APEX HIDES THE HURT by Colson Whitehead

Reviewed by Melissa Fish

What’s in a name? Colson Whitehead addresses this age-old question in his intriguingly-titled Apex Hides the Hurt, a novel that focuses primarily on the character and experiences of a nomenclature consultant who travels to a small rural town undergoing a name-changing crisis. The town’s history, future growth potential, and race relations all fall central to the debate as three different sects of residents clash over what the town should be renamed. Caught in the crossfire, the nameless protagonist must, as an outsider, struggle to uncover the truth about the town’s history and spirit. Interwoven throughout the narrative of the town is the personal story of the consultant’s past. As the story progresses, this conjoining of past and present reveals an inherent connection between the tale of the town and the tale of the protagonist until it gradually becomes apparent that, for the consultant, to rename the town is to rediscover his own soul.

Particularly in a story that centers around the power that words can hold, the author’s poetic descriptions, unusual metaphors, and refreshingly comic phrasings are the true gems of this novel. While the storyline itself is not particularly meaty, the novel never becomes a chore to drudge through, thanks to Whitehead’s fluid, lyrical writing, which trumps the sparseness of the plot. Neither does the writing feel stilted or presumptuous at any point; rather, it flows effortlessly and demonstrates fully Whitehead’s appreciation for and true command of written language. Especially fascinating is the author’s continual use of language to analyze the notion of how names affect perceptions (and, ultimately, the realization of the true character) of the object, place, or person bearing the name. For both connoisseurs of words and lovers of humanity, this carefully crafted novel holds much delight and can honestly be described as a work of literary art.