In prose that is evocative and sensual, unabashedly queer and visceral, raw and autobiographical, Whitehead writes of an Indigenous body in pain, coping with trauma. In Making Love with the Land, his first nonfiction book, Whitehead explores the relationships between body, language, and land through creative essay, memoir, and confession. Jonny Appleseed is a timeless novel that deserves every bit of praise it has received.The novel Jonny Appleseed established Joshua Whitehead as one of the most exciting and important new literary voices on Turtle Island, winning both a Lambda Literary Award and Canada Reads 2021.
After the buzz dies down from this book, I hope it still is something people talk about and will read in the years to come. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is actively wanting to read widely and diversely–especially if you want to read more books by queer and Indigenous authors. Jonny Appleseed is a novel that I will continue to refer to and revisit in the future. This was the first novel I have read by a Two-Spirit/Indigiaqueer author and it won't be my last. Many important and difficult topics are brought up in the novel and written in such a beautiful and poignant language - I don't want the hype of this novel to die down. Jonny Appleseed has received numerous accolades from various authors and has won many awards and it is deserving of praise and recognition from critics of literary fiction. And while reading this novel, it made me realize how the world needs more books like this. From his perspective, he reveals that the emotional ups and downs he faces in his present have been ultimately molded by his past. I enjoyed reading Jonny’s raw first-person narrative. The comedic relief in the novel is always placed at the right time and never takes away from the more emotional or difficult moments. Jonny often mentions these moments with self-deprecating humour. Every hardship Jonny experiences is complex and intersectional he is not just experiencing racism, but homophobia and classism as well. Whitehead eloquently writes Jonny’s story, capturing his character growth. I found the novel emotionally profound and brutally honest. Jonny Appleseed navigates Jonny’s life as he tries to understand himself and the way he wants to live. These vignettes aren’t chronological, and they focus on his close relationships with his friends Tias and Jordan, his mother, and his grandmother. The story is told in vignettes of Jonny’s life, leading up to his eventual return to the reservation to attend his stepfather’s funeral. Jonny moves to Winnipeg for a better life, eventually working as a sex worker. The novel centres around Jonny and his life in and outside the reservation.
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead is a beautifully written character driven novel about a Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer character. Content warning: sexual assault, racism, homophobia, physical violence, drug use
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