xTx’s Nobody Trusts a Black Magician

Here is a collection of non-traditional character snapshots, often vulgar, often disturbing, and always appreciated for its unwillingness to dodge moral conflict. xTx’s Nobody Trusts a Black Magician beautifully relies on shock to entice the reader, offering visceral descriptions of subject matter not often tackled, even among the non-profit micropress word, from which this collection comes. xTx is not shy, and it’s damn hard not to love her material for that very reason.

Each story has a stark, matter-of-fact tone reminiscent of a Noah Cicero work, and often carries bizarro sensibilities in terms of subject matter. But, neither of these descriptions should deflate the moments of poetry peppered throughout the collection. In “Saving the Meat,” a very plausible reality sets the story’s tone, laying out a basic plot about one character’s confusion over another character’s insistence on saving a few small leftover meat slices from her dinner. But the final lines pierce the calm reality:

On the drive home, I make a silent plan to save the slices. Come midnight, penlight in mouth, I’ll jump over the razor wire and come courageous (pg. 9)

This juxtaposition of the absurd with the real is what gives Nobody Trusts a Black Magician its power. Take this section, from “So Much of the Same,” which showcases xTx’s skills collectively (brackets mine):

I want to lie next to you in a bed covered in four-day-old sweat, male and female cum, and wine [the disturbing]. Lying there I want to fight over the same breath with you [the emotionally arresting]. Eyes closed, lips so close to touching. Sun rising then setting. Getting lost. Drowning [the poetic]. (pg. 10)

Review by Caleb J Ross

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