Brandon Taylor’s debut novel Real Life takes the audience through the weekend of a biochemistry grad student (Wallace) who experiences racism in different manifestations, reignitement of trauma, and the blossoming of a new relationship. The setting of the post-Summer/ almost Fall provides a tangible background for the conversation about the struggle of knowing when to stick with something you despise or to let yourself go to the unknown. Most importantly, the audience is allowed to see Wallace’s inner processes and how he truly feels about some of the instances that take place since he normally does not voice his true opinion on these matters. The audience learns that Wallace is detached from his friends and it has gotten worse since he has learned his father died recently (even though they were not close). Overall, Real Life, I think, provides a glimpse into what it is like when you finally realize you are not sure what you are doing with your life. 

Coming off of Shuggie Bain and reading the excerpt for this book, I expected another whopper that was going to give me something to really mull over while reading the other books we have left. However, Real Life did not pack the punch that I expected it to. That is not to say that it was a bad book, though. In fact, I think it is a good book that is worthy of reading in homogenous settings such as PWI’s and other places that have very low diversity. Perhaps, my own struggles with race and racism did not allow me to connect with this book in the way I would have liked, but I think the parts about white complacency and white silence were poignant and necessary inclusions. The other facets of the book, like Wallace’s sexuality, proved to be more interesting to me in the long run. It was interesting to see the beginning of and development thereafter of Wallace and Miller’s relationship. The back and forth between Wallace’s emotional unavailability and Miller’s pleas for connection offer a really good look into what relationships can be like for someone dealing with unexplored trauma. I also really commend Taylor for keeping this book to a singular weekend. The short timeline gives me the impression that the events that take place are only the surface of what Wallace actually feels while in his grad program which makes sense as to why he thinks about dropping out. All of these components allow Real Life to become a novel that is voyeuristic and almost too relatable for anyone in upper level academia.

There are a lot of themes that are touched on in this book. One of the most prevalent, though, was the cyclical nature of starting over to make something of yourself. Wallace mentions several times in passing that if he can just get over his familial trauma, his sexual trauma, then he can be a new person. Taylor even ends the book with Wallace’s first day at the university to show us how he believed this would be his opportunity to make something of himself without the confines of his Alabaman past to weigh him down. Wallace is so plagued by everything that has happened to him, he just decides to keep moving forward much to the detriment of his friendships and developing relationship. It is almost as if Wallace believes that everything he experiences (the racism, the bad friends, Miller) are all just obstacles he needs to overcome to become a successful biochemist, but he cannot shake the feeling that this is just something he does not want anymore. With the ending of the book being his first day, it is unclear whether Wallace makes the choice to hunker down and stay or to start again, but I think that with him finally feeling comfortable enough to share his past with Miller and being more open to talking means that he is starting over just in the same place he was already in.

It seems odd that there are so many things to touch on in such a small book, but I think that is indicative of a well written book. Taylor successfully captures the story of an unanchored grad student and his struggle with fully coming into himself. His utilization of tunnel vision allows us to really get inside of Wallace’s head and see what a weekend is like for a black gay man in a midwestern university.