Hair Chronicles - Tabatha Rowley Summary and Analysis

"Hair Chronicles" is a gritty autobiography that slaps the reader in the face with the tough life of Tabatha Rowley. She begins the story by simply laying out the inconsistencies of her youth: her mother beats her because she loves her; her grandmother drinks to help her blood flow; her aunt smokes pot so she can sleep; her uncle sticks needles in his arms to make his arms big. Everyone has an explanation for their deviant behavior, and they're all living a lie.

Tabatha is raped from the age of four by a neighbor they call Uncle Wesley who babysits her and her brothers. At age twelve, her brother introduces her to pot and alcohol. Tabatha uses a variety of senses to describe the attic where family and friends do drugs. It reeks...