Black Bottom Saints is more than a novel. It’s a summoning of Black luminaries. Swirling fact with fiction, author Alice Randall anchors the novel with Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson — the real-life MC, theater director and general doyen of Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood in the mid-20th century. From his hospital bed, Johnson pays tribute to the melanated artists, athletes and entertainers who made a mark on the Motor City. Randall employs the literary rhythms of a skilled orator, elevating Dinah Washington, Joe Lewis, Robert Hayden and 49 others to sainthood in memorable vignettes. Each ends with a proposed libation in the form of a cocktail recipe. Black Bottom Saints is a love letter to Detroit — and to Black culture. A must-read. ERICA CICCARONE
Best Novel
Alice Randall’s Black Bottom Saints
