RFBC #20: Chain-Gang All-Stars
The future of hard-action sports? And a link to the podcast.
If current incarceration rates hold, more than one out of every twenty Americans—5.1%—will be confined in a state or federal prison during their lives. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, there are “over 1.9 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 142 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories. The U.S. is home to 4.2% of the world’s population—and about 20% of the world’s prisoners.
And—guess what?—running prisons is a profitable business. The more prisoners you “serve,” the more money you make. Little wonder that privatizing prisons leads to more inmates and longer sentences. And a U.S. Department of Justice study found that private prisons are more dangerous than public prisons, with nearly 30% more prisoner-on-prisoner attacks and 163% more attacks on correctional staff.
All of this sets the stage for Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Chain-Gang All-Stars, one of 2023’s best-reviewed novels and the February 2024 selection of Radio Free Book Club. It’s set in a near future in which inmates can opt to compete in the nation’s most popular “hard-action sport,” which is essentially mortal combat, gladiator style—which also has an element of housewives-type reality TV designed to hook the fans who might not initially warm to the violence.
If that sounds like your cup of pruno and you’re going to read Chain-Gang All-Stars, you should know we’re going to be spoiling it right below the photo of the book—and even moreso on our podcast. But if you have read it, read on and give us a listen—and let us know what you think.
Show notes:
The RFBC crew for our December 2023 show was Indianapolis writer Ken Honeywell; digital marketing genius and accomplished book summarizer Christine Hudson; father/architect/landlord/philanthropist/go-to science fiction pontificator Craig Von Deylen; and a new book club member, Indy reader and author Corey Michael Dalton. Our show was recorded at Listen Hear in Indianapolis and produced by our friend Galileo for 99.1 WQRT-LP.
The George Saunders influence. It came as no surprise to learn that Adjei-Brenyah studied under George Saunders at Syracuse—or that Chain-Gang All-Stars begin life as a short story. Corey especially felt the book was too long and could have used a major edit. But all of us praised the writing.
One great intro. The introduction of Hammara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker and her entry into the arena, sporting her scythe named LoveGuile, was simply magnificent. It painted a portrait of a formidable, complicated, violent woman ready to commit legal murder for a stadium full of rabid fans. Highly cinematic.
Yeah, but…would we watch the movie? In some ways, Chain-Gang All-Stars seems perfect for a really big film or prestige TV series; yet, this would be exactly the sort of violent entertainment about which the book seems to be a cautionary tale. Having read the book, it would be hard to resist seeing it come to life on the big screen. But it’s a tricky proposition.
Those names. Hurricane Staxxx. Barry “Rave Bear” Harris. Sunset Harkless. Ice Ice the Elephant. Gunny Puddles. Sai Aye Eye. Walter Bad Water. We could go on. So many colorful names.
Those footnotes. The way many of the footnotes exposed actual current practices in, and consequences of, the American carceral system tied the story directly to reality in a way that made this future all too plausible. Given all the things the system does to dehumanize prisoners, is it really such a big leap to allow convicted murderers to fight each other to the death?
Who was the scariest person in the story? Who was the saddest? We had several nominees. Mickey Wright, the master of ceremonies and bestower of nicknames, was cited, as were the executives and board members who ran the league. Wil and Emily were especially awful and emblematic of the insanity of over-the-top fandom. Many, many sympathetic characters—among them Hendrix “Scorpion Singer” Young, Randy Mac, and the pathetic Tim “Teacup” Jarret—met a grisly end. But for a combination of sheer pathos and abject terror, no one came close to Simon J. “Unkillable Jungle” Craft, who was tortured into becoming a monster.
Is all this our fault? Are we to blame for the high incarceration rates and awful practices of the American carceral system? In a word, yes.
Lover against lover with high freed the prize. Why in the world would the show runners of Chain-Gang All-Stars want two of the “sport’s” most popular contestants, members of the same chain, to fight each other? Wouldn’t the fans be upset? Ultimately, we thought not: Fans were used to, and fans of, the brutality. Their favorites died all the time, never making it to high freed. We also discussed the possibility that the bosses wanted Loretta dead, and that Staxxx would win. A high-freed Loretta, a contestant they could never manipulate, would be a problem for the future of Chain-Gang All-Stars.
We had a brief debate about whether we wanted to spoil the ending for listeners. But, true to our book club roots, we spoiled the heck out of it. And we were spilt on who we thought would emerge victorious from the battle between Loretta and Staxxx. Ken was shocked—not necessarily by Staxxx’s sacrifice so much as by the way she turned LoveGuile’s deadly blade around when she had Loretta dead to rights. Corey saw it coming.
Was it a happy ending? Not necessarily happy. But the prospect of a high-freed Loretta Thurwar, along with the increasingly passionate protest movement of the Coalition to End Neo-Slavery and Mari’s shocking treatment at the Loretta/Staxxx bout—not to mention Mickey Wright’s disillusionment—all were signs of hope.
Would we recommend it? Christine was a yes and no. As a Black woman tired of stories about Black pain and sadnesses and violence, she had a tough time with the book. At the same time, she loved the writing and the literature lover in her would recommend the book. Corey would recommend it, although he thought it was too long and offered to edit a shorter version. (Given his magazine background, maybe a Reader’s Digest condensed version?) Ken and Craig both praised the style and the story and thought Chain-Gang All-Stars was an important book—a definite recommendation.
Bonus recommendations: For people interested subjects raised in the book, Christine recommended Avy DuVernay’s documentary 13th and Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys. She also recommended Alexandra Chang’s short story collection, Tomb Sweeping. Craig recommended A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan. Corey declined to recommend Christopher Tolkien’s The Complete History of Middle Earth unless you are a complete Tolkien nerd. Ken, inspired by a Seinfeld episode, spent January reading Richard Yates novels and recommended The Easter Parade.
Next month: We dig into Wellness, the sophomore effort by the author of The Nix, Nathan Hill. We hope you’ll give it a read—and give us a listen.
