Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York ; Henry Holt & Company, 2018
Description
A mesmerizing, indelible coming-of-age story about a girl in Boston's tightly-knit Ethiopian community who falls under the spell of a charismatic hustler out to change the world A haunting story of fatherhood, national identity, and what it means to be an immigrant in America today, Nafkote Tamirat's The Parking Lot Attendant explores how who we love, the choices we make, and the places we're from combine to make us who we are. The story begins on an undisclosed island where the unnamed narrator and her father are the two newest and least liked members of a commune that has taken up residence there. Though the commune was built on utopian principles, it quickly becomes clear that life here is not as harmonious as the founders intended. After immersing us in life on the island, our young heroine takes us back to Boston to recount the events that brought her here. Though she and her father belong to a wide Ethiopian network in the city, they mostly keep to themselves, which is how her father prefers it. This detached existence only makes Ayale's arrival on the scene more intoxicating. The unofficial king of Boston's Ethiopian community, Ayale is a born hustler--when he turns his attention to the narrator, she feels seen for the first time. Ostensibly a parking lot attendant, Ayale soon proves to have other projects in the works, which the narrator becomes more and more entangled in to her father's growing dismay. By the time the scope of Ayale's schemes--and their repercussions--become apparent, our narrator has unwittingly become complicit in something much bigger and darker than she ever imagined.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mahsdad
I got this book thru LibraryThing's Early Review program, in exchange for an honest review. This is a debut novel by Ethiopian-American author Nafkote Tamirat, and I enjoyed it quite a lot.
The story starts out on an unnamed island with an unnamed narrator and her father, as they join a
...I didn't even believe in God. But did my believing in something render it true? Doesn't the truth remain the truth, regardless of what I think?
My mother used to say that God stopped sending plagues because He realized it would be faster to wait until we destroyed ourselves.
...and so I stopped speaking, because I didn't have anything else. I wasn't angry, and neither was he; we were awash in quite. We swam easily through our uncommunicativeness and met on the other side with closed-mouth smiles and dry kisses goodnight.
8/10
S: 1/17/18 - 1/28/18 (12 Days)
The story starts out on an unnamed island with an unnamed narrator and her father, as they join a
Show More
commune/cult? of some kind. They are not liked or wanted at this commune. As the reader you really don't know what's going on, other than that the girl is responsible for issues the leader of the group is having. Very quickly, we shift back in time to see how the girls Mother and Father got together, had the girl, the Father disappears, only to come back years later. We see life thru the girl's eyes, an interesting look at a culture (Ethiopian) that I wasn't familar with. As the girl becomes a teenager, she comes at odds with her father and becomes attached/enamored with the charasmatic owner of an area parking lot (thus the title). Turns out the Attendant, is the unofficial king of the community and has plans and schemes that are much bigger and darker than our narrator can conceive of. She is pulled in and pulled along to an end that was dark and unexpected. A good story, recommend....I didn't even believe in God. But did my believing in something render it true? Doesn't the truth remain the truth, regardless of what I think?
My mother used to say that God stopped sending plagues because He realized it would be faster to wait until we destroyed ourselves.
...and so I stopped speaking, because I didn't have anything else. I wasn't angry, and neither was he; we were awash in quite. We swam easily through our uncommunicativeness and met on the other side with closed-mouth smiles and dry kisses goodnight.
8/10
S: 1/17/18 - 1/28/18 (12 Days)
Show Less
LibraryThing member banjo123
I received this book from the Library Thing Early Reviewers Program. It is an interesting, and peculiar story about a young woman who is the daughter of two Ethiopian immigrants growing up in the Boston area. I found this book really compelling, and quite peculiar. The young woman's voice is witty
What I got from the book is a bit of a meditation on the difficulty of straddling two worlds, as the child of immigrants; how easy it can be to get caught between worlds, and how easy it could be to be attracted to danger, and maybe to terrorism, if it somehow represented your culture and an opportunity to develop an authentic self. I am recommending this book and looking forward to other discussion/interpretations.
Show More
and insightful, the story itself far-fetched enough that I think it's meant to be more allegorical than realistic. The book begins in a isolated "utopian" island community, where the narrator and her father have fled from some sort of unnamed danger. Then we shift to Boston, where our teenager develops a hard to define relationship with an older man who is a parking lot attendant, and a leader in an Ethiopian underworld. What I got from the book is a bit of a meditation on the difficulty of straddling two worlds, as the child of immigrants; how easy it can be to get caught between worlds, and how easy it could be to be attracted to danger, and maybe to terrorism, if it somehow represented your culture and an opportunity to develop an authentic self. I am recommending this book and looking forward to other discussion/interpretations.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Sean191
Tamirat is a write to watch. I have high hopes.
The book was nearly a 4 star, but the last quarter of the book went too far in the wrong direction for me. Barring that creative decision, the writing was superb, the character development was great and the narrator/main character just made sense. The
Recommended - if for nothing else so that you can say you knew Tamirat before fame found her.
The book was nearly a 4 star, but the last quarter of the book went too far in the wrong direction for me. Barring that creative decision, the writing was superb, the character development was great and the narrator/main character just made sense. The
Show More
back cover blurb said the novel was like what it would be if David Mitchell and Graham Greene teamed up. I've read a lot of Greene and love him...I could see a little bit of that. I'm not familiar with Mitchell. But I think a dash of Khafka could be added to that recipe. Recommended - if for nothing else so that you can say you knew Tamirat before fame found her.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SiriJR
I enjoyed the writing and pacing in this odd little debut. Tamirat has written an ambitious novel that pulls you into a strange world and immerses you in its community. I thought the ending fell flat, and indeed, the bookend island segments as they stand did not coalesce as I hoped they would. Very
Show More
promising debut and definitely will be looking for more of Tamirat's work. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
This first novel demonstrates that this author has a lot of potential.
The unnamed narrator is a female high school student in Boston, and an Ethiopian immigrant. She lives with her father, her mother's whereabouts being unknown (but last seen in the US). The narrator is a good student, a bit of a
She and her father both keep to themselves. Her best friend is Ayale, a middle-aged parking lot attendant and fellow Ethiopian immigrant. He is successful, cheats a bit with the max number of cars, and hires other Ethiopian immigrants. This relationship sounds disturbing, but Ayale treats her more as a niece or younger cousin than anything else. She hangs out, does homework, and makes deliveries for him.
And she is nervous about those deliveries--what are they? She is paid too much for his story of an Ethiopian delivery service with mail coming to the lot. She is told time and time again it's not drugs, don't worry, but her nerves and the writing give the entire book a foreboding atmosphere. Her father does not much like Ayale--and then her father begins spending weekends away and won't say why or where.
So where does this lead us (and her)? What is she really mixed up in--anything? Is the Ethiopian immigrant community as close as it seems? What is her father doing?
And the ending did surprise me--which doesn't happen often!
The unnamed narrator is a female high school student in Boston, and an Ethiopian immigrant. She lives with her father, her mother's whereabouts being unknown (but last seen in the US). The narrator is a good student, a bit of a
Show More
nerd, and has a sponsorship to attend college out of town (I guess this is like a scholarship?).She and her father both keep to themselves. Her best friend is Ayale, a middle-aged parking lot attendant and fellow Ethiopian immigrant. He is successful, cheats a bit with the max number of cars, and hires other Ethiopian immigrants. This relationship sounds disturbing, but Ayale treats her more as a niece or younger cousin than anything else. She hangs out, does homework, and makes deliveries for him.
And she is nervous about those deliveries--what are they? She is paid too much for his story of an Ethiopian delivery service with mail coming to the lot. She is told time and time again it's not drugs, don't worry, but her nerves and the writing give the entire book a foreboding atmosphere. Her father does not much like Ayale--and then her father begins spending weekends away and won't say why or where.
So where does this lead us (and her)? What is she really mixed up in--anything? Is the Ethiopian immigrant community as close as it seems? What is her father doing?
And the ending did surprise me--which doesn't happen often!
Show Less
LibraryThing member msf59
“Look back on the past, given what you know in the present, and you'll realize that all along, you've been inventing stories and labeling them 'history'.”
The novel opens with a father and daughter arriving on a utopian island, where a commune has taken refuge but it is clearly not a place of
The novel opens with a father and daughter arriving on a utopian island, where a commune has taken refuge but it is clearly not a place of
Show More
comfort and harmony. How this Ethiopian teenager arrived here, along with her life in Boston, in the preceding years, which includes her unusual friendship with a mysterious Ethiopian man, named Ayale, who works as a parking lot attendant, makes for a very interesting and engaging story. I recommend this book and look forward to reading more of this talented author's work. Show Less
LibraryThing member sparemethecensor
This is a complicated story to explain because of the time shifts, but I can say that Tamirat is a writer to watch. Her dexterity with words is impressive for a first novel. Both Boston and the unnamed island are drawn with engaging detail.
LibraryThing member bayleaf
Utopia or dystopia? Ayale is the king of a Boston parking lot and also B-, an island of Ethiopian migrants. Our young, unnamed narrator becomes caught up in his web and can be found daily in his booth in the parking lot, being coached in Ayale's beliefs and falling under his spell. When Ayale's
Show More
activities become known to the police and her connection to him makes her a target, she and her father end up on B-, but it is not the dream island she was led to believe. Ayale's character is nicely drawn. He's inscrutable and frightening. I found the narrator a bit annoying and her father pretty absent, but maybe that's what they were supposed to be. Ultimately, the novel didn't really work for me. Too many things left unanswered. I feel the author sacrificed clarity for the mysterious. Show Less
LibraryThing member susan.h.schofield
I hate to give a book - particularly an ARC - one star but I just did not enjoy this book at all. I didn't find the characters or story engaging or interesting. The motivation of the unnamed narrator was not clear and her obsession with Ayale didn't make sense to me.
LibraryThing member ninarucker
The Parking Lot Attendant is a story that pulls you in. The main character is a young girl in over her head and just trying to make friends and a place for herself in the world. Would recommend!
LibraryThing member dallenbaugh
I didn't find much to like in this confusing story of Ethiopian immigrants in the U.S. I made it half way through and then quit. The story centered around a young girl who becomes infatuated with an older man, Ayale, the parking lot attendant, against her father's wishes. Many of the sentences seem
Show More
thrown together without any continuity and it boiled down to I just really didn't care what happened to the protagonists. Show Less
LibraryThing member DianneBottinelli
An Ethopian parking lot attendant becomes the informal community leader in his Boston neighborhood through his generosity in helping fellow African's when they are in need. After becoming wealthy, Ayale becomes king of a remote island which embraces the Utopian Principles of government. The
The book was well written and keeps you involved until the last page.
Show More
narrator and her father are new to this Island when the government becomes untangled and the narrator and her father are no longer welcome. The story unfolds like a good mystery keeping you guessing throughout the story about the relationship between Ayale and the narrator.The book was well written and keeps you involved until the last page.
Show Less
LibraryThing member booklove2
I'm not sure what I have to say about this book, as I'm not sure that this book wanted to be. I think it started out doing one thing and went off into a tangent. The main character is the teenage daughter of Ethiopian immigrants and lives in Boston. With her new teenage freedom, she runs into a
Show More
parking lot attendant named Ayale who takes her under his wing, wanting her to be the best she can be. However, things start to unravel and look nefarious, as murders of Ethiopians start happening in Boston. It is mentioned the main character was born in 1985. I'm not sure how a book taking place in Boston around 2000-2003 can avoid even mentioning 9/11, especially as the main character is wondering what is really happening with Ayale. I think the book itself started to unravel, but I won't ruin it here, therefore I don't have much to say. Show Less
LibraryThing member mandersj73
2.5 stars
Just because you don't really understand a story, does that mean it's not good? Because there's a lot I didn't understand about this tale.
Told from the perspective of a teenage girl who has been abandoned by her mother, raised by a father unknown to her for the early years of her life,
When the narrator's father comes into her life, he takes her from her mother, moves her to a strange city, and proceeds to barely be present as she grows into a teenager. Somehow she runs into a parking lot attendant who is of Ethiopian heritage, same as her, and they form an odd friendship. The attendant, Ayale, is described as no older than 50, no younger than 35, certainly a grown man who wants to hang out and speak on the phone frequently with a young teenage girl. Somehow her father doesn't think this is strange, and neither does the narrator.
Soon, Ayale asks the narrator to start making shady deliveries for him, offering to pay her a very nice amount for each delivery.
When the deaths of other local Ethiopians begin occurring more frequently, Ayale, the girl and her father begin to take notice and wonder of their own safety.
Then, all of a sudden, the narrator and her father are exiled, living as indentured servants (?) on an unnamed island with their deaths looming, as foreshadowed at the beginning of the book.
I really didn't understand where these people fled to, why they were servants after they fled, why they were being hunted, etc. Didn't feel great about the end of the book, wish there would have been further explanation, or that this would have been much shorter and not a full novel that I invested too much time in to end up with no resolution. I won this copy via LibraryThing.
Just because you don't really understand a story, does that mean it's not good? Because there's a lot I didn't understand about this tale.
Told from the perspective of a teenage girl who has been abandoned by her mother, raised by a father unknown to her for the early years of her life,
Show More
moved to Boston because of the active Ethiopian community, then exiled to an unnamed island to escape the police - I think I've summed it up to the best of my knowledge. When the narrator's father comes into her life, he takes her from her mother, moves her to a strange city, and proceeds to barely be present as she grows into a teenager. Somehow she runs into a parking lot attendant who is of Ethiopian heritage, same as her, and they form an odd friendship. The attendant, Ayale, is described as no older than 50, no younger than 35, certainly a grown man who wants to hang out and speak on the phone frequently with a young teenage girl. Somehow her father doesn't think this is strange, and neither does the narrator.
Soon, Ayale asks the narrator to start making shady deliveries for him, offering to pay her a very nice amount for each delivery.
When the deaths of other local Ethiopians begin occurring more frequently, Ayale, the girl and her father begin to take notice and wonder of their own safety.
Then, all of a sudden, the narrator and her father are exiled, living as indentured servants (?) on an unnamed island with their deaths looming, as foreshadowed at the beginning of the book.
I really didn't understand where these people fled to, why they were servants after they fled, why they were being hunted, etc. Didn't feel great about the end of the book, wish there would have been further explanation, or that this would have been much shorter and not a full novel that I invested too much time in to end up with no resolution. I won this copy via LibraryThing.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kimaoverstreet
The Parking Lot Attendant, the debut novel by Nafkote Tamirat is a genre-busting, fast paced story that begins in what seems to be a sort of commune in a place known only as B_______. The narrator, an American born teen girl who is never named, and her immigrant father are in limbo, awaiting a
We travel back several years to Boston to watch the duo’s story unfold, and to try to figure out why fleeing to a commune was necessary. This richly layered tale provides us with many candidates including family drama, the difficulty of being an immigrant, coming of age, murder, and a mystery surrounding a larger than life parking lot attendant named Ayale, who seems to be either a con man or a god.
I finished this book over the course of a day - it was hard to put down. The middle third drags a bit, but the ending more than makes it worth the wait. I would heartily recommend this novel to people who enjoy literary psychological thrillers and to those who enjoy reading about the immigrant experience.
Show More
decision from a governing body. We can infer that something horrendous has led them to this place and this point. We travel back several years to Boston to watch the duo’s story unfold, and to try to figure out why fleeing to a commune was necessary. This richly layered tale provides us with many candidates including family drama, the difficulty of being an immigrant, coming of age, murder, and a mystery surrounding a larger than life parking lot attendant named Ayale, who seems to be either a con man or a god.
I finished this book over the course of a day - it was hard to put down. The middle third drags a bit, but the ending more than makes it worth the wait. I would heartily recommend this novel to people who enjoy literary psychological thrillers and to those who enjoy reading about the immigrant experience.
Show Less
LibraryThing member froxgirl
Here's a mysterious novel featuring the seemingly ubiquitous Ethiopian parking lot attendants of Boston, whom I've come to know and admire for their graciousness and friendly smiles. The first person narrator is born in Fall River, MA, to parents of Ethiopian backgrounds. After her mother
Quotes: "It was snowing on this April day, with Boston's usual genius for weather patterns designed to cause the greatest amount of human anguish."
"I've never understood how much money one must accrue in order to be certain that one no longer needs any more."
"We did not know if he was losing time, making time, gaining time, ignoring time, forgetting time, fearing time, keeping a sharp lookout on tine."
"Ethiopian insistence on infinite misery requires that the recipient of any favor, no matter how basic, be forever indebted to the giver of that favor."
"You think that not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth?"
"I've never been the kind of person who knows anything soon enough to make a difference."
"I couldn't let go of the feeling that everything was on the brink of collapse, that I'd soon find myself smothered by the debris."
Show More
disappears and her father distances himself from her emotionally, she falls under the spell of Ayale, a charismatic older man. Ayale never approaches her sexually or romantically, but seems to hold her intelligence in great esteem. But why, and what is he planning, and why is she delivering sealed packages for him? The outcome, an island exile foreshadowed from the opening of the novel, is difficult to comprehend and ends abruptly for possibly the worst reason. The writing here is so delicately humorous and deeply observant, and the girl is so simultaneously self-aware and naïve, that the reader feels truly charmed and horrified. In its city settings and sudden violence, it reminded me of Dennis Lehane's Gone Baby Gone. Not bad for a debut.Quotes: "It was snowing on this April day, with Boston's usual genius for weather patterns designed to cause the greatest amount of human anguish."
"I've never understood how much money one must accrue in order to be certain that one no longer needs any more."
"We did not know if he was losing time, making time, gaining time, ignoring time, forgetting time, fearing time, keeping a sharp lookout on tine."
"Ethiopian insistence on infinite misery requires that the recipient of any favor, no matter how basic, be forever indebted to the giver of that favor."
"You think that not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth?"
"I've never been the kind of person who knows anything soon enough to make a difference."
"I couldn't let go of the feeling that everything was on the brink of collapse, that I'd soon find myself smothered by the debris."
Show Less
LibraryThing member KatyBee
This is a very good quick read - unique and well written.
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
It has not escaped us that older generations must do all they can to improve the lives of future ones, but we had believed ourselves to be the future. We were under the impression that we were the owed ones. We had not counted on this debt of service.
The book begins on an unnamed sub-tropical
At heart, this is a small story, of a girl figuring out her world and how she fits into it, as a second generation immigrant, as a daughter being raised by a single father, as a black girl in a school with nobody like her, as a girl growing up. The titular parking lot attendant, Ayale, is a mysterious figure and the attention he pays to the protagonist is equally inexplicable, although she is bright and interested in the world around her and he seems pleased to have someone so obviously fascinated by him without wanting any favors. The framing device of the cult living on the island is not effective, nor does it add anything to the story. Fortunately, it takes up only a few pages at each end of the novel.
The book begins on an unnamed sub-tropical
Show More
island, where the narrator and her father are living with a cult-like group for reasons that are unclear. The novel then jumps to the central story, a less fantastic one about a teenage girl, the child of Ethiopian immigrants, who becomes drawn to an older charismatic man who manages a Boston parking lot, but who is also involved in some other stuff, stuff the girl knows nothing about. At heart, this is a small story, of a girl figuring out her world and how she fits into it, as a second generation immigrant, as a daughter being raised by a single father, as a black girl in a school with nobody like her, as a girl growing up. The titular parking lot attendant, Ayale, is a mysterious figure and the attention he pays to the protagonist is equally inexplicable, although she is bright and interested in the world around her and he seems pleased to have someone so obviously fascinated by him without wanting any favors. The framing device of the cult living on the island is not effective, nor does it add anything to the story. Fortunately, it takes up only a few pages at each end of the novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kayanelson
TOB-2091. I really liked this story of the American high school girl of Ethiopian descent and her relationship with Ayale, the Parking Lot Attendant. The book starts right before the end and is a little confusing--it's hard to understand what exactly is going on. But then back to Boston where
Show More
everything unfolds gradually. I didn't quite get Ayale and the girl's love (non-romantic) for him. I actually didn't like him. But then we get back to the beginning and we now understand what is going on. I'm sure I missed some symbolism that lessened the impact for me. And then I really hated the last sentence and the fact we don't know what happened to her. Show Less
Awards
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Short List — 2019)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Fiction — 2019)
Center for Fiction First Novel Prize (Shortlist — 2018)
Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize (Longlist — Fiction — 2018)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction — 2018)
Language
Original publication date
2018-03-18
Physical description
225 p.; 21.6 cm
ISBN
9781250128508