![]() ![]() Walker takes us off the curb as an observer nodding safely in self-satisfied understanding and allows us to drive inside his claustrophobic, murmuring worry about the American disease that never lets up for him. There are 21 essays in this powerful collection, each written with an easygoing style that’s engagingly transparent, ironic, spirited, intense and confident. ![]() Later, when I am trying to forgive her, this is what I’ll decide. Maybe her reaction to me was pure instinct, her body propelled into motion before her mind gave consent. She is loading her food onto the conveyor belt, her purse still dangling from her shoulder, her thoughts, I suspect, a million miles from our encounter: Or maybe it never registered at all. In line at the checkout, Walker ponders if she knowingly is racist and writes: One shopper makes eye contact with him and protectively slings her purse over her shoulder. ![]() He knows his skin color will arouse suspicion and counteract the simple, normal reality of a professor in blazer and tie shopping for his wife. ![]() As he shops the aisles, Walker manages “what I sometimes imagine is an ultrasonic alarm.” He carefully observes the women’s open purses in their grocery carts, noting the visible wallets, “being mindful” to keep his distance. ![]()
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