lot of the time.
Mira Jacob talks about 9/11 and how she was treated after the event because of her skin color. She talks about her fear when Trump was elected.
There are a lot of heavy conversations in this book. A very impactful book.
The physical book is a graphic novel. I really appreciated it on audio.
Published: 2018
This book tackles many issues- the main one is race. How do you talk to your child about his skin color? How do you explain why people hate you based on that fact alone.
There was lots of humour at the start of the book. Mira is of Indian descent. Her conversations with her parents and family were very funny at times. They had to do with her marrying a lot of the time.
Mira Jacob talks about 9/11 and how she was treated after the event because of her skin color. She talks about her fear when Trump was elected.
There are a lot of heavy conversations in this book. A very impactful book.
The physical book is a graphic novel. I really appreciated it on audio.
Published: 2018
March 11, 2021
I love this graphic novelization of snippets of the author's life, told through both drawings and photos combined into a unique, yet still comic book, style. The content of the conversations, mainly regarding race/politics/gender/sex/family, is something we can all benefit from 'listening' to. Recommended.
June 16, 2019
One perk of writing a book is that you get to meet other authors while on tour. I had the pleasure of doing a reading with Mira Jacobs at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. I'd heard of her book but hadn't yet read it, and after she shared it with the audience (projecting the illustrations and reading the text), I immediately bought a copy (and--again, perk!--got it signed). I was blown away by how inventive and brilliant this memoir is. I've never read anything quite like it. It's heartbreaking and hilarious, a love story and a political manifesto, a book that's both personal and universal. Mira toggles effortlessly between the dysfunction in intimate relationships (with family, friends, romantic partners) and society's overarching dysfunction (with race, ethnicity, bigotry that's blatant and perhaps even worse, almost invisible, intangible). She masterfully illuminates the complexities and nuances of topics we tend to see in, well, black or white, and makes us ask the hard questions we didn't even know we were thinking about in quite this way. There are certain books I'd recommend specifically to certain people, depending on their favorite genres, taste, etc. But this is a book I'll be recommending to everyone.
June 18, 2019
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this graphic novel as much as I did. But boy did this book pack an unexpected punch! Written in conversation style, it’s a completely unique and interesting perspective on race and immigration during this current crazy political climate and the difficult questions that only a young kid knows how to ask. It makes you mad that these conversations are even necessary! But I enjoyed the interactions between Mira and her son. There is humour in between the seriousness of the discussions. Although this doesn’t cover any new ground it’s told in a way that really makes you think! For such a short book it makes a big impact. A fun read for something slightly different.
October 10, 2020
Jacobs intimately invites the reader into her life and family with this wonderful book. I often don't know where to rest my eyes with graphic novels/memoirs but that is not a problem here. The book has just one or two colorful illustrations per page. Jacobs guides the reader through difficult issues - race, parenting, division within families, the current political landscape. Funny and urgent and powerful. Read it!
May 27, 2022
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Mira Jacob's Good Talk is a small gem of a memoir. Jacob combines different media to discuss a number of issues and topics. Jacob transports to the page the difficult conversations she’s had with her son about race, while also recounting her own experiences growing up as a first-generation Indian-American.
Much of Good Talk takes place against the 2016 election, which doesn’t necessarily make for easy or enjoyable reading material, especially when we discover that her white in-laws are Trump supporters. Jacob struggles to ‘gloss’ over their political stance, especially when her son begins asking difficult questions about Trump and racism. While her husband, who is white, also struggles to make sense of his parents’ behaviour he does at times minimise Jacob’s experiences with discrimination and racism (chalking these episodes to misunderstandings or claiming that supporting someone who is openly racist and misogynistic doesn’t mean you are those things too). While many of the conversations that are depicted in Good Talk have to do with America (or at least view these topics through an American lens) certain, Jacob does also touch upon colorism in India.
In addition to discussing Trump and 9/11, Jacob also gives us insight into her private life, from talking about her family to her experiences moving in predominantly white spaces and to the everyday microaggression that results from that. The dialogues populating this memoir always rang true to life, so much so, that I felt as if I was truly listening to people talking. While Jacob does discuss serious topics, such as racism, sexism, islamophobia, discrimination, colorism, she often injects humor in these discussions. I especially loved her talks with her son and her parents. I’d happily revisit this and I’m looking forward to reading more from Jacob.
Candid, thought-provoking, and ultimately moving Good Talk is a quick read that is a must-read.
Mira Jacob's Good Talk is a small gem of a memoir. Jacob combines different media to discuss a number of issues and topics. Jacob transports to the page the difficult conversations she’s had with her son about race, while also recounting her own experiences growing up as a first-generation Indian-American.
Much of Good Talk takes place against the 2016 election, which doesn’t necessarily make for easy or enjoyable reading material, especially when we discover that her white in-laws are Trump supporters. Jacob struggles to ‘gloss’ over their political stance, especially when her son begins asking difficult questions about Trump and racism. While her husband, who is white, also struggles to make sense of his parents’ behaviour he does at times minimise Jacob’s experiences with discrimination and racism (chalking these episodes to misunderstandings or claiming that supporting someone who is openly racist and misogynistic doesn’t mean you are those things too). While many of the conversations that are depicted in Good Talk have to do with America (or at least view these topics through an American lens) certain, Jacob does also touch upon colorism in India.
In addition to discussing Trump and 9/11, Jacob also gives us insight into her private life, from talking about her family to her experiences moving in predominantly white spaces and to the everyday microaggression that results from that. The dialogues populating this memoir always rang true to life, so much so, that I felt as if I was truly listening to people talking. While Jacob does discuss serious topics, such as racism, sexism, islamophobia, discrimination, colorism, she often injects humor in these discussions. I especially loved her talks with her son and her parents. I’d happily revisit this and I’m looking forward to reading more from Jacob.
Candid, thought-provoking, and ultimately moving Good Talk is a quick read that is a must-read.
March 30, 2022
I've had this book on my TBR forever and finally got it from the library. I didn't really even know what it was about and went in cold. Mira Jacob writes about what it is like to be brown (for her, Indian with darker skin than her other family members) in the America post 9/11 up through Trump's election win. Not only that but married to a Jewish (white) man whose parents refuse to see the harm in voting for Trump, and mother of a young mixed race boy with Questions.
What I love is her very frank tone. In all the "talks" in the book she shows how she navigates difficult situations where people want her to make them feel better about racism, often their own, and what happens when she doesn't. This includes one very difficult conversation with her husband! The art is hand-drawn people often cut out (or the appearance of being cut out) and laid over stock photos, which adds a dimension of reality to what is happening (although to Mira it's only too real.)
I'd love to see her take on our current situation, and I hope she continues writing in this form.
What I love is her very frank tone. In all the "talks" in the book she shows how she navigates difficult situations where people want her to make them feel better about racism, often their own, and what happens when she doesn't. This includes one very difficult conversation with her husband! The art is hand-drawn people often cut out (or the appearance of being cut out) and laid over stock photos, which adds a dimension of reality to what is happening (although to Mira it's only too real.)
I'd love to see her take on our current situation, and I hope she continues writing in this form.
September 17, 2020
These were ubiquitous in my internet timeline, early comics appearing in Buzzfeed relating Mira Jacob's son's early obsession with Michael Jackson. It's in that low-fi, consumable, internet meme visual style that's immediately recognizable and dying to be shared. Jacob's paper cutouts look out at the reader in a stunned, apathetically imploring, semi-ironic way that immediately speaks to my tiny GenX heart. There was no way I wasn't going to eventually snatch this one up.
It's heartfelt, wry and piercingly of the moment. Raising a bi-racial boy, contending with Trump voting in-laws, rich white lady micro-aggressions, fluid sexuality, being brown post 9/11 and Michael Jackson. Mira Jacobs is the hilariously sane person you need in your life to call up for drinks to commiserate over our current dumpster fire moment, feel righteous indignation at the world's injustices, and somehow leave with a tiny bit of hope in your heart.
It's heartfelt, wry and piercingly of the moment. Raising a bi-racial boy, contending with Trump voting in-laws, rich white lady micro-aggressions, fluid sexuality, being brown post 9/11 and Michael Jackson. Mira Jacobs is the hilariously sane person you need in your life to call up for drinks to commiserate over our current dumpster fire moment, feel righteous indignation at the world's injustices, and somehow leave with a tiny bit of hope in your heart.
September 8, 2019
It's been so long since I've written a GR review. I just kind of got out of the habit (it can take such effort--it's a lot of work to review books. And for a time my GR wasn't loading on my computer and I fell out of the habit of being on here, and I never really got back into the habit of reading and writing reviews as I once did. Perhaps that will shift. In any case...I really wanted to say a few words about this book.)
Good Talk is brilliant and beautiful and messy and captivating and heart-breaking and funny and in its way, perfect. If I were to recommend one book that I've read over the last couple years there's a very good chance it would be this book.
(I'm not terribly decisive. So that's probably not the best set-up--ONE book out of how many. I mean, there are so many kinds of books, and I've enjoyed so many books in such different ways because they are each their own little beast. But wow wow wow Mira Jacob. This book is stellar. She is one of those authors I wish I had the opportunity to meet.)
The form and style is quite unique. Jacob uses photographs and images that are kind of like paper cut-outs to tell the story of trying to find ways of engaging with her son's many questions, his profound and and often painful questions and at times harrowing observations. Here is a quote from the very beginning of the book (I am listening to the sample audio clip on Audible):
Mira: The trouble began when my six year old son, Z, became obsessed with Michael Jackson.
Z: What is obsessed?
Mira: Like, into.
Z: Really really into?
Mira: Yes
Z: I'm obsessed.
Mira as narrator. "Six year old plus Michael Jackson obsession equals a lot of questions."
And the questions are, they are, they are so rich and vivid with meaning.
Jacob uses this as a starting point and moves around, exploring many places where her adulthood meets her childhood. She explores her experience as the child of immigrants (her family is from India), her struggle to navigate all the different worlds she belongs to and that also feel alien to her and that often come into conflict with each other (school, home; U.S., India). It is painful, complex stuff. But there are also ways the different contexts of her life offer her perspectives that enrich her sense of possibility in terms of how she might relate to and define herself.
The book is about questions of belonging. It's is a coming of age story many times over. It's about being a lover, a writer, a mother, a friend. About her marriage and her relationship with her parents-in-law (so much grief and joyousness and terrible frustration tangled up with these relationships). It's a kind of odyssey with something of what I liked to think of as a "Greek chorus" from ancient tragedy (in the from of three of her friends who offered excellent commentary here and there). The book moves through time pretty quickly and jumps around quite a bit, but at its core I think it stays focused on the messiness of being human, of loving other humans, of setting boundaries and also making compromises, and how hard it is to make decisions about how to approach or whether to step away from certain relationships--because there is often no "right' or easy answer. And it's about learning to love oneself.
Given that twice now I've had to send the book back to the library before managing to write a review, this is the best I can do. I don't have it in front of me. Some day I do hope to buy it. For myself and lots of my friends.
Good Talk is brilliant and beautiful and messy and captivating and heart-breaking and funny and in its way, perfect. If I were to recommend one book that I've read over the last couple years there's a very good chance it would be this book.
(I'm not terribly decisive. So that's probably not the best set-up--ONE book out of how many. I mean, there are so many kinds of books, and I've enjoyed so many books in such different ways because they are each their own little beast. But wow wow wow Mira Jacob. This book is stellar. She is one of those authors I wish I had the opportunity to meet.)
The form and style is quite unique. Jacob uses photographs and images that are kind of like paper cut-outs to tell the story of trying to find ways of engaging with her son's many questions, his profound and and often painful questions and at times harrowing observations. Here is a quote from the very beginning of the book (I am listening to the sample audio clip on Audible):
Mira: The trouble began when my six year old son, Z, became obsessed with Michael Jackson.
Z: What is obsessed?
Mira: Like, into.
Z: Really really into?
Mira: Yes
Z: I'm obsessed.
Mira as narrator. "Six year old plus Michael Jackson obsession equals a lot of questions."
And the questions are, they are, they are so rich and vivid with meaning.
Jacob uses this as a starting point and moves around, exploring many places where her adulthood meets her childhood. She explores her experience as the child of immigrants (her family is from India), her struggle to navigate all the different worlds she belongs to and that also feel alien to her and that often come into conflict with each other (school, home; U.S., India). It is painful, complex stuff. But there are also ways the different contexts of her life offer her perspectives that enrich her sense of possibility in terms of how she might relate to and define herself.
The book is about questions of belonging. It's is a coming of age story many times over. It's about being a lover, a writer, a mother, a friend. About her marriage and her relationship with her parents-in-law (so much grief and joyousness and terrible frustration tangled up with these relationships). It's a kind of odyssey with something of what I liked to think of as a "Greek chorus" from ancient tragedy (in the from of three of her friends who offered excellent commentary here and there). The book moves through time pretty quickly and jumps around quite a bit, but at its core I think it stays focused on the messiness of being human, of loving other humans, of setting boundaries and also making compromises, and how hard it is to make decisions about how to approach or whether to step away from certain relationships--because there is often no "right' or easy answer. And it's about learning to love oneself.
Given that twice now I've had to send the book back to the library before managing to write a review, this is the best I can do. I don't have it in front of me. Some day I do hope to buy it. For myself and lots of my friends.
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