Kevin Fenton's novel Cyan Magenta Yellow Black offers a look back at life for twenty-somethings in the Twin Cities in 1993. The story follows three main characters as they all deal with their own form of recovery.
"It's about a time, often in your early adulthood, where you've made some mistakes or you've had some bad things happen to you," says Fenton. "You're kind of sorting through that and trying to figure things out and move forward."
One of the characters, Duane, finds himself in professional purgatory, between jobs, and applying his visual and graphic art talent to no fruition. It's Duane's path that also harkens most directly with the title of the book; the four listed colors are the four necessary to create all other colors in the world of printing. This concept aligns with the characters coming together to impact one another.
Much of the book is spent with inner thoughts from the characters. Set in a time before the internet, Fenton follows the introspective trains of thought from his contemplative characters without the distraction of modern-day technology. "It's very easy to say that things were better then, and in some ways they probably weren't," says Fenton. "In terms of how we thought about things, I think they were better. In terms of the leisure we had to really follow our thoughts, I think they were a better time."
Cyan Magenta Yellow Black is available at (and can be ordered though) most local booksellers and is also available online. You can learn more about Kevin Fenton on the author's website.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
