Book Review: "First Born Sons" by Vincent Traughber Meis

Reading First Born Sons by Vincent Traughber Meis became an absolute honor within the first few pages. As soon as it started out with a Langston Hughes quote, I knew I was in the right place.

Although Meis has a few other books that have been published, this is the first one I have read, and I was able to decide within two chapters that I immediately needed to read the others by this author.
Meis writes about the Burd siblings, each with their own struggles, each with their own chapter breaks and point of views. The writing is beautifully lyrical and very timely, as it talks about the pandemic, wildfires, LGBTQ themes, current political climates, and includes a fantastic soundtrack that I created on Spotify to listen to in the background while I read (we’re talking REM, Madonna… Lamar is the type of person I would trust making a playlist for a twelve hour road trip).

Parts were difficult to read, as they did discuss tough topics, such as death, racism, police violence, and the Proud Boys and gun violence, and although these parts kept the pace of the book and the flow moving very well, please be sure to take care of yourself when reading.
Meis writes with such fantastic imagery that I, a person from a small town who has never left the east coast, could picture it so clearly. It sounds cliche, but I pictured each scene as if I had visited these places, could smell the smells and sense the feelings. It was a very immersive read, which made it a very quick read.

The book contains many plots and unique experiences, and just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, I was proven wrong by the next paragraph. I was engaged with each character’s story; each one seemed like the type of person you’d want to be friends with. The transitioning between characters, although effective, sometimes threw me off and caused minimal confusion, but I was able to catch back on quickly and get back into the rhythm of the next point of view in the story.
All in all, I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to read more from this author.

--C

Want to read this book when it hits the shelves in 9 days? Buy it here from White Whale Books, one of our favorite small bookshops, or check with your local favorite bookseller to ask them for a copy!!