Fat Time and Other Stories

April 17, 2023
Allen (Rails Under My Back) offers an arresting collection featuring surreal situations along with riffs on the lives of famous Black men. A misty atmosphere pervades the proceedings. The opener, “Testimonial (Supported in Belief/Verified in Fact),” reads like a tall tale, following a man trying to save his son from a lynch mob by hiding the boy inside a cow’s anus. In the title story, Allen imagines an alternate history in which boxer Jack Johnson’s first filmed fight against Tommy Burns becomes a duel to the death. Miles Davis narrates a troubled relationship with a new guitarist in “Pinocchio.” Allen renders the bandleader’s voice with welcome wit and acidity, though he’s less successful with Jimi Hendrix, the star of “Heads,” a plodding misfire that lends little imagination to the revolutionary guitarist’s inner life and leans heavily on descriptions of Hendrix drinking wine, smoking cigarettes, and staring out the window. Though some entries stumble, the author provokes with riveting images, dark humor, and a chilling sense of desperation. When Allen is on, he’s a force to be reckoned with.