Sharp social commentary intermingles with what is very nearly slapstick humor in Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham. Carlotta Mercedes is granted parole just before the Fourth of July weekend. A trans woman who transitioned shortly after her imprisonment for her part in a liquor store robbery that went sour, Carlotta has spent more than 20 years in a men's prison, frequently suffering assault and solitary confinement. She's feeling ambivalent about leaving behind her man, Frenzy, but is eager to reunite with the son who has never known her as a woman. Returning to her family in Brooklyn is an adventure in navigating gentrification, 20 years of technological changes and a lukewarm reception from her relatives.
Hannaham's previous novel, Delicious Foods, featured crack cocaine as a narrator, setting a high standard for inventiveness. Carlotta is merely human; nevertheless, her narrative voice crackles with energy, shifting between first and third person and suggesting an imagined voice-over for the miniseries she pictures for her story--with her occasional direct interjections. Her struggles to comply with the terms of her parole, avoid being around alcohol during Independence Day celebrations and find employment are at times wonderfully farcical, particularly the plan she comes up with after having been hired as a driver in spite of never having gotten a license.
In the vibrant persona of Carlotta, Hannaham once again presents a thrilling voice. Readers, at least, will prove the title wrong. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library