Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Müller: Book Review

Life in the City of Dirty Water is Clayton Thomas-Müller’s story of growing up Indigenous in Canada. Published in August 2021 by Allan Lane, Life in the City of Dirty Water is a memoir of healing and self-discovery. It is a CBC Canada Reads 2022 nominee.

CW/TW: domestic abuse, sexual assault, rape, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, racism

Synopsis from Goodreads

There have been many Clayton Thomas-Mullers: The child who played with toy planes as an escape from domestic and sexual abuse, enduring the intergenerational trauma of Canada’s residential school system; the angry youngster who defended himself with fists and sharp wit against racism and violence, at school and on the streets of Winnipeg and small-town British Columbia; the tough teenager who, at 17, managed a drug house run by members of his family, and slipped in and out of juvie, operating in a world of violence and pain.

But behind them all, there was another Clayton: the one who remained immersed in Cree spirituality and who embraced the rituals and ways of thinking vital to his heritage; the one who reconnected with the land during summer visits to his great-grandparents’ trapline in his home territory of Pukatawagan in northern Manitoba.

And it’s this version of Clayton that ultimately triumphed, finding healing by directly facing the trauma that he shares with Indigenous peoples around the world. Now a leading organizer and activist on the frontlines of environmental resistance, Clayton brings his warrior spirit to the fight against the ongoing assault on Indigenous peoples’ lands by Big Oil.

Tying together personal stories of survival that bring the realities of the First Nations of this land into sharp focus and lessons learned from a career as a frontline activist committed to addressing environmental injustice at a global scale, Thomas-Muller offers a narrative and vision of healing and responsibility.

Positives

This is an honest, gritty look at life for many people.

Negatives

Is it strange to complain about the lack of chapters? I know the book is told in five parts, but chapters may have made it easier to digest the story. Chapters give readers an easy stopping point to catch their breath.

My Opinions

Life in the City of Dirty Water is one man’s story of life and his journey in a challenging world. By no means is this 223-page book an easy read. Nor is the story told one that many people could survive. Thomas-Müller grew up in a brutal environment full of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and racism. His mother was the one constant in his life, and she tried her best to show him he could rise above his current situation.

The book is told in five parts, each detailing the steps Thomas-Müller has taken in his life. The first section describes his childhood years and is probably one of the more heartbreaking sections in the book. We are then introduced to the warrior who helps fight the injustices Indigenous people have dealt with the world over. The third section brings us to a man who has been consumed with the fight and knows he needs to step back. The fourth section is about a man becoming a father. The final section tells of a man who is content with where he is in life but understands the fight isn’t over.

Life in the City of Dirty Water has been shortlisted for CBC Canada Reads 2022. And I will be interested to see how it fares against the other four books. For my initial thoughts on the list, visit my announcement post.

Looking for some more books to read? Check out my other book reviews and my monthly reading wrap-ups.