Dec 09 2009
My girl, My Girl, Don’t Lie to Me, Tell Me Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, as performed by Leadbelly
Being anything that isn’t white in America is hard enough, but being mixed is 10 times harder. Danzy Senna is the daughter of a black man and a white woman, and has lived her life in an infinite struggle to just live her life without having to answer questions about race. Her new book Where Did You Sleep Last Night follows her therapeutic journey to discover her black Southern roots and unravel the mystery that seems to encompass her father. While this sounds like a great story –and on paper it is– in person Senna did not make much of an impact. She lacked the charisma expected from good public speakers and seemed to barely connect to the audience. Despite her lackluster personality, I would still recommend her books to anyone looking for an interesting read. I actually look forward to reading Caucasia.
I love that you provided the link on Youtube. I can see why Ms. Senna really liked the song. And I sort of agree with you about Ms. Senna in person. I think she might have been scared to have the reading. I mean she even told us how she was unsure of publishing the memoir to begin with, and never imagined doing that. I imagine she might have felt awkward sharing the story with us in person.
Although she did not make as much of an impact as Joseph O’ connor did, I was struck by how ordinary she was. What I mean is, that her ordinariness (if that’s a word) is what added to her charisma. She can be anyone you or me, her story is not uncommon, who hasn’t experienced family problems??? And that’s where the beauty of the book lies – to change an ordinary story to a extraordinary one. I felt more comfortable and less intimidated in her reading than Connor’s.
yep, i thought the same thing – she didnt have the personality that shined through the way joseph o’connor did.
and what i loved was about her biracial situation was how comfortable she felt about who she was after she moved to california. its true what they say about life there – its carefree and there is no “judging.”