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The Sexy Part of the Bible
by
Kola Boof
Set in modern-day West Africa, Europe and the U.S., this novel features the kind of heroine readers rarely get to encounter in popular culture. Beautiful, charcoal-skinned Eternity, a spirited and diabolical young African hellcat, is stigmatized by a heart-stopping secret.
Paperback, 275 pages
Published
June 21st 2011
by Akashic Books
(first published June 17th 2011)
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This book fascinated me, from the very first page. The story is of a beautiful, very black woman - Eternity - born into an African country where many of the most popular and successful people believe in bleaching their skin or taking "Michael Jackson pills" to lighten their skin color. Eternity is a clone, which is the sci-fi element, but she doesn't live in a world where cloning is normal; it's portrayed as illicit and possibly illegal. She is raised by the two white scientists who cloned her....more
As someone who was fascinated early on by Kola Boof's outspoken, brash and unique story. My bookclub selected this and honestly I was going to just remain mum and not read it based solely on personal judgment of the author at this point. Needless to say, I read it FAST but it was HARD! The concept was intriguing but the movement and connection in the story was overshadowed by an almost tourette's rant on a agenda topic. The book has LOADS of potential to empower women on their skin, their magic,...more
To my surprise this is probably the best book I've read all summer. It's by an African author and is set in a fictional West African country where White scientists running an AIDS clinic are illegally cloning some of the Africans. They take one of their clones as a daughter and she turns out to be one of the most fascinating characters I've read in years. I literally couldn't put this down. I wish I could explain this book better but it's too complex. It's just like nothing I ever read before. T...more
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Strange romanticization of relationship abuse that, on multiple accounts, is written off as true love (punches of love? what?). Draining story with an eerie amount of violence (kidnapping, attempted rape, repeated assaults against women) that are always brushed off like this is totally acceptable behavior. Romanticized incest.
Writing was messy, scattered, needed editing. Content was atrocious. Message was confusing (being a black woman is a good thing but here is a list of vile African proverbs...more
Writing was messy, scattered, needed editing. Content was atrocious. Message was confusing (being a black woman is a good thing but here is a list of vile African proverbs...more
4 1/2 stars. A powerful & beautifully written novel.
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I'm sure it would be easier to read this if you've never interacted with (or watched anyone else interact with) Boof online. If you have, though, you have to read this great Mary Sue struggle of a charcoal black clone/supermodel/activist/mother/lover/writer against both the white-dominated world and the ignorant, misguided community of mixed-race people and blacks with white ancestry and realize it's hitting familiar territory. Her world-building has some real strengths, but the writing is over-...more
Sep 05, 2012
J
added it
Kola is certainly a firecracker and The Sexy Part of the Bible contains and holds well that certain proud energy. She brings up a whole lot in this book and it covers a wide timespan, but I really, really enjoyed reading it. Tha protagonist, Eternity Frankenheimer, is as vulnerable, honest, confused, and insecure as anyone but she asserts this without a flake of hesitation. "Woman is man's church," she state at one point. The book reaches so far into you and your identity that it's an interactiv...more
Oh my world! Kola Boof is an amazing story teller, how she managed to weave social-political issues, on a loom of metaphors, turning cliches "upside down" to tickle not only a reader's fancy but their cerebral matter.
Africa, my Africa, your stories can be told in my ways but best told by your own, those who bear the burden.
From the start of this enchanting book to the end, one is captivated, and kept on their intellectual toes, provoking, daring, sometimes outrageous. it touches on the myriad o...more
3.5 stars. Enjoyed the book, lots of themes and ideas to digest. Some books are idea-driven, some are experience-driven; this book is a mix of the two. Boof did a good job weaving symbols depicting the intricacies of the white supremacist world (Eternity, cloning, modeling), but I got the feeling that it might have been her weakness as well, not enough personal character development even though you are with Eternity the entire book, too much play with ideas and skimpy scene-writing (she told rat...more
Not even 2 chapters in and already we have covered so many hot button topics in Africa... AIDS research, cloning, skin bleaching, color based kaste systems, prison accomodations, smuggling... The author has me by the throat and she is NOT letting go.
She never did. This book makes me want to be mad at myself for being born white. Confusing and tender and awful and every roller coaster of emotion.
So so good.
She never did. This book makes me want to be mad at myself for being born white. Confusing and tender and awful and every roller coaster of emotion.
So so good.
I hesitated to give this book four stars because, despite the strong writing and excellent characters, there are some very disturbing aspects to the way the main character views love and violence. But the book left me thinking which, in the end, is more than I can usually hope for.
This book was all over the place, literally!! But for some reason that didn't bother me as much as it normally would when an author tries to weave too many tales. Maybe it was because the central theme stayed the same and it is one I'm passionate about. Very imaginative, well written and in a lot of ways powerful! I tweeted the author that this book was a total mind job and I'm sticking with it.
The writing style gives me a little pause but the story itself is fascinating. Eternity is a compelling character living in a world where things are not as they seem and life is a mixture of hurt, joy, and searching. You will find yourself riveted.
This is a fascinating read. The characters and the imagery are spellbinding. You can't skim over any sections -- you have to read the entire book, every word, to get the full experience.
I read this book as it was selected for my book club. I wasn't able to finish reading it, I thought it was an absolute waste of my time.
Engaging. Beautiful imagery. Interesting concept. However, as a feminist, I can't help but note that the description of numerous sexual assaults and incest are uncritically idealized with the lead female character repeatedly infantilized. However brutal and spasmodic she is in her personal journey, breaking through manifestations of racial ideology, she remains powerless and childlike in her relationship with men and sexist with other women. Sadly, the charring misogyny does start to grate a bit...more
This novel feels and reads as an oral history of its main character Eternity as well as providing a deep symbolism depicting the struggle to define one's identity using violence, ancestry, and lived experience as the vehicles by which that concept is explored all through the eyes and from the point of view of black women.I imagine that for many women this novel is empowering and elicits feelings of finally having words be put to one's previously unspeakable dissatisfaction. As a man i find this...more
Enjoying this book and the cosmopolitan vibe of the heroine.
This was an interesting experience. Not that I liked the book but I like the tone of the book. The characters are definitely richly written and the tale was nicely tied up.
This book is not linear, which I like, because life doesn't flow from point A to B and neither do our thoughts. I loved the beautiful imagery, the characters, and how Boof explored, science, AIDS, race, self-hatred, colonialism and more. This book can be categorized as so many things: fantasy, Afro-futurism and more. It reminds me of Octavia Butler in how I can see some of what Boof talks about come to pass in our near future.
Not necessarily the best writing, but this was definitely a captivating story-line and deals with a lot of sensitive issues that I think most people feel uncomfortable with. Ultimately I took this as a meditation on challenging the things taught (through whatever authorities you are taught them through) that are acceptable, beautiful, or worth preserving.
This book is impossible to categorize. Boof is an incredible storyteller, like many reviewers said. I liked the structure of short blip 'chapters,' though it also made the book seem like it sped by. I'm shaking my head with nothing to write because this book was a force. I recommend it.
I really do not know what to say about this book. I do not think it was good or bad. It left me feeling a bit confused. I f I come up with any thoughts I will include them later.
Kola speaks truth / no fear
May 17, 2013
Anton Abu massoud
marked it as to-read
May 09, 2013
Allie
marked it as to-read
Apr 27, 2013
Roxana
marked it as to-read
Apr 23, 2013
Porcha Maten
marked it as to-read
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“My look, mind you, is not chocolate like Lauryn Hill, Whoopi Goldberg, or Naomi Campbell - it is pitch black and shimmering like the purple outer space of the universe. I am the charcoal that creates diamonds. I am the blackest black woman (41).”
—
4 people liked it
“And though this encounter took place against an African sky, our brief enchantment symbolized the new world's greatest taboo - the hand of a very black man caressing the face of the blackest woman, with no shred of light entering into it, utter darkness alone representing God (71).”
—
3 people liked it
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