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American Dreams
by
Sapphire
In the tradition of Alice Walker, this electrifying new African American voice delivers the verdict on the urban condition in a sensual, propulsive, and prophetic book of poetry and prose.
Whether she is writing about an enraged teenager gone "wilding" in Central Park, fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins gunned down by a Korean grocer, or a brutalized child who grows up to es...more
Whether she is writing about an enraged teenager gone "wilding" in Central Park, fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins gunned down by a Korean grocer, or a brutalized child who grows up to es...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
June 18th 1996
by Vintage
(first published 1994)
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Bill Littell
rated it
Shelves:
aa-lineage-female,
adult-fiction,
adult-nonfiction,
adult-pantheon,
glbt,
female-lineage,
poetry
To quote the St. Louis Post Dispatch, "This collection of prose and poems will rattle your bones and rock your soul...Her uncompromising voice is one we seldom hear." The racism, sexual violence, and anger depicted in this collection make it unsuitable for young readers... its in-your-face honesty, passion, and pain make it a must read for anyone interested in understanding the harsh reality lived by too many in American society.
This book of poetry and prose is extremely raw and painful, but also very well written and like a snapshot of the thought process of many who have suffered abuse and oppression. Sapphire is very gifted, but if Push was not for the squeamish, then American Dreams is for those with a really strong stomach. A hard read, but very powerful and moving.
I didn't like this at all. I had to read it for a college English course and it was depressing and dark. It's not supposed to be all roses and sunshine but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't like. Maybe it's literal genius but it didn't speak to me.
It was so disturbing. Definitely not for the faint of heart or for people who can't handle explicit sexual language. I guess I would say to read this because you should know of the sour to appreciate the sweet.
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I wish I had the gall to write like this woman!
This is a good collection of stories and poems, which I had ther fortune of seeing Sapphire read most of when I was a senior at NYU. She has one of the most powerful slam styles, almost making me believe I like slam poetry.
this woman never ceases to amaze me. this is powerhouse writing in my book.
this book convinced me that my words are not too ugly to be beautiful.
Edgy, spoken-word type pieces. Probably come to life when performed.
my favourite book for poetry
no words can describe the PAIN of an adult who was MOLESTED as a child, however SAPPHIRE [Poetess extraordinaire:] manages to creatively find those words, and clues us all in... and in turn, we are all somehow made better because of such bravery. such humanness. and such talent.
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Shelves:
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Ramona Lofton was born in Fort Ord, California, one of four children of an Army couple who relocated within the United States and abroad. After a disagreement concerning where the family would settle, her parents separated, with Lofton's mother "kind of abandoning them". Lofton dropped out of high school, fleeing her abusive father, and moved to San Francisco, where she attained a GED an...more
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