Minor Black Figures
That Taylor achieves a similar verisimilitude [to Jeanne Dielman] with his new novel is no small feat ... Taylor ranks among our most gifted writers of gay sex ... Taylor’s command of the milieu is especially evident in the finesse of his dialogue ... Taylor’s most accomplished novel — a sustained, idiosyncratic portrait of an artist.
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Wyeth makes an engaging and almost completely likable protagonist. He’s observant, witty, smart, educated ... Through Taylor’s intense gaze and practiced hand, Wyeth is both a fully realized individual and a realistic representation of millennial angst ... Taylor is terrific and Minor Black Figures is a major accomplishment.
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Taylor’s story this time around is that grappling with Black art and white eyes is the point ... It’s uncomfortable. Taylor looks his audience dead in the eye ... Instead of disputing with critics or ignoring critique outright, Taylor uses his third novel to invite the reader into the criticism itself. Minor Black Figures isn’t a counter, but rather, it’s a story of an artist’s attempt to find his way in the world ... A departure. There’s a vulnerability to the evolution of Wyeth and a willingness to let difficult questions go unanswered—but not to be discarded. He’ll keep asking them. The world will turn.
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