It Jes’ Happened

Review
By Horn Book

Christie’s own flat primitive style is a perfect match for Traylor’s story, and he deftly uses a second naïve style to represent Traylor’s own art. But the real artistry here is in Don Tate’s finely crafted account of Traylor’s first eighty years; the ordinary events in the life of an ordinary African American man are made notable by Tate’s repetition of the line: “Bill saved up memories of these times deep inside.” When these memories later burst into art, they are made all the more meaningful.