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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 2011)
books BY BRIT MCGINNIS This Lady Ain’t Kiddin’ History mixes with unflinching memoir in Never In My Wildest Dreams T here is a rising trend in the world of memoir, and it’s simple to explain: The ladies are getting cynical. Perhaps as a backlash to the labeling of Eat Pray Love as Chick Lit, the women working in this genre have grown angrier, more stylistically ornate and less dependant on emotional transformation as a hook. These writers have stories to tell, damn it, and they’re not to be lumped into some arbitrary category because they possess two X chromosomes. The gloves are off. The historical references are frequent and spot-on. The character development has more details than ever. And girl, it makes for great reading. The latest wave of this trend is Never In My Wildest Dreams, written by Belva Davis. The fi rst female black news anchor to be seen on West Coast television, Davis describes a life where breaking social norms was necessary for survival, if not always intended. The story of Davis’ life has all the elements of classically successful memoirs: a troubled childhood, rising above obstacles both personal and societal and an eventual reconciliation between past and future selves. Davis describes growing up as a young child in the Jim Crow-era South, fl itting from home to home whenever work was scarce or a relative was threatened with tarring and feathering. She runs from an abusive husband, poverty and even journalistic trends with which she did not agree. Her nerve, and her unwillingness to be spoken for, earned her respect from the world. But Davis’ role as a deliverer of news pervades the storytelling, with fantastic results. Historical references are peppered in with personal anecdotes. Davis’ fi rst trip to Washington D.C. is complemented by a quote from a speech by the Truman Committee on Civil Rights. The gritty details of UC Berkeley’s student protests and incidents of police brutality during 1969’s “Bloody Thursday” goes hand in hand with Davis’ quest not to ever look like an oversensitive “girl” to her macho colleagues. Nothing is ever without context. The book’s title itself includes the subheading “A Black Woman’s Life In Journalism,” and it fulfi lls that classifi cation to the end. Davis nearly falls into some of the traps of women’s memoirs — mentioning weight, maternal or other insecurities at unnecessary moments — but her shrewd timing prevents such blips from hurting the work. The only time body size is mentioned is when Davis describes sleeping on kitchen fl oors as a child or appearing on television next to white anchors. Insecurities regarding motherhood are analyzed in a quasi-Freudian manner, with no dramatic screaming. Sure, she mentions crying on the job because of pre-exclusive interviewing jitters, but none other than her interviewee, Fidel Castro, gives her comfort. The picture on the cover of Dreams is undoubtedly that of Davis while on the air, with her hair in a perfectly fl ipped bob, her ‘70s-era rosy blouse loose but unwrinkled. Her face engages you, her eyes warm but also distant, mouth parted in what is either a laugh or a sob. And perhaps that is the point of this book: We aren’t supposed to know if Davis is laughing or crying. That’s not our place. We are the audience, and she is the journalist. The entire book has a cold, fourth-wall distance between author and audience. It doesn’t carry a cozy, sweater- and-coffee vibe. Dreams is ushering in a new era of autobiography: the historical memoir. You don’t read a book of this type to get an emotional pick-me-up. After all, subjects like the Black Panthers and the People’s Temple suicides are tucked into this slim hardback. Davis’ story shows that no person is an island, that huge social movements do indeed affect people all over a nation regardless of location. Overall, Davis’ book is an unabashed lesson in the progress of the nation. It is a shrewd, intelligent story of a life in Ameri- ca during a period where people like Davis were not expected to succeed. She is black, female, a single mother at certain points in her career, and was economically disad- vantaged and without a college education. But succeed she did, to an incredible de- gree. Her fi nal words, however, are hum- ble, and she happily states during her time spent reporting of the 2008 presidential election, “Don’t ever let anyone tell you history doesn’t have a sense of humor.” ew traveling soon? medical advice for global travelers t he t ravel c linic John D. Wilson, M.D. 1200 Hilyard St., Suite S-560 541/343-6028 www.TravelClinicOregon.com Questions? Email us at travelclinicoregon.343-6028@gmail.com Questions? 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