As Lie Is to Grin: A Novel
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“Simeon Marsalis’s As Lie Is to Grin is not a satire meant to teach us lessons, nor a statement of hope or despair, but something more visionary—a portrait of a young man’s unraveling, a depiction of how race shapes and deforms us, a coming–of–age story that is also a confrontation with American history and amnesia. The book achieves more in its brief span than most books do at three times the length.” —Zachary Lazar, author of I Pity the Poor Immigrant
David, the narrator of Simeon Marsalis’s singular first novel, is a freshman at the University of Vermont who is struggling to define himself against the white backdrop of his school. He is also mourning the loss of his New York girlfriend, whose grandfather’s alma mater he has chosen to attend. When David met Melody, he lied to her about who he was and where he lived, creating a more intriguing story than his own. This lie haunts and almost unhinges him as he attempts to find his true voice and identity.
On campus in Vermont, David imagines encounters with a student from the past who might represent either Melody’s grandfather or Jean Toomer, the author of the acclaimed Harlem Renaissance novel Cane (1923). He becomes obsessed with the varieties of American architecture “upon land that was stolen,” and with the university’s past and attitudes as recorded in its newspaper, The Cynic. And he is frustrated with the way the Internet and libraries are curated, making it difficult to find the information he needs to make connections between the university’s history, African American history, and his own life.
In New York, the previous year, Melody confides a shocking secret about her grandfather’s student days at the University of Vermont. When she and her father collude with the intent to meet David’s mother in Harlem—craving what they consider an authentic experience of the black world—their plan ends explosively. The title of this impressive and emotionally powerful novel is inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask” (1896): “We wear the mask that grins and lies . . .”
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Simeon Marsalis. (2017). As Lie Is to Grin: A Novel. Catapult.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Simeon Marsalis. 2017. As Lie Is to Grin: A Novel. Catapult.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Simeon Marsalis, As Lie Is to Grin: A Novel. Catapult, 2017.
MLA Citation (style guide)Simeon Marsalis. As Lie Is to Grin: A Novel. Catapult, 2017.
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- bioText: Simeon Marsalis was born in 1990 and graduated from the University of Vermont in 2013. He has lived in New York, New Hampshire, and New Orleans. As Lie Is to Grin is his first book.
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- Shortlisted for the 2017 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
“Simeon Marsalis’s As Lie Is to Grin is not a satire meant to teach us lessons, nor a statement of hope or despair, but something more visionary—a portrait of a young man’s unraveling, a depiction of how race shapes and deforms us, a coming–of–age story that is also a confrontation with American history and amnesia. The book achieves more in its brief span than most books do at three times the length.” —Zachary Lazar, author of I Pity the Poor Immigrant
David, the narrator of Simeon Marsalis’s singular first novel, is a freshman at the University of Vermont who is struggling to define himself against the white backdrop of his school. He is also mourning the loss of his New York girlfriend, whose grandfather’s alma mater he has chosen to attend. When David met Melody, he lied to her about who he was and where he lived, creating a more intriguing story than his own. This lie haunts and almost unhinges him as he attempts to find his true voice and identity.
On campus in Vermont, David imagines encounters with a student from the past who might represent either Melody’s grandfather or Jean Toomer, the author of the acclaimed Harlem Renaissance novel Cane (1923). He becomes obsessed with the varieties of American architecture “upon land that was stolen,” and with the university’s past and attitudes as recorded in its newspaper, The Cynic. And he is frustrated with the way the Internet and libraries are curated, making it difficult to find the information he needs to make connections between the university’s history, African American history, and his own life.
In New York, the previous year, Melody confides a shocking secret about her grandfather’s student days at the University of Vermont. When she and her father collude with the intent to meet David’s mother in Harlem—craving what they consider an authentic experience of the black world—their plan ends explosively. The title of this impressive and emotionally powerful novel is inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask” (1896): “We wear the mask that grins and lies . . .” - reviews
- premium: False
- source: Publishers Weekly
- content: "Marsalis’s slim, ambitious debut tackles loss and racial identity . . . Marsalis incisively comments on a wide range of ideas, from authenticity to architecture."
- premium: False
- source: Booklist
- content: "Marsalis’ deep and creative coming–of–age tale confronts race and omitted history. An exciting, thought–provoking debut."
- premium: False
- source: Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review)
- content: "As Lie Is to Grin, Simeon Marsalis's debut novel, is imbued with a constant sense of searching. . . . Poetic in its own way and thought provoking to its core, this slim novel from a young author marks the start of a promising career."
- premium: False
- source: Foreword Reviews
- content: "A sophisticated and complex work, this debut reconsiders the coming–of–age story for the twenty–first century."
- premium: False
- source: Library Journal
- content: "This affecting and unaffected story is for all readers.""
- premium: False
- source: Major Jackson, author of Roll Deep
- content: "As Lie Is to Grin courageously works through the fraught legacy of race and 'the color line,' often transgressed with deep psychological consequences. In this haunting tale of one young man's search for himself, Simeon Marsalis shuffles and refigures time so that our troubled history no longer hides in plain sight. This is superb writing that feels ceremonious in its wisdom and inexhaustible in its offerings.""
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August 7, 2017
Presented as a combination of diary entries and fragments from a novel within the narrative, Marsalis’s slim, ambitious debut tackles loss and racial identity. The protagonist, David, transitions from living on Long Island with his single mother to his freshman year as a black student at the predominantly white University of Vermont. He has recently broken up with his girlfriend, Melody; their relationship was built on a pair of lies—that his mother was a drug addict, and that he lived in Harlem—that also influence a semiautobiographical novel that he attempts to write. In Vermont, David becomes interested in the work and life of Harlem Renaissance writer Jean Toomer, particularly the author’s 1923 novel Cane and his resistance to being labeled by race. On campus, David sees and begins to follow a young man dressed in a gray suit, who may or may not be real, and who may provide a link to Melody’s grandfather, who attended UVM and “passed” as white. As racial guilt and confusion cause David to unravel, Marsalis incisively comments on a wide range of ideas, from authenticity to architecture.
- premium: True
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October 15, 2017
Newcomer Marsalis blends diary extracts and novel excerpts to good effect, telling the story of University of Vermont freshman David as he struggles to clarify his African American identity at a mostly white school and to maintain the lie he told his New York girlfriend Melody: that he lives with his drug-addicted mother in Harlem, when in fact she's an educated professional who's nevertheless "crazy like black crazy." As he becomes increasingly interested in his heritage, David begins studying the work of Harlem Renaissance writer Jean Toomer and tracking down information connecting his school to African American history, though what's really telling is how hard he finds it to get straight answers. Melody's grandfather also attended the school, passing as white, and David sometimes imagines seeing a figure representing him or Toomer stalking the campus. Marsalis beautifully captures David's uncertainty and keen awareness of the world around him (the descriptions of architecture are both effective and key to the story), and it's a sign of the author's fine skills with narrative that the selected extracts and excerpts are strikingly different in tone, though David's life directly feeds his writing experience. VERDICT Short-listed for the 2017 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, this affecting and unaffected story is for all readers.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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September 15, 2017
A freshman at the University of Vermont, David notices early on in Marsalis' debut that from afar the the campus seemed to be encircled by a translucent bubble. He blinks; the bubble remains. Not finding connections at the 90-percent-white school beyond the kids who assume he smokes weed, David pores over the university's architecture, historical records, and disturbing racial legacies. He has another repeating vision, of a man in a gray suit. Before college, David met Melody at a Hamptons carnival and fatefully fibbed that he lived in Harlem with his mom, an addict. Melody and her father insist on offering David help and meeting his mom, propositions that leave him uncomfortable and questioning. As the years unfold, David inserts chapters of the novel he's been writing and tries to reach back and get it, to find whatever he can from his past that will help him move forward. With a title borrowed from Paul Laurence Dunbar We wear the mask that grins and lies Marsalis' deep and creative coming-of-age tale confronts race and omitted history. An exciting, thought-provoking debut.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
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“Simeon Marsalis’s As Lie Is to Grin is not a satire meant to teach us lessons, nor a statement of hope or despair, but something more visionary—a portrait of a young man’s unraveling, a depiction of how race shapes and deforms us, a coming–of–age story that is also a confrontation with American history and amnesia. The book achieves more in its brief span than most books do at three times the length.” —Zachary Lazar, author of I Pity the Poor Immigrant
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