Unabridged: The DC Live Show with Jason Reynolds - Transcript
This Unabridged episode features audio from our Washington DC stop of The Stacks Tour, featuring bestselling author and friend of the show Jason Reynolds. We discuss Jason’s bath routine, the real story behind his book Ghost and our favorite guest on The Stacks.
TRANSCRIPT
Traci Thomas 0:00
Hi everybody, today's episode of The Stacks Unabridged is an abridged version of our live tour stop from DC with our esteemed guest, the wonderful Jason Reynolds. If you don't know Jason, He is an author for young people. And now he has a brand new children's book out called There Was a Party for Langston. He's also working on his first adult book, which we talked about on today's episode. By joining the Stacks Pack you make it possible for me to make the show every single week. Plus you earn perks like our monthly bonus episodes, aka this and access to our Discord channel plus our monthly virtual book club meetups discounts on merch shoutouts on the show and a lot more so head to patreon.com/thestacks, join the stacks pack and enjoy the full unabridged, abridged unabridged version of this episode.
Now we're going to talk to Jason about things. I think we should start at the easiest place for all of us. This is your bio; this is Jason's bio. You told me I didn't have to read it; it's the longest and I cut it down by like 10 sentences. Here's his bio- Jason's read a lot of books. He's won a lot of awards. Everybody loves him. My personal addition is that he is my literary crush. Smells great. And he's tall! And the pants. But we're gonna start we're gonna get to the pants. Let's start with Ghost. How did Ghost come to be?
Jason Reynolds 2:04
How did Ghost come to be. You want the real story?
Traci Thomas 2:06
Yeah, no, I want you to lie to us.
Jason Reynolds 2:10
People always kind of come and I give a particular script. But there's like an actual backstory.
Traci Thomas 2:15
Give the one that people haven't heard before on everybody else's podcast.
Jason Reynolds 2:19
So I got a phone call from another publisher. This is how this is how it actually happened. This is also publishing gossip. I had written a few books. When I was in the process of Boy in the Black Suit. And I was in the process of making this. These are the things that were happening. I get a phone call from my agent who was like yo, another publishing company whose name I won't say in this particular editor whose name I definitely won't say. reached out and-
Traci Thomas 2:47
Write it on the poster.
Jason Reynolds 2:50
I'll tell you later. Man reached out and said, Look, we have an idea for a sports series that we want Jason to write. And so my agents- Okay, well, what's what's the sport? What's the you know, tell me your story. This woman is like, well, there's a new phenomenon taking over the city streets. Okay, what's what's the sport? Lady says they call it street ball. And then basketball. Basketball, outside which the basketball I grew up playing, right? It's like, this isn't a phenomenon. And they're like we want it to be like a rags to riches story. Like a rags to riches story about these basically these poor kids who are like street ballers, and this and this is what ends up saving their lives when a coach comes in, and yada yada, yada, yada, right? And my agent sort of is okay. Well, let me ask them, and they called me and said, you ain't gonna do it. But I'm gonna tell you. I'll tell you what, that lady just told me that she's breaking it down for me. And I'm like, I'm not anyone who knows me knows that I'm really particular about the way black people are portrayed. I'm really particular about making sure that like, like, we can tell stories that can be difficult, but there needs to be some thinking and some integrity because we live balanced and whole lives. And I'm not interested in the whole Lego. This is a poor kid who basically basketball saves his life, right? And plus, those stories have been told. And some of them have actually been taught really well. And so I'm like, I'm keen on that. But let's not tell my publisher that. Let's call up my publisher, and say, Hey, there's another publisher who wants me to do this thing, right? They want me to write these the Sport Series, and like I'm thinking about doing it. Then my brother says, like, no, no, no. Don't do that with them. We'll give you a sport series. You can pick any sport you want. Right? And I'm like, Oh, I cool. Let me think about it. Right.
Traci Thomas 4:51
So why isn't it a figure skating book is what I'm trying to-
Jason Reynolds 4:55
The reason it's not a figure skating book is because I had to figure out for me, I was thinking how can I figure out a sport that every single human being can connect to? If if you are ambulatory, right, all you have to be able to do is walk. And this could be a story for you because everybody who can walk has run, even if you don't run far or fast, we all know what it is to run. So I was like, Oh, I'm gonna and I ran track in school. So right, so I was like, Oh, I'm gonna tell the story that feels equitable across the board. Because the reason why kids and other don't play hockey, because we were gonna get the ice, we're gonna get all these pads and sticks and like, it's expensive. Renting, I just need some sneeze. Right. And so I wanted to tell the story in that way. My buddy Matt lived down the street from me in a project southeast Washington, DC. When we were growing up, his father tried to shoot him. Right now you know what the story is coming from this the all of that whole first three or four pages is true, some of the true story. Right, that's what really happened name's Matt caught on living with Jeff still a very good friend of mine. But that's a real thing that happened. So I started there. And then that spun, the rest of it is about me and be my tracking all that other stuff. So that's where it comes from.
Traci Thomas 6:00
I love this. I do.
Jason Reynolds 6:02
Shoutout to Barnaby Terrace and then all the other neighborhoods in the cities. Around there, and Congress Heights and all those areas.
Traci Thomas 6:10
I guess I should ask Who here is from DC or currently lives in DC? Who traveled from places I know Charlotte is here from Toronto. Anybody further than Toronto? Toronto, excuse me? You're not supposed to hit the second T. I've been schooled. Okay, Toronto you win. Well, I'm from California. So technically, I win. And I care about winning. So that's important to me. Okay, if you haven't visited the loyalty bookstore bookshop that they have back there, they have like 7000 books written by Jason Reynolds. And it's not all of them, which is so crazy. So my question for you, which is always my question for you, is about when how Where do you rest? And how do you maintain being creative? Because when do you rest?
Jason Reynolds 7:01
So every time we talk, I'm telling you that I'm trying to write man, I'm working on it, right? I'm like, it's like a constant work in progress for me, actually, was I was I met somebody, a woman named Beverly was very kind to me. And she asked me, What can we do to help support you? Right? And she and she was talking to choose? Yes, Beverly, and she was talking about books. And I told Beverly, like, you know, I appreciate that, but the truth is, is they want to support me next time you see me as being I'm doing right asked me how I am right. I think people are grateful for all the love but I also am in need of like actual love. Okay, right. Like, how are you doing? Are you resting? Are you taking care of yourself? No one ever asks. Right? We while I'm like, doing all the things and try my best so it's gotten better over the years. I haven't mastered it. This year. I said in January, I said okay, every single month, I'm taking a vacation. And I've only missed one month. Where have you gone? Then to Nashville, I was in Austin. I was in LA actually, for a couple of days. Vacation is literally like I shut it down. Like I just want to kind of I'm not trying to do nothing.
Traci Thomas 8:16
I'm not gonna go further because I don't want to be embarrassed on my own show. But I could cry again.
Jason Reynolds 8:23
Amsterdam. I mean, like, it's all a few staycations when I can't get out, you know, go to some places around here, you know, just enough to reset and so that's been good for me.
Traci Thomas 8:35
And do you feel like the more you write the harder it is to rest or the easier it is to rest?
Jason Reynolds 8:42
The more you the more I write the harder it is to rest because the books live in here. So like the issue with rest isn't work; the issue with rest is turning down the brain. How do I turn the mind off? Right? It's not always like I'm working too hard. It's that I can't turn it off. And so I'm just like I'm in the bed. I'm going to bed like 930 I'm in the bed because I get up early right I get up at like 530 at night saying the bed while early but um I'm just in the bed I'm not asleep and you know and so I got all kinds of stuff I'm working on but I'm getting it.
Traci Thomas 9:20
You get in bed at 930 What time do you think you go to sleep?
Jason Reynolds 9:24
Midnight
Traci Thomas 9:26
Are you just like staring at the ceiling? Are you reading? Are you scrolling? Be honest.
Jason Reynolds 9:31
Rarely, rarely these things.
Traci Thomas 9:34
I was relating to 930 but I don't relate to not scrolling.
Jason Reynolds 9:37
You know what it is because I really am trying to go to sleep. So I get in the bed in the night. Sometimes there's a little bit of reading. I'm also like a bath person every single day. It's like a bed every single day. Do you put stuff in the bar, put all kinds got everything you need.
Traci Thomas 9:54
I can only think of like three things
Jason Reynolds 9:59
In the morning that go to the gym. I come back I get into bath with like Epsom salts, right and my body has to heal, and then at night I get in the bath and it's like everything. Roses, everything-
Traci Thomas 10:08
Wait you do multiple baths a day? Holy shit.
Jason Reynolds 10:10
Yeah, I take two showers and two baths.
Traci Thomas 10:14
Wait, I live in LA and we have a serious drought situation right now.
Jason Reynolds 10:22
You know what it is because I need that I need the bath for like relaxation, but I'm also like wild clean so I can't get in a bath and then not take a shower.
Traci Thomas 10:37
So you do back the shower?
Jason Reynolds 10:39
Yeah, I have to shower. Okay, cuz I'm like-
Traci Thomas 10:41
I also do that I shower post-bath because you're sitting-
Jason Reynolds 10:46
In your - exactly so I gotta get out and then for me I get them and it's all kind of whatever I put in there is all over me.
Traci Thomas 10:51
And this is the problem with baths. They need- I have some bath salts stuff not the snorting kind - the kind that goes in your bath. That has roses and shit in it. And then it's all over my bathtub and then it's very dirty. Is there a teabag that I can put it in so that it like dissolves and I get the flavors but I don't get everything all over the bath?
Jason Reynolds 11:13
Here's what I do. Okay, so you get out the bed you drain it and then all of the debris from the bath is there right? And then you let it sit overnight and it dries and then you just sweep it up. I have a little teeny broom and dustpan. A special dust pan only for the bathtub. No it's never dirty. I just use it.
Traci Thomas 11:42
This is so weird!
Jason Reynolds 11:44
Everybody be talking about self-care, then you do self-care and they're like this is weird.
Traci Thomas 11:53
Can you just send a picture that I can put on the internet? I was just looking for like a you know like a reusable tea bag situation like a cheesecloth.
Jason Reynolds 12:03
The whole point of it is for all this stuff to be floating in there.
Traci Thomas 12:06
But I don't like it to touch me-
Jason Reynolds 12:10
You really don't know what you're doing with the bath.
Traci Thomas 12:14
I like stuff in the bath that dissolves, that is not debris. So like an Epsom salt. Yes, I always like to put alpha keri oil in it- a dream but also that doesn't like it's not something I wake up with it in my hair or whatever
Jason Reynolds 12:28
No you can just rinse it off. It's great.
Traci Thomas 12:32
We can agree to disagree. Okay, I want to talk I want to talk about books, allegedly. You got kids' book coming for the babies- a picture book. It's your first one.
Jason Reynolds 12:46
My first one published.
Traci Thomas 12:48
It's the first one I've read. And I read it to the Ministacks and they liked it. And for those of you who have small children, you know that there's a lot of picture books that are allegedly for kids, but they're really for adults. And they have like novels in them. And it's so much writing and there's like one picture of like a heart and your kid is moved so far off the book, because they're three, but your book my kids actually paid attention to and I asked questions and they kept asking me, where's Langston? And then like when Maya Angelou came, they're like, Who's that? Who's that? So can you tell us a little bit about what that's been like for you?
Jason Reynolds 13:20
It's been I mean, first of all, I've written 40 of these books, children's babies, kids, like picture books, but they've not been good enough. Okay, so it took 40 to get one right, you know, and I can make sure people know that I think people think that you do like now this is the hardest format. This was this is the most tricky, right? Because I had the you know, it's like painting the Mona Lisa with black and white paint. But it has to look like the Mona Lisa. So how do you figure out you have to make that come to life. So this particular story, it's a story of in the Schomburg, in New York City in the Schomburg Library. When you walk into the lobby, there's this beautiful cosmic grin that's on the floor. And it's of Langston Hughes, his poem, the Negro speaks of rivers. And they dedicated the lobby to the likes of us in 1991. And what people don't know about that lobby as we for those of you who have been up there, we work on it every day, you walk over it, but next to him, his ashes are buried underneath that thing. Right. And you can walk into their, their, their underneath the floor, so you can't come in here. It's like the Vatican or like where they have all this. Exactly. So we all live with the Vatican tonight downstairs. This is literally under the floor. But you can see it No, oh, it's just in the floors have to know that it's there. And so when they were doing this, they had this party to celebrate the opening of this, this this space. And there's a famous picture, if you Google it, it's Maya Angelou and Ameri Baraka, and they're dancing on the ashes of Langston Hughes. Right? And this is incredible picture. And I've been inspired by her for years, not just because of these legends who are celebrating this other bigger legend who made them basically, but because they're partying inside of a library. So I wrote this book about how that's what libraries are for and so it has Have a bit of the history without it being bogged down with history. And more about how like libraries are places for parties.
Traci Thomas 15:09
Can we throw a party at the library? I would love that. Like a Met gala for books. Okay, let's work on that. Okay. Hold us to it. Or if anybody knows the library that's available. There is yes?
Jason Reynolds 15:30
MLK Library is the crown jewel of DC libraries.
Traci Thomas 15:39
I'm not up on my DC libraries; I have to be honest.
Jason Reynolds 15:42
First of all at the library of congress is here. It's amazing.
Traci Thomas 15:45
I've been there. Yes.
Jason Reynolds 15:47
Okay, the MLK library is amazing. And also now, y'all been in that library in southwest over there on the waterfront. It's beautiful.
Traci Thomas 15:59
Anybody know what it's called? The Southwest Library? As I mentioned, I'm from Los Angeles.
Jason Reynolds 16:10
Jackie's artwork from The Day You Begin, I think it's all on the window. It's amazing.
Traci Thomas 16:16
I wish I was here longer.
Jason Reynolds 16:23
There's the Folger library.
Traci Thomas 16:26
I've never been there. But I'm obviously deeply familiar with the Folger. Because I love Shakespeare, but I won't do that to you guys tonight. But I can if anyone wants to later I'm available for Shakespeare hot takes at any time. You're working on an adult book.
Jason Reynolds 16:42
I'm working on in an adult book.
Traci Thomas 16:43
Did you guys know that? No? Well, then you missed the earlier episode we did when we talked about it. But he's working on adult book. You've been working on for a long time. Last time I talked to you. You said it was bad. And you threw it away? Yeah. So where are we now?
Jason Reynolds 17:01
It's been thrown away two more times. I actually I just started over probably a couple of few months ago. I'm like 15,000 words. Because I always started isn't I think people should know about me is that I start from the top a lot. So like I'll write a novel, and then I'll start doing a lot of start again. And I write it all over again. And I'll start again. So by the time you are reading these books, I've written the whole thing, top to bottom, probably four or five times and then the edits begin. It takes me a while.
Traci Thomas 17:29
Okay, we have version 12345. You don't keep it. So what if there's like a really good scene or sentence? Do you copy and paste and put it in a Google Doc?
Jason Reynolds 17:38
Very rarely. No, very rarely, I had this weird thing. I think that it's weird. It's like a I push myself to trust myself. Because I believe that my only task is to be able to have an imagination that is that it's like, you know, an Undying? Well, right. And I but I push myself for that to happen, which is sometimes risky, and wildly inefficient. But but that's just the process over time. It's been, you know, so I've been writing and writing this thing. I love it. But it just recently, three days ago, I think I figured out why I can't get it right. You know? And so why, yeah, of course, it's fine. I mean, whatever. At the end of the day, I wanted to write a story about a boy who didn't have a mountain. And the issue. The issue with the story is that if you're if you're dealing with like things like magical realism, the easiest way for it to be done right is for you to sort of do something that is so far off that something that can't actually be like, the holes can be poked in it right. So this is like, Oh, this is a woman, I just have a book where a woman comes up retreat, and then just is never like missing. She climbs up a tree and never comes down the tree. And the reason that this works is because no one can really challenge anything except, except you can say like, Why is she not up the tree? That's the only question that can be asked, right? Why is she not up the tree? But if you do a thing where it's a boy with no mouth, and the questions are, how is he staying alive? Why haven't they just done a surgery to open up his mouth? How does it get to all these other questions that complicates the narrative? So after eight years of trying to get this right, I decided to abandon that. Oh, yeah. And now the concept is there's a boy who is disappearing slowly, right? He's slowly disappearing. So my main character meets him, and he's sort of a bit ashen. And she thinks he's just as she went all the time. It's like he's actually disappearing, slowly disappearing, and he knows what's happening and they know what's happening.
Traci Thomas 19:33
Okay. Do you feel grief over the boy with no mouth at all? Like, is it sad to let go of that version? And not because I've heard you talk about that so much.
Jason Reynolds 19:46
Yeah, yes. No, no, I think everything like everything. Every relationship runs this cause Yeah, we had our time. It just didn't work. So it's time to move on to something better. And I do trust that it's something better, right? So I'm okay with it. And it feels free. It feels like some thing is unlocking. So I know I'm in I'm in the pocket, I'm in the right place. So I'm gonna go with that and if it don't work, then I'll figure out something else.
Traci Thomas 20:06
Okay, total hard shift the pants, where are they from?
Jason Reynolds 20:10
These are from ACR K. I have it for those of you who, if anybody likes this kind of this kind of love, you should definitely invest in these pants. They make everything by the way pants, shirts, jackets, I mean, different fits and cuts of his pant, all kinds of colors, the real the real upside of it, they cost a little bit but the real upside is they cannot wrinkle. And you can wash them in your washing machine.
Traci Thomas 20:34
You need an affiliate link.
Jason Reynolds 20:36
I know. They make really nice cheap clothes that you cannot wrinkled so you can throw them in your suitcase. You can travel- I travel with this kind of stuff on no wrinkles ever.
Traci Thomas 20:50
We have to do favorite guests. Obviously Jason is one of my favorite guests. I'm trying to think. Hanif's here. Of course he's here somewhere right here in the front row. Nice jacket.
Jason Reynolds 21:12
Hanif, somebody here has your book and wants you to sign it. I forgot to tell you that but somebody has one of your books and wants you to sign.
Traci Thomas 21:28
Not only is Hanif a favorite guest; Hanif's book is a favorite book. You guys know how much I loved A Little Devil. Holy shit. Do you guys have that back there? A little devil? Sold out? Okay, there's others. Okay, so favorite guest who's not in the room? How about we do that? I'll tell you what. This is polarizing because I know a lot of you don't like this episode.
Jason Reynolds 21:56
I think it's gonna be the same one. So I'm so curious.
Traci Thomas 22:00
On the count of 3- 123 Tarantino.
Jason Reynolds 22:02
Quentin Tarantino.
Traci Thomas 22:06
Quentin Tarantino was one of my favorite guests I've ever had on the show. Because and I'll let you guys in on a little back. So I think some of you know that I have really bad performance anxiety, I get very stressed out before episodes. I used to teach fitness I used to get stressed out before every class I taught I was teaching nine to 12 classes a week. So like, every time I get on a stage, I get very nervous. It's just part of my process. I just get it. But with Tarantino, I was really worried because I know that people don't like him for a lot of reasons, not least of which is his use of the N word and Django which I actually think is used very smart in the movie, but I know people hate it. And I was worried that he was going to destroy me because he is so chatty. He loves to talk about himself. He loves to talk about his work. He loves himself. If you're reading monsters with us this month in the stacks book club, I think I could would consider him to be at least be an art monster. This was before I think the Uma Thurman accusations came out before I had him on the show. But I was very nervous that you all would hate it and think that I didn't do enough to like, tackle him or like take him on. And I also thought that he was going to treat me like shit, because he's Quentin, Tarantino. And when I got on the call with him at first, I was really nervous. You can hear it in the episode for sure. And maybe like 1520 minutes, and I realized that he actually wanted to talk to me and like, actually cared what I thought. And he answered my questions. I got to ask him about art verse artists, and like, I just, I feel like it was one of those episodes where I mean, I'll tell you guys, candidly, I called KSA Layman and was like, Can I do it when he was like, I can't tell you what to do. But you know, if you think you can do it, you should try. Because the other people who shows he went on for the book with like Marc Maron and the Bill Maher show like he didn't do pot, little podcasts. He didn't do black people shit. He didn't do any bookshelf, quite frankly. So like, it felt like a big opportunity. And I feel like in the end, I'm really proud of that episode. I think it's a good episode. I know a lot of you didn't like it because you don't like him. And I respect the shit out of that. And he does talk a lot and he did talk over me and he did do the white guy thing for sure. But like, I feel like I held my own and it's like one of my favorite guests because I didn't want to do and I did it and I worked so that's what I think.
Jason Reynolds 24:25
That was my favorite guest. Not because I like his movies but because I like the way you handled him, and the way that there was like- you weren't once you got over the nerves, I texted you I hit you and was like, Hey, you really like weren't afraid to check him and be like, yo, let's push a little bit about some of the things that you've done and this that and the third, and I was like, Okay, this has gone from like this love fest with your homies to like, to me it felt so substantial. Not because it was Quentin but because of the way you handled the interview. Thanks.
Traci Thomas 24:54
I'm lucky you agree. Nobody says it's their favorite but me. Okay, snacks. Jason doesn't eat snacks. Jason full of shit. He tries to pretend like he eats healthy for the first time I met Jason I had a box of doughnuts I bought for us and he ate a doughnut, so don't ever let him tell you he's healthy because he's a liar and he likes doughnuts. What snacks are you into these days?
Jason Reynolds 25:25
The truth of that is I love snacks, which is the reason I don't eat them. So when she had doughnuts, of course I'm like finally there's a doughnut because there will be no donuts in my house. I mean super particular just because I got wild addictive personality- that I'm like one of those people I'm super intelligent so I know myself well enough to know if there are snacks in my house. They will be bought every day because I'm going to eat them all every day. So if I could eat any snack first of all birthday cake is the greatest any any for some reason birthday cake or wedding cake is not the cake is for some reason the occasion that could taste the birthday cake taste but it's your birthday. I could eat birthday cake every day.
Traci Thomas 26:02
You guys have Safeway here, right? Yeah, yeah, Safeway cake. Come on that Caucasian on Caucasian sheet cake.
Jason Reynolds 26:17
My favorite dessert ever though is tiramisu. I eat tiramisu all around the world. I could eat it everyday for breakfast for dinner. I love tiramisu.
Traci Thomas 26:25
Thank you. Okay. My only other bone to pick, and he's not here to defend himself but Clint Smith's snack was clementines. Boooo! He's in London for like the Darby, whatever for Arsenal so I don't feel bad talking shit about him. But literally, I was like, What's your favorite snack? And he was like clementines? They're like candy. And I was like you know what's like Candy? Candy is like candy. Clementine is like an orange. Okay, last thing we have to get to is books to screen. Favorite, favorite screen adaptation that is better than the book?
Jason Reynolds 27:06
The Shining. And The Godfather.
Traci Thomas 27:11
Sure. I never seen the Godfather, but it's my husband and my brother's favorite movie because men are like that. And I know like every line, but I've never seen it. But do you know? Do you guys know? Well, if you have great if you haven't, there's a scene where there's a horse head in a bed. And my dad also loved the movie and he's always taught me to be like the coldest thing ever was he just put this horse head in this guy's that and so I've never seen the scene and I saw it like six weeks ago eight weeks ago. And I was like this scene is about to be amazing. Have you guys seen that? Ugh, ugh, ugh. Like, the way he screamed.
Jason Reynolds 27:53
You kind of a hater. A little bit.
Traci Thomas 27:57
You know my friends call me shady Traci.
Jason Reynolds 27:58
You know a wild fact about the horse head scene is that it really happened. So like if you didn't know there's this show about the making of The Godfather.
Traci Thomas 28:13
Yes with Miles Teller.
Jason Reynolds 28:16
The mob was like really after them when they were making the movie. All these sort of tactics- intimidation tactics were actually playing out that they then used.
Traci Thomas 28:23
Well too bad they didn't film that on screen.
Jason Reynolds 28:29
What's your answer so I can find a way to hate it.
Traci Thomas 28:31
Well my answer just gave recently we just did a book to screen thing is the blacKKKlansmen is a way better movie than a book. the book is wack. Have you guys read that book? Yeah, it's not it's not good. I told you it wasn't good though. Because I talk shit about books in my reviews if they're not good I don't know that this is technically better than the book-
Jason Reynolds 28:52
I'm not about to hate on Spike.
Traci Thomas 29:00
You already know my favorite movie. One of my favorite movies is Gone With the Wind- that movie's fucking great. I don't care; the book is also great. But that movie those costumes. Fiddle D, motherfucker. I love Scarlett O'Hara. I know it's racist. I get it. It's not an accurate depiction of slavery. But when she has the skirt, or she's in the red. And they're like she's standing there in the red gown. And then she goes up. She's like, Hello Melly. Happy birthday Ashley. And then Rhett doesn't come. Come on. That red dress. I fucking dare anyone on screen to ever do a better costume ever. Done. I don't care. I love it. Sam Murphy told me to say this. I like it. Hate if you want. You can't hate that. I love it. It's a great film.
Jason Reynolds 30:11
I don't even have to say anything.
Traci Thomas 30:15
I know. I know. You don't have to love it.
Jason Reynolds 30:19
None of us do.
Traci Thomas 30:20
I know I'm not the only one who loves Gone with the Wind. You all can protect yourself. You do too? Thank you!
Jason Reynolds 30:31
We all got our things. Shout out to you, man.
Traci Thomas 30:35
Have you ever looked at Rhett Butler when he pops up from behind that couch and goes- I can't whistle-
Jason Reynolds 30:46
Beautiful. Who cares about racism?
Traci Thomas 30:51
You can like something that's racist if you want, if you're me.
Jason Reynolds 30:55
Like Quentin Tarantino, right?
Traci Thomas 30:59
I guess I like racist antebellum things. You know what, it's true and you can hate me for it and you have. It's art. I love it.
Jason Reynolds 31:15
I think it's cool that you you know, that's my channel is my movie, but like this is this is like a deep-seated, like, you love, love it.
Traci Thomas 31:22
So I used to watch this with my dad. So it's like tied to that too. You know, it's tied to stuff like and also the thing about it is that I think for some people they think Gone With the Wind is American history. Right? I I've read some books of stamps, you know, it's in there. I know that it's not I love the movie here for the movie. I would never be like you know this great movie it really depicts slavery and southerners leading up to the Civil War and immediately after it's really great. You'll love the mammy character super realistic like I don't think that.
Jason Reynolds 31:58
I mean we can be critical and love things; we can recognize things that are flawed.
Traci Thomas 32:04
And I love it and the red petticoat moment when she- Anyway, this is really jumped the shark. I'm gonna get fired. My god. This is like my one opinion that people hate people literally despise this.
Jason Reynolds 32:20
Everybody has their thing and everybody probably loves it secretly.
Traci Thomas 32:25
Okay. We're like almost out of time. We have two minutes and I did this thing where you guys were supposed to write about books recommendation so we're gonna do one.
Jason Reynolds 32:34
Okay.
Traci Thomas 32:35
We're only doing one- it's written in pink. We're gonna do it. Oh no, there's too many words. Okay. Okay, this person wants Roman snow look because this one has shown on the back too. They wrote a long way down. Never heard of it. What do you want? They want a romance, historical fiction, memoirs etc. books they love are All the Light We Cannot See. untamed is that that Glennon Doyle. Okay, books they hate 1984 flux, no sci fi and they want to read more nonfiction.
Jason Reynolds 33:11
Romance.
Traci Thomas 33:11
But you said you wanted to read more nonfiction but you also said you want romance historical fiction. So who is this? What would you prefer? Anything just to get back? Okay, I'm gonna give you a memoir that is akin to All the Light We Cannot See. I'm gonna give you what am I gonna give you? I'm gonna give you a memoir that I love called Jesus land. Have you ever been okay? I love Jesus land. Some people don't like it. But some people don't like I'm going to taste. It's called Jesus. And it's written by Julius sharers. And it's a book about a woman who is white, whose wife family adopted two black boys and treated them very fucking awful. And they all three of the kids get sent to Jesus Camp in Indiana. It's very bleak, to very beautifully written. I love the book. She then went on to write a book about Jonestown, which is one of my favorite books of all time called A Thousand Lives. So you should read that too. But Jesus Land is just like a really juicy emotional memoir. And I sort of feel like maybe that's what you're into, emotional things. But I've never read on tape because I'm not really a Glennon Doyle girly. But I feel like she's emotional.
Jason Reynolds 34:39
You have actually haven't gotta go with something super new. I think you should read the Heaven & Earth grocery store. Do you have it over there?
Traci Thomas 34:55
You guys are sold out. Order from them.
Jason Reynolds 34:56
Okay. Well, I'll tell you this about them, they have one for you. I think it's a love story. Also, it's historical fiction. It's about a neighborhood called Chicken Hill. And sort of the the ever changing sort of community, from a Jewish community to a black community and all the things that are happening in the midst of that. It's about family trying to pick themselves up and build sort of a life for themselves, while also there's a strange sort of preventive plan where they have to now support and take care of a black boy has gotten himself in some trouble. The lack of one or it's as for me, I think, craft wise. It's one of the most impressive books written this year. As as a craft with all of these other elements sort of working. It's amazing.
Traci Thomas 36:09
Okay, did you hear that? Just go back there buy right now. An Island Princess Starts a Scandal. We're almost done. The last thing we have to do is a selfie and Mr. Stacks made me buy a selfie stick because he said I was embarrassing myself but I can never work it. So we're going to try this. Ok we did it! Thank you guys so much. You're all the best. Thank you thank you.
Connect with Jason: Instagram | Twitter | Website
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe
The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website, and this comes at no cost to you. This in no way effects opinions on books and products reviewed here. For more information click here.