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Reviewed by Robert Collier III for Readers' Favorite
Damion Hamilton’s From The Bottom introduces David Henderson, a man who never really had a fair shot in life. The story starts with a fourteen-year-old David experiencing a police encounter that stays with him for the rest of his life. As an adult, he’s an inmate trying to better himself through education, but the prison environment is a constant battle against bullies and his own rage. After his release, the story follows his struggle to survive on meager wages at a book warehouse where the constant belittling from the higher-ups never stops. He’s constantly dodging the police and trying to pay off legal fees while battling the urge to escape through booze, drugs, sex, and toxic relationships. David occasionally finds purpose by speaking out about injustice in public places, hoping to spark a sense of solidarity among the people he preaches to. Is it possible to find dignity when everyone expects you to fail?
Damion Hamilton’s From The Bottom is a piece of literary fiction that really gets into the grit of what it’s like to be stuck in a loop you didn't ask for. It shows how a single bad day with the police in your youth can basically blueprint the next twenty years of your life. The plot development is interesting because it doesn't follow the flow of your average success story. Instead, it shows how hard it is to stay afloat when you're starting from the bottom. The writing style is very direct and skips the fancy metaphors for a more street-level outlook. I found the scenes where David interacts with his co-workers and other marginalized people to be the most impactful ones because they reveal his need for genuine human connection. Even though the timeline shifts back and forth, the pace stays intense because you're constantly seeing David evade one catastrophe after another. His journey offers a sobering look at how issues surrounding race and class actually play out in the justice system. If you're a fan of books that tell it like it is, this is the ideal novel for you.
