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126th out of 1,804 books
—
1,745 voters
Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America
Examining the complexities of the problems of black youths from an insider's perspective, an African-American journalist recalls his own troubled childhood, his rehabilitation while in prison, and his successful Washington Post career.
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
January 31st 1995
by Vintage
(first published 1994)
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I remember when I was in high school and college how so many black men I knew absolutely loved this book. In fact, when I was reading this on the train a couple weeks ago, a 20-something year old black guy took the time to tell me that he read it twice. "Makes Me Wanna Holler" is a very engaging book that gives readers a lot of insight into how a "thug" is created. The author, Nathan McCall, did some pretty awful things in his youth. He did everything...running trains on girls (gang rape), muggi...more
I have such conflicted feelings about this book. Nathan McCall is honest, perhaps to a fault, about his past as well as his reflections on his adult life. We are in the same age cohort; McCall graduated high school in the year before I did, and had we not lived at opposite sides of the US, we could have attended high school together. AND I am glad e did not meet then, after reading about McCall's frightful "streety" behavior as a teen. is parents did little to stop or redirect him as he and his...more
Nathan McCall’s Makes Me Wanna Holler is a must read for not only every young black man in America but also for everyone in America. Currently, I have a young friend-- actually a young man who grew up and was baptized into my church. Like McCall and just about every black teenage boy in America, my friend was led more by the teachings of the streets than by his single-parent mother and the teachings of the church. He bought into the idea of the so-called “rites of passage” named as things to do...more
I would give this book 4.7 stars, if I could. Nathan McCall shared his experiences, actions, and struggles to cope with and grow through them honestly. I remember growing up witnessing the violence and upheaval during the civil rights movement and the integration problems in Arkansas, the violence against the protest marchers, the struggles in the south.
Due mainly to my father I realized we had problems in the North though no one would admit it. No I am white so I witnessed not experienced preju...more
Due mainly to my father I realized we had problems in the North though no one would admit it. No I am white so I witnessed not experienced preju...more
Have you ever read a book that you would recommend to everyone that passed you on the street? Well thats how I feel about the book Makes Me Wanna Holler: a young black man in America, by Nathan McCall. "Honest, so well written, so powerful... The book belongs in every prison library", says USA Today. Time mentions the book as, "soul-searing". Claude Brown, Author of Manchild in the Promise Land, calls it A modern classic. Makes Me Wanna Holler is one of the best books i could recommend. To a yo...more
This book was originally a gift to my mother from a friend of hers back in 1996. My mother didn't like it, but being the precocious ten year old I was, I managed to sneak and read this book from cover to cover.
I have to say, graphic depictions of rape and physical abuse aside, this is one of my favourite books. Here's why: Very few books deal with the mentality of ex-con African-American men and how they wind up in prison to begin with. Nathan McCall is as honest as he can be about his feelings...more
I have to say, graphic depictions of rape and physical abuse aside, this is one of my favourite books. Here's why: Very few books deal with the mentality of ex-con African-American men and how they wind up in prison to begin with. Nathan McCall is as honest as he can be about his feelings...more
The book I read was Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall (1994). The book is autobiographical and describes Nathan's (Nate) experiences. My initial assumptions were that Nathan probably had a difficult life if the title of the book is Makes Me Wanna Holler. I suppose I figured that he would describe the injustices being an African-American male. As far as my initial assumptions about African-Americans I knew that it was difficult to live in an oppressed culture, but I had no idea that it was...more
My sister sent me this book when I was living overseas and was reading a lot in order to escape the difficulties of living somewhere your language is not always understood. However, I think I read this book in less than a week and it changed me. It gave me a much more understanding and compassionate view of the hardships of growing up a black male in America. The story is violent and graphic at parts, but it is real and honest. I really hope that McCall was as honest as he seems to be in this bo...more
Before talking with my roommate, I hated the book and for some reason was offended by the way he wrote this. It seemed like I was at fault for everything because I am white. Then I spoke to my roommate and now I realize how ignorant he is and how he brought all of his troubles on himself... not because he's black, but because he puts the blame on other people. At one part, he said he didn't want to be the stereotyped black father who has kids with different mothers. Low and behold, that's what h...more
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this book is about a boy and how his life was a piece of trash and he went through a lot. he was a crazy kid he was one of those hood kids and he always robbed houses ditched school partied and got in trouble. one day he and his friends wanted to play hookie and they did but once they were about to leave they got caught and got into some serious trouble. one day Nathan saw this girl that he was crazy for he was going to lose his mind over her. he asked her out and she said yes but after a while...more
Mar 05, 2011
Sandy
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
educators, those interested in race relations
Recommended to Sandy by:
a student
This was such a conflicting book for me to read. I was so angry at him for his unbelievably disgusting treatment of women, I could barely read parts of the book. And he never did seem to feel remorse for this. At times he even treated him mom poorly. At the same time this is an important book to look at how young black men felt in the late 60's and early 70's with all of their anger towards the white man and all of their hostility to take out on whoever crossed their paths, and their lack of opt...more
I read this book, because a friend told me about it. Nathan McCall grew up in my hometown, Portsmouth, Va. and much of his autobiography is set there. After reading a few chapters, I found myself SO offended by his thoughts about white people, I found myself asking "why am I reading this junk?" But I kept reading because the author was so despicable--- I could not wait to find out what happened to him to change his life. After all, he was now a writer.... and the first few chapters give no hint...more
I thought I would not be able to read such a violent book as it started off ,but this writer has captivated me with his art of writing. He made me look a other people's view of right and wrong even if I thought it was not happening to me. As a upcoming school teacher I have accepted that the school that I will most likely work for would be a title one school, low income families, and a huge gap in education because of the haves and have not.This acceptance is not the best way to handle the probl...more
I picked this book in the streets and knew I was under its arrest. What I've done is decide that I will keep and share this book with my kids when I've them and they are of age. It will be highly recommended of their momma as well. Nathan's memoir just puts it as my parents did, all laid down clearly in terms of choices we made as teenagers and their consequences. Besides that, Nathan tackles racism angrily and head on. He has helped me know what it is to grown up as a typical black male in Amer...more
I wish I could make every black or hispanic young man read this.
He gives readers matter-of-fact insight into the behavior, anger and dysfunction of his upbringing without being pretentious or preachy. One of the things I will always remember from this book was McCall's recollection of how he and his friends worked and stole from a department store in his neighborhood, eventually causing the store to go out of business. From his initial point of view as a kid, the thefts were partly fun and part...more
He gives readers matter-of-fact insight into the behavior, anger and dysfunction of his upbringing without being pretentious or preachy. One of the things I will always remember from this book was McCall's recollection of how he and his friends worked and stole from a department store in his neighborhood, eventually causing the store to go out of business. From his initial point of view as a kid, the thefts were partly fun and part...more
The memoirs of an angry black man. The guy grew up in the hood and spends a lot of time bitching about how the system turned him into a criminal. All his whining and finger pointing really turned me off. What saved this book for me was the interesting way he described his life. He attempts to portray the racial turmoil in America but when you really break it down it's just an example of hate literature. No, I'm not racist. I'm Chicano and I grew up in some bad parts of California so I know what...more
This book will always be on my personal Top Books I've Ever Read list. I have given this book as a gift to many young men and have read it at least four times myself. I think that it's highly relative to the young black male in America who doesn't exactly understand his place in society. Actually, it could be relevant to any young male in this country who is pressured to be "cool" and subdue his feelings and brilliance in order to be accepted by his peers. This book is unique to me because this...more
Jan 13, 2012
Barbara
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone living in the U.S.
Recommended to Barbara by:
Greg Caz
This books gives some serious perspective to what it's like growing up in the U.S. inside a black male body. I was so angered and repulsed by the first 50 pages that I called the person who gave me this book and basically told him off. He said, "just keep reading, you'll thank me later." I am very glad I did and he has been duly thanked. It is an excellent personal narrative that sensitives the white reader to pervasive racism in the United States, and gives inspiration to anyone. Once I got pas...more
This memoir was a selection of my book group back in the 90s. The author is an African-American who tells the story of his difficulties in growing up and how he overcame a life of crime and violence to attain success as a journalist. I remember the book provoked a stimulating discussion within the group both pro and con with not everyone having empathy for McCall during the darker parts of his life. I felt his honest and straight forwardness was impressive and that he painted a very clear pictur...more
This book challenged me, but not so much in what I think now about the worth of one race in comparison to another. It challenged me in the unspoken recesses of my brain to admit to, no matter whether I want to or not, the notions that were instilled within me at the youngest of age. Nathan’s description of even the slightest nods that negatively depicted his race vs. mine caught me off guard in the undeniable truth of it all. This book helped me understand in no small part that my growing up in...more
This book came during a time in my life where I certainly needed it! The book was published in 1994, and I read in 1995, during that time a was a junior in high school. As a young black man growing up in the "at risk" part of my hometown where I still reside, Nathan and I shared a very mutual experience although I have not met the brother. I can relate to a lot of the situations and the environment he was in because it was my experience as well. Never the less I was reading. He is a profound aut...more
I read this book a few years ago and it was very helpful to me to understand Nathan's point of view and his experiences in life. I wanted to holler with him many times - that is when I wasn't driven to tears over the hard things he experienced growing up in the inner-city, in poverty and constantly confronted by racism. I would like to think we have surpassed such terrible things, but I know that isn't the case. This is a good book - it will stretch your empathy, and call you to do better - I ho...more
Can you handle the truth? Because McCall tells it unvarnished. Growing up black in America is not the same as growing up white no matter what anyone tries to tell you about "progress" in civil rights. It may be getting better; but McCall puts the journey in perspective in a way I've never encountered before.
Recommended to me by a black inmate when I was doing prison ministry, I found it helped me to better understand both the current state and the history of race relations. Highly recommended IF...more
Recommended to me by a black inmate when I was doing prison ministry, I found it helped me to better understand both the current state and the history of race relations. Highly recommended IF...more
My dad had requested this book for me. This is a great book, it really shows the change from a black kid growing up in white America, to a black man living in America. Nate McCall has a mother and a father, but to me most of his problems came from being a follower as a kid to his teenage life. He cared about what his friends thought about himself and he always wanted to impress the females.He wanted to be none as a cool kid in high school. After having a child at 17 he realizes that the way he w...more
Five years ago I started teaching. My first school placement was a middle school in Harlem. Across the street from my school was a bus depot, outside of which sat a middle aged man who would let the buses inside. Every day on my walk home from work, I would stop and talk to this man (whose name I can no longer remember) for an hour or so.
We had really wonderful conversations about books, education, and race. I expressed my frustration and insecurity teaching in a very challenging and violent sc...more
We had really wonderful conversations about books, education, and race. I expressed my frustration and insecurity teaching in a very challenging and violent sc...more
I loved it and connected to this book for internal struggles that Nathan went through in some aspect Although I could not imagine his life out in Portsmouth,Virginia. Unni once again recommended it to me.
Nathan McCall is not a professor at Emory University and he has another book called "Them".
I can connect to him by...how he always try to find a 'measure of peace', and scrutinize white people's way of doing things...how their way is supposedly The Way.
"Token ones, Assimilationists were the mo...more
Nathan McCall is not a professor at Emory University and he has another book called "Them".
I can connect to him by...how he always try to find a 'measure of peace', and scrutinize white people's way of doing things...how their way is supposedly The Way.
"Token ones, Assimilationists were the mo...more
The book i have read is called Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall. It is about a boy named Nathan McCall and his life. This book is an autobiography and it talks about how he grows up in his cold streets. Everything that went on in his childhood affected his life and were he stood which was in jail.
Nathan McCall was born as a good boy before he learned and adapted his new gangster ways. As he grew Nathan McCall started to take in all the violence and aggression that he sees on his block. S...more
Nathan McCall was born as a good boy before he learned and adapted his new gangster ways. As he grew Nathan McCall started to take in all the violence and aggression that he sees on his block. S...more
Makes Me Wanna Holler is a very brutal, honest telling of Nathan McCall's youth and young adulthood growing up in a black neighborhood in Virginia. In it, he explains why blacks have turned to violence toward each other as a way of expressing the hatred they have for themselves. He writes of senseless violence committed by young males in groups, and shares how the violence was justified because they knew no other way. Through prison, McCall manages to escape the cycle of his hometown but is thru...more
This one of the most riveting memoirs I've ever read. McCall is a talented writer and an excellent storyteller. His language is often vivid, humorous, or heartbreaking. What McCall describes isn't for the feint of heart, but his critiques of race in the United States are well worth hearing. I feel like his sexism isn't fully addressed--the same with his brutality. More open reflection on McCall's part would have made this book unbelievably powerful. As is, it's mostly just shocking.
I read this book for a class on social psychology (it was of my own choosing) and was glad I did.
This is an unapologetic, sometimes disturbing, sad, but ultimately uplifting retelling of the author's arrival at The Washington Post. The title is taken from Marvin Gaye's song of the same name, and this story should make you want to holler. The injustices for those born into poor urban life are despicable and wrong. It's heartbreaking to read about poor on equally poor crime, gang rape, violence, a...more
This is an unapologetic, sometimes disturbing, sad, but ultimately uplifting retelling of the author's arrival at The Washington Post. The title is taken from Marvin Gaye's song of the same name, and this story should make you want to holler. The injustices for those born into poor urban life are despicable and wrong. It's heartbreaking to read about poor on equally poor crime, gang rape, violence, a...more
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“Much later, when I thought about it, I realized that my folks were typical of their generation of parents: Their idea of raising children was making sure we were clothed, fed, and protected. They didn't focus much on us unless we were sick or had done something wrong. They didn't hold conversations with us. Love was understood rather than expressed, and values were transmitted by example, not word of mouth.”
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