MEMORIAL by Bryan Washington

Mike’s Japanese mother comes from Japan to visit Mike in Houston just as he is leaving for Japan to be with his long-absent dying father.  Talk about ships passing the night.  Mike’s mother will now be spending months with a stranger—her son’s Black lover and roommate, Benson.  Their comfort with one another’s company develops over time and food, and, for me, their relationship was the most compelling aspect of this book.  For Mike’s part, he goes to work in his father’s small bar in Osaka.  As his father’s health deteriorates, we begin to wonder what Mike plans to do after his father’s death.  Keep the bar?  Return to Houston?  Plus, it becomes apparent that Mike and Ben’s relationship is at a crossroads.  Both men experiment with other lovers, but both seem reluctant to make a clean break from one another.  A jaw-dropping revelation from Ben made me rethink previous events, but somehow this bombshell fizzles without ever becoming a big deal.  At one point, Mike tells Ben a head-scratching story about an encounter that causes Ben to laugh inappropriately, but the author doesn’t let the reader in on the joke.  For me, this arrogance on the part of the author is unnecessary and unforgivable.  I have no complaint about the writing, except for a few lapses in grammar (eg., “lay” should be “lie”), but neither Mike nor Ben is particularly endearing, or at least not nearly as endearing as Mike’s mother.  Both men’s fathers were despicable during their sons’ childhood but show signs of being candidates for redemption in their old age.  However, the ending is maddeningly frustrating, with no closure whatsoever, unless a hint is buried too deeply for me to unearth.