Featured Read: After the Lights Go Out by John Vercher
“See, violence is in our nature, homeboy. Violence builds empires. Violence destroys tyranny. Violence is the only way forward and it’s in our DNA. It’s damn sure in yours.”
John Vercher’s second powerhouse novel, After the Lights Go Out, is like one tragic, transformative, and emotional gut-punch. Vercher’s prose transports the reader into the failing mind and body of Xavier “Scarecrow” Wallace, a biracial MMA fighter, enduring chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), otherwise known as pugilistic dementia. Facing a year-long suspension from his career, Xavier lives in the home of his white father, Sam Wallace, who is rapidly declining from Alzheimer’s and exposing his underlying racism.
Xavier trains for his own comeback with his cousin, “Shot,” a retired boxer and gym manager, to whom he owes an enormous debt. However, Xavier must face the truth of his illness, as he can no longer ignore the pounding migraines, the piercing sounds of tinnitus in his ears, and the daily confusion as he finds, “Patches of time gone, sketches of memories swiped from a chalkboard where only the faintest outline of the words and images remained” (2).
After the Lights Go Out left me turning page after page, rooting and begging for Xavier to find relief, if not a “win.” I never imagined that I could be so engrossed in a novel that exposes the gruesome reality of what happens behind the scenes for athletes in the MMA world. This book is intense in its subject matter, even challenging to read at times, but it is a journey I recommend.
I was invested in the character of Xavier from the beginning, as Vercher crafts his text with diction that delves deep into the complexities of illness, family, racism, and mixed-race identity. His agile prose propels the reader with continuous tension and yields a harrowing character study. Vercher’s characters are complex and fully developed, each distinct voice coming to life in his dialogue. He includes text message communication and Xavier’s internal monologue to place the reader into Xavier’s world and unstable mind, exposing his worst fears and unfathomable thoughts, with painful, authentic believability. In After the Lights Go Out, John Vercher creates an unforgettable, almost-cinematic portrait of what it means to live, to fight, and to suffer.
Writing Prompt:
Throughout his novel, Vercher includes a disembodied voice that exposes the internal monologue of Xavier. In the first chapter with this voice, Vercher writes, “Always someone else’s fault except poor, brain-dead X. Cry Me a river” (24).
Use the narrative technique of the internal monologue to write a poem. This could be your own internal monologue or the internal monologue of a partner, a family member, or even, a pet. How do they speak? What do they notice? Consider how the internal monologue reveals secret information and adds complexity to a character.
Happy writing!
