Good Kings, Bad Kings

Nussbaum succeeds at her goal here: to write a book about characters with disabilities, who have personalities beyond their disabilities, interact with each other and with characters who are able-bodied. The characters are fully fleshed out and interesting, realistic characters.

But this absolutely comes off as a political piece. It is certainly enjoyable in its own right, but it is impossible to read without thinking of it as a piece about disability-rights, criticizing institutions (which, I agree with in spirit, but also agree that there are nuances to the discussion not fully elucidated here.) and discussing discrimination, over-utilization of intelligence and personality testing and casting a cynical eye over seemingly all parties show more involved in providing care to those with disabilities.

Perhaps the best part of the book is that Nussbaum portrays even most of her villains as human, simply ignorant or over-worked or otherwise preoccupied. She does have a few truly irredeemable characters, but by and large, especially for a piece trying to make a statement, this is done well -- an invitation to dialogue. show less

“We are minor character's in someone else's story.”

The Illinois Learning and Life Skills Center, is located on the south side of Chicago. It is an institution for disabled juveniles. This tough, uncompromising story, takes place, mostly in between these walls, unfolding with both grit and tenderness. Each chapter, focuses on an individual; either one of the kids or one of the staff, detailing their daily struggles, small triumphs and chronic disappointments.
The thing I most enjoyed, in this novel, followed closely by the fine prose, was the unique perspective of the disabled, both adult and child, a glimpse into a world that is rarely shown in print or any other medium. Bravo Ms. Nussbaum!

Do you think that nursing homes are only for the elderly? Have you ever considered where physically and mentally disabled children and young adults whose parents can’t care for them or who are wards of the state live? I know I hadn’t, blithely assuming that these kids would, of course, live with their families, never considering that these families might not have the resources, physically or monetarily, or, frankly, for some families, the interest in caring for their children. But Susan Nussbaum’s PEN/ Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction award winning novel, Good Kings, Bad Kings, showed me how wrong I was. A number of disabled young people are abandoned in homes and are at the mercy of the often underpaid staff, the show more integrity of the private companies that run the homes for profit, and the greater community that serves the homes and the interests of the children living there.

Told by seven different characters, three teenagers living at ILLC (Illinois Learning and Life Skills Center), three staff members, and a woman paid to fill the beds at the home, the novel is eye-opening and impressive. Each of the characters is very different as they narrate their lives and interactions in the home. Yessenia has been sent to ILLC from Juvie after she beat another girl at school with the footrest of her wheelchair. She is fierce and quick to flame up in a temper but she’s also funny and intelligent and still grieving the loss of her beloved Tia Nene, the last person to love and care for her. Mia is pretty, sweet, and quiet and she and her boyfriend Teddy are inseparable until her vulnerability and dependence expose her to evil. Teddy is endearing and he wants nothing more than to get out of ILLC, live in his own apartment, and marry Mia. Joanne, a newly hired data entry clerk at the home, is disabled herself and she is appalled and astounded by the way in which the home is run, cutting corners and costs, leaving these children without the services they need and no one to advocate for them. Michelle is a rising star in sales at the private company that runs ILLC but through her closer contact in the home itself, she becomes progressively more disillusioned by what she sees even as she allows her boss and his shiny, rich life to escape her censure. Ricky is a young Latino man who both drives a bus transporting the kids and works as an aide in the home and he is gifted to see these teenagers as just plain kids who often don’t deserve the punishments dealt them. And finally, Jimmie is another aide at the home who has been homeless and dependent on others herself and who develops a deep bond with Yessenia because of their common experiences and their many shared personality traits.

There’s terrible abuse, greed, ignorance, and tragedy in these pages but there’s also love, caring, kindness, and empowerment. Each of the seven characters is very different, their voices are unique and believable, and the insight into their thoughts is sympathetically and realistically done. The lives that some of these kids lead will break your heart but their resilience in the face of it all is amazing. And in the end, they are just normal kids, no matter what their IQs are or whether they move about in wheelchairs, or are struggling to overcome a history of abuse. As all of the characters interact, a more complete picture of life in the home emerges, the difference among the attitudes and actions of staff members, how the kids see the rules and restrictions, and how they each interact with each other, teen to teen, teen to staff, and staff to staff. Nussbaum has peeled back the veneer and shown the horrific and the tender and although it is clear that places like ILLC and their ilk are not the answer, the story shows that there are no easy answers, no one size fits all solutions for such a diverse population. Well written and engaging, this is a wonderful novel, one that is hard to put down once you’ve met the wide range of personalities and heard their backstories within these pages. show less

Good Kings Bad Kings: A Novel was fascinating on many levels. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a fictional account of young people faced with the kind of challenges that the young people I worked with for more than twenty years faced. I got their struggles with bureaucracy and their growing empowerment to change the circumstances which they faced. I searched for information about this author who brought so much authenticity to her writing and found a compelling story. Susan Nussbaum was in an accident in her mid-twenties which left her severely disabled. She became an activist in the 1960s, long before ADA laws were passed. As she was coming to grips with her changed life she made a concentrated study of how the disabled are treated as show more characters in novels, plays, and movies. She came to the conclusion that they were most often simply foils for the main characters; someone to be cared for, pitied, or victimized, therefore making heroes or villains out of the main characters. She set out to change the culture as a playwright and now a novelist. There is much to think about in her debut novel and perhaps it will inspire a new generation of activists. There is still so much to be done in the field of rights for the disabled. show less

When I read the first chapter, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. The voice and language was jarring and violent, and I didn't think I would be able to relate to the story. The chapters alternated between characters in the book, either disabled kids in a nursing home-type institution, or adults who worked there. By the time I finished the book, I came to know and care about all of the characters, and their fight for better living conditions in the institution. I even went back and read the first couple of chapters again, and found it a completely different experience once I knew and loved the characters.

Good Kings, Bad Kings brings to light the terrible living conditions in many (likely most) profit-driven nursing homes. It is show more a terrible dilemma, as people with severe disabilities, be they young or old, require care that most families just cannot provide. I have a brother in a nursing home so have first-hand experience observing his living conditions, the shortage of staff, and the big difference some caring individuals can make to his life, and also the hell caused by others. The people in this book are unforgettable, and you cheer for them through tragedy and small triumphs. There is a lot of humour as well as amazing candour. Highly recommended. show less

As a reviewer mentioned, this is a book to be read and savored at one sitting; unfortunately, I didn't have that luxury. The fact that I had to read Good Kings Bad Kings over a longer period of time didn't hinder a bit my appreciation of the book. Susan Nussbaum has given the reader a very close and what I believe, real, look at the lives of juveniles in a corporate-run school for disabilities. From the very beginning I was drawn in by its inhabitants, those who occupy the beds (or recruits as an administrator views them), and by the people whose lives intersect them in one way or another. There's humor, there's anger, there's pathos, and there's an incredible amount of bravery to be found in ILLC and in Good Kings and Bad Kings.

Susan show more Nussbaum has written a book that's beautiful, relevant, and eye-opening, eye-opening to me because it's raised my consciousness to another level. It hasn't yet reached the portions of Yessie's and probably never will, but I know it has definitely opened up my eyes to yet another way we willingly or unknowingly let corporations treat others in the name of "improvement" and being "cost effective."

I will be recommending this to every reader I know. show less

This was a solid book told well through multiple perspectives, as I think any other style wouldn't have best served the novel for what it is - and that is a look behind the veil of housing for disabled youth & teens. The most poignant line of the entire book revolves around "being the footnote in everyone else's story." These are the forgotten and the oft-overlooked, and their story needs to be told through the higher-ups that run the institutionalized home, the employees (some of whom are terrible & some of whom are great, but all overworked) to the kids themselves. Kids just like other kids, except they may have physical or mental disabilities. Good stuff, and it makes you think, which is what a book of this type should do.