http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/66038 en-US Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:10:16 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 28757289 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:10:16 -0700
I enjoyed a few of the character sketches, the detailed descriptions of smoking, and the language that Rodriguez uses to dramatize what could seem mundane. I found several sentences throughout the novel that were stunning to read - their structure compelling, and inventive. Overall, however, I found that the plot was too disjointed to be enjoyable. That, combined with the innovative, but too often unclear syntax, made reading this book a chore. I was ready to be done with the book, even as I appreciated the author's slick integration of clues and repetitive language. While I found this clever, the ultimate design of this noir book, never really deviated from noir cliches.

I also find it quizzical that though race is centralized in the book, there is no discussion, hint, or acknowledgement of what it means that it is a white womyn who changes the South Bronx for these four men. Perhaps the reader is expected to undertsand the subtext - which I took, optimistically, to suggest that it's the first time these four men, meet a rogue or outsider, who one would assume would be "in." The alternative, would lessen my appreciation fo the novel.

I think my review has more to do with me as a reader - in other words, what I like and connect with and to, than it does to the talent exhibited by Rodriguez. I do think that other readers might enjoy the book more than I did. The writing is unique and I will say that I think its important, for me as a reader, to read things outside of my comfort zone and mainstream literature.]]>
author: Jr., Abraham Rodriguez
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/18/08
shelves: mystery-thriller
review:
Abraham Rodriguez has created a novel that harkens back to classic noir. He writes, as one reviewer has suggested, with a "syntax all his own." Without a doubt, this unusual syntax, makes South by South Bronx an engaging, if at times, difficult read. The general plot (beware of spoiler), is that a white womyn who turns out to be a rogue agent, climbs into the bed of an alcoholic womanizer. From there, her presence turns South bronx upside down: causing the upstanding detective in the book to turn his back on his shield, unblocking the writers block of a promising author, and ending the painting lull of a brillant South Bronx painter.

I enjoyed a few of the character sketches, the detailed descriptions of smoking, and the language that Rodriguez uses to dramatize what could seem mundane. I found several sentences throughout the novel that were stunning to read - their structure compelling, and inventive. Overall, however, I found that the plot was too disjointed to be enjoyable. That, combined with the innovative, but too often unclear syntax, made reading this book a chore. I was ready to be done with the book, even as I appreciated the author's slick integration of clues and repetitive language. While I found this clever, the ultimate design of this noir book, never really deviated from noir cliches.

I also find it quizzical that though race is centralized in the book, there is no discussion, hint, or acknowledgement of what it means that it is a white womyn who changes the South Bronx for these four men. Perhaps the reader is expected to undertsand the subtext - which I took, optimistically, to suggest that it's the first time these four men, meet a rogue or outsider, who one would assume would be "in." The alternative, would lessen my appreciation fo the novel.

I think my review has more to do with me as a reader - in other words, what I like and connect with and to, than it does to the talent exhibited by Rodriguez. I do think that other readers might enjoy the book more than I did. The writing is unique and I will say that I think its important, for me as a reader, to read things outside of my comfort zone and mainstream literature.
]]> 27846656 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:46:47 -0700
author: Elias Khoury
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/30/08
shelves: international
review:

]]> 26687764 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:03:16 -0700
author: Cris Mazza
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.15
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/21/08
shelves: general-fiction
review:

]]> 27197223 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:51:42 -0700
author: Deborah Menkart
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/14/08
shelves:
review:
I truly believe that this is the best book describing how to teach about the Civil Rights Movement currently out there. A fantastic resource, that is so very well done. A must-have for educators.
]]> 27197131 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:50:03 -0700
author: Lynne Olson
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/14/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 27196758 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:45:43 -0700
Moses makes a good point, that math literacy is an access issue. Not having an understanding of basic math can barr students from opportunities for good jobs and educational opportunities.]]>
author: Robert P. Moses
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 07/14/08
shelves: education
review:
Bob Moses sets forth the theory that math literacy is the Civil Rights issue of the 21st Century. One of the things I really loved about this book, is how Moses grounds education, and constantly references Ella Baker. It's clear how much he respected, admired, and learned from her. As someone who also admires Ella Baker immensely, I feel so happy and proud to see her appreciated by others - especially leaders in the movement.

Moses makes a good point, that math literacy is an access issue. Not having an understanding of basic math can barr students from opportunities for good jobs and educational opportunities.
]]> 25853193 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:14:51 -0700
Amidst one family's loss, another family suffers, when their daughter, is found dead in a run down house in Sydney. Her death brings a detective from Sydney to Angel Rock. The detective, Gibson, comes with his own heavy weights - the mysterious loss of his own sister, which he cannot recall.

Williams is an artist. It is as if he spread out words in front of him, then carefully selected each word, in a slow deliberate process of building the world of Angel Rock. Williams wastes nothing in creating the characters of Angel Rock - the landscape is described elegantly, and with such a dedication to recreation, that I could see the landscape. The relationship between Tom and Flynn is touching and untraditional, and is a highlight of the novel.

The book is divided into three sections. While Part II and III seem to mesh, there is a noticeable disjunction between Part I and II. This lack of continuity is the one small piece that keeps this from being a 4 star book. The arrival of Gibson, who becomes a key part of the character trinity in the novel, is somewhat disjointed and distracted. Yet our introduction to him is memorable, and certainly he serves a key purpose in the novel.

Angel Rock is all about parallels, dreams, and symbols. It;s like a walkabout for readers. I'd recommend the book - even with its slow parts, imperfections, and slight narrative struggles, Williams has delivered an engaging, touching, well-written, and interesting work.]]>
author: Darren Williams
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/08/08
shelves: general-fiction, international
review:
Darren Williams' U.S. debut, Angel Rock, is a beautifully crafted novel. At once a mystery, tale of grief and loss, and a thriller, Angel Rock is the story of Tom and Flynn, two brothers who can missing in the Australian wilderness. Ten days later, only one of the brother, Tom, returns. Unable to remember what happened to his brother, tormented by the loss, and his family decimated by the grief, Tom refuses to accept his brother's loss.

Amidst one family's loss, another family suffers, when their daughter, is found dead in a run down house in Sydney. Her death brings a detective from Sydney to Angel Rock. The detective, Gibson, comes with his own heavy weights - the mysterious loss of his own sister, which he cannot recall.

Williams is an artist. It is as if he spread out words in front of him, then carefully selected each word, in a slow deliberate process of building the world of Angel Rock. Williams wastes nothing in creating the characters of Angel Rock - the landscape is described elegantly, and with such a dedication to recreation, that I could see the landscape. The relationship between Tom and Flynn is touching and untraditional, and is a highlight of the novel.

The book is divided into three sections. While Part II and III seem to mesh, there is a noticeable disjunction between Part I and II. This lack of continuity is the one small piece that keeps this from being a 4 star book. The arrival of Gibson, who becomes a key part of the character trinity in the novel, is somewhat disjointed and distracted. Yet our introduction to him is memorable, and certainly he serves a key purpose in the novel.

Angel Rock is all about parallels, dreams, and symbols. It;s like a walkabout for readers. I'd recommend the book - even with its slow parts, imperfections, and slight narrative struggles, Williams has delivered an engaging, touching, well-written, and interesting work.
]]> 26687238 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:10:51 -0700
author: Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 26687216 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:10:42 -0700
author: Bell Hooks
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1984
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 1847503 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:08:09 -0700
You'll love it, because without a doubt, Clinch has a talent as a writer. He feels like a modern-day Faulkner. His language is fluid, poetic, evocative, and then in an instant, sparse and nearly mechanical it its accuracy and sharpness.

You will hate it because it is so very brutal. Many reviewers have noted the violence of Finn, suggesting stridently, but somewhat obliquely, that they were ill-prepared for the violence in the novel. As a womyn of color reading this novel, I felt extremely uncomfortable with the character positioning of womyn of color: as victims who are viciously mistreated at the hands of Finn.

According to Mary Gaitskill, "Finn is as dark, as brutal, as ambivalent, and as insane as the history and legacy of American racial slavery. It is also graceful, imaginative, and relentlessly intelligent." Finn is indeed brutal and in my opinion, the book goes beyond dark, it is macabre, revealing scenes that literally caused me to have a visceral physical reaction. Yet, without a doubt, Clinch’s literary skill is evident. Language pops – is evocative, harsh, subtle, and as Gaitskill notes, graceful – even as it reveals horrors.

It is interesting that while the question of Huck's multiracial heritage is a debatable piece for many readers, the issue of brutal violence - the pornographic violence visited on Mary (Huck's mother) is not as often discussed. For me, this is why I have such an ambivalent reaction to the book. In a literary sense, it is crafted with sophistication and verve - a definite experiment in stretching the narrative style of the novel, and further juxtaposing it from the original. The violence, however, visited on the Black characters in the novel - Mary, her father, the Black people in "the Bottom," I found confusing, gratuitous, and horrifying.

In his review of Finn, William J. Cobb says, “Clinch's story focuses on Huckleberry Finn's father, here identified simply as Finn. Alcoholic, murderer, rapist and world-class ne'er-do-well, Finn is as despicable and unwholesome as they come. In the Author's Note, Clinch acknowledges "this is Finn's book," and the novel is certainly permeated by the whiskey-breath of Clinch's (not Twain's) creation, being a gruesome tale of sexual abuse, murder and dismemberment. As a revisionist statement, it provides an update on the curse of slavery, although at times it reads like a 19th-century classic retold as torture porn.” (Reimagining Huck's bad dad: Dark revision of Twain classic could use dose of the master's optimism. WILLIAM J. COBB. http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.... The racialized sex scenes, import so many issues of power and privilege, topped with Finn’s, the author’s, the society’s, (it’s confusing to know whose vision of brutality this truly is, and who the author intends us to contribute this vision of violence to) voyeuristic and pornographic gaze turned constantly on the Black citizens in the novel. Too often, I found myself discomfited. Felt an unruly reaction within my gut. As a reader, I felt I had little defense against a truly profound fantasy (made real by Pap Finn’s actions) of violence against Black womyn. I wonder then, is the author trying to bring that abuse to light? Trying to reveal the entanglement of race, class, gender and power in U.S. society – through one of the most beloved and controversial American novels?

I found myself wondering about the author. Why this level of detail of the violence? Why Black female characters who acquiesce and appear so one-dimensional (for that matter, why such one-dimensional female characters overall. The only female character, truly drawn is the Widow Douglas.) Does Pap Finn have an excuse for his behavior because of his own emotionally abusive childhood? How can the author suggest that he feels the book should be taught in high school classes (and he is actively seeking to get it added to the curriculum), when it has so much degradation - uses the n-word so liberally)? As Clinch explains on his blog, thehorsehaircouch, “Now that a lower-cost edition is available, I'm hoping to see it adopted into more and more college and high school classes. The hardcover has already made a good dent -- and that's a tough road, so the signs are good.” This I found particularly troubling.

To assume that high school students will grasp the nuances of such graphic scenes, and that teachers will be able to guide and teach Finn in a way, that those nuances will flatten, evolve and reveal themselves, is, I think, a rather tall (and unrealistic order), which I think places students, particularly students of color at a pedagogical disadvantage. Does that mean the Huckleberry Finn will be replaced? What would that mean? What are high school students supposed to pull from the novel? Unlike Twain’s original, Finn, is not a period book. It’s not placed in a historical context, which make the messages, race dynamics, politics, and themes more rich and bountiful for study and dissection. It makes me wonder if the author truly understands what he's written: the power of the fantasy of the brutalized, captured, raped, and then ultimately submissive Black slave woman; freed only by lies, deception, of the giving up of her own life and body.

Pap Finn, drawn in parallel to his own father and brother, appears pathological. The violence, is pathological. This suggests too that Pap Finn's family was a deeply unhealthy family. His brother never leaves home, the wife is cowed, the Judge has complete control. Another interesting tidbit, that may indeed feel gimmicky, is that the parentage of Pap Finn's mother is rather suggestive of a multiracial identity - afterall she's from Philadelphia. Instead of going down the road of multiracial identity however, the author draws out the class dynamics that spur the judge to work so hard.

I hated Huckleberry Finn as a high school student (after having been asked one too many times, for the "Black perspective a.k.a what might Jim think/feel), what I read and pulled from the book always seemed far more complex, tangled, and resonant than the simple story so many of my classmates, all of whom were white, seemed to enjoy about a boy getting out into the wild and having adventures. Twain was far more complicated than that. Huckleberry Finn when read for nuance, history, and social dynamics - when taught well, is far more complex than that.

That said, I am not a fan of censorship or banning books. I am, however, extremely uncomfortable with suggesting that Finn would be good to add to a high school curriculum.

For me it's less about the believability of Huck being biracial. In fact, I didn't find it difficult to "suspend disbelief," around at all. Why not? U.S. history is one abundant with tangled race and identity complexities. Huck is so young and traumatized by the loss of his family - by the violence that he witnesses, why wouldn't he forget his parentage? What Clinch does is bring a psychological aspect to the novel, which adds edges and angles to the "wayward" boy that Huck represents. I wonder, how much race impacts how one reads both Huckleberry Finn - and now this new take Clinch offers us?
]]>
author: Jon Clinch
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 04/08
date added: 07/02/08
shelves: general-fiction, washingtonpostbookworld
review:
I am not even sure where to begin in rating Finn by Jon Clinch. First you should probably ignore my star rating, because this isn't a book whose rating, will give any true indication of the love/hate relationship you may have with the book.

You'll love it, because without a doubt, Clinch has a talent as a writer. He feels like a modern-day Faulkner. His language is fluid, poetic, evocative, and then in an instant, sparse and nearly mechanical it its accuracy and sharpness.

You will hate it because it is so very brutal. Many reviewers have noted the violence of Finn, suggesting stridently, but somewhat obliquely, that they were ill-prepared for the violence in the novel. As a womyn of color reading this novel, I felt extremely uncomfortable with the character positioning of womyn of color: as victims who are viciously mistreated at the hands of Finn.

According to Mary Gaitskill, "Finn is as dark, as brutal, as ambivalent, and as insane as the history and legacy of American racial slavery. It is also graceful, imaginative, and relentlessly intelligent." Finn is indeed brutal and in my opinion, the book goes beyond dark, it is macabre, revealing scenes that literally caused me to have a visceral physical reaction. Yet, without a doubt, Clinch’s literary skill is evident. Language pops – is evocative, harsh, subtle, and as Gaitskill notes, graceful – even as it reveals horrors.

It is interesting that while the question of Huck's multiracial heritage is a debatable piece for many readers, the issue of brutal violence - the pornographic violence visited on Mary (Huck's mother) is not as often discussed. For me, this is why I have such an ambivalent reaction to the book. In a literary sense, it is crafted with sophistication and verve - a definite experiment in stretching the narrative style of the novel, and further juxtaposing it from the original. The violence, however, visited on the Black characters in the novel - Mary, her father, the Black people in "the Bottom," I found confusing, gratuitous, and horrifying.

In his review of Finn, William J. Cobb says, “Clinch's story focuses on Huckleberry Finn's father, here identified simply as Finn. Alcoholic, murderer, rapist and world-class ne'er-do-well, Finn is as despicable and unwholesome as they come. In the Author's Note, Clinch acknowledges "this is Finn's book," and the novel is certainly permeated by the whiskey-breath of Clinch's (not Twain's) creation, being a gruesome tale of sexual abuse, murder and dismemberment. As a revisionist statement, it provides an update on the curse of slavery, although at times it reads like a 19th-century classic retold as torture porn.” (Reimagining Huck's bad dad: Dark revision of Twain classic could use dose of the master's optimism. WILLIAM J. COBB. http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.... The racialized sex scenes, import so many issues of power and privilege, topped with Finn’s, the author’s, the society’s, (it’s confusing to know whose vision of brutality this truly is, and who the author intends us to contribute this vision of violence to) voyeuristic and pornographic gaze turned constantly on the Black citizens in the novel. Too often, I found myself discomfited. Felt an unruly reaction within my gut. As a reader, I felt I had little defense against a truly profound fantasy (made real by Pap Finn’s actions) of violence against Black womyn. I wonder then, is the author trying to bring that abuse to light? Trying to reveal the entanglement of race, class, gender and power in U.S. society – through one of the most beloved and controversial American novels?

I found myself wondering about the author. Why this level of detail of the violence? Why Black female characters who acquiesce and appear so one-dimensional (for that matter, why such one-dimensional female characters overall. The only female character, truly drawn is the Widow Douglas.) Does Pap Finn have an excuse for his behavior because of his own emotionally abusive childhood? How can the author suggest that he feels the book should be taught in high school classes (and he is actively seeking to get it added to the curriculum), when it has so much degradation - uses the n-word so liberally)? As Clinch explains on his blog, thehorsehaircouch, “Now that a lower-cost edition is available, I'm hoping to see it adopted into more and more college and high school classes. The hardcover has already made a good dent -- and that's a tough road, so the signs are good.” This I found particularly troubling.

To assume that high school students will grasp the nuances of such graphic scenes, and that teachers will be able to guide and teach Finn in a way, that those nuances will flatten, evolve and reveal themselves, is, I think, a rather tall (and unrealistic order), which I think places students, particularly students of color at a pedagogical disadvantage. Does that mean the Huckleberry Finn will be replaced? What would that mean? What are high school students supposed to pull from the novel? Unlike Twain’s original, Finn, is not a period book. It’s not placed in a historical context, which make the messages, race dynamics, politics, and themes more rich and bountiful for study and dissection. It makes me wonder if the author truly understands what he's written: the power of the fantasy of the brutalized, captured, raped, and then ultimately submissive Black slave woman; freed only by lies, deception, of the giving up of her own life and body.

Pap Finn, drawn in parallel to his own father and brother, appears pathological. The violence, is pathological. This suggests too that Pap Finn's family was a deeply unhealthy family. His brother never leaves home, the wife is cowed, the Judge has complete control. Another interesting tidbit, that may indeed feel gimmicky, is that the parentage of Pap Finn's mother is rather suggestive of a multiracial identity - afterall she's from Philadelphia. Instead of going down the road of multiracial identity however, the author draws out the class dynamics that spur the judge to work so hard.

I hated Huckleberry Finn as a high school student (after having been asked one too many times, for the "Black perspective a.k.a what might Jim think/feel), what I read and pulled from the book always seemed far more complex, tangled, and resonant than the simple story so many of my classmates, all of whom were white, seemed to enjoy about a boy getting out into the wild and having adventures. Twain was far more complicated than that. Huckleberry Finn when read for nuance, history, and social dynamics - when taught well, is far more complex than that.

That said, I am not a fan of censorship or banning books. I am, however, extremely uncomfortable with suggesting that Finn would be good to add to a high school curriculum.

For me it's less about the believability of Huck being biracial. In fact, I didn't find it difficult to "suspend disbelief," around at all. Why not? U.S. history is one abundant with tangled race and identity complexities. Huck is so young and traumatized by the loss of his family - by the violence that he witnesses, why wouldn't he forget his parentage? What Clinch does is bring a psychological aspect to the novel, which adds edges and angles to the "wayward" boy that Huck represents. I wonder, how much race impacts how one reads both Huckleberry Finn - and now this new take Clinch offers us?

]]> 26109332 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:00:18 -0700
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 07/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 26051312 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:08:00 -0700
author: Lucy Maud Montgomery
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1909
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/01/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 26051308 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:07:58 -0700
author: Lucy Maud Montgomery
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.67
book published: 1908
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/01/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 23093148 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:54:14 -0700
I think an enhanced edition would include a new foreward, contextualizing the use of Freire's work since his passing; a brief timeline of liberation movements in Latin America (and North America) - I think it would have been great to see a timeline of when Pedagogy was written alongside of when key educators and activists spoke; of course, more translation notes; and maybe a key terms glossary. I think a foreward by James Banks or Sonia Nieto, would make any edition of Pedagogy just spectacular.

Does anyone know of any enhanced editions of Pedagogy of the Oppressed? I'd love to check them out.]]>
author: Paulo Freire
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/30/08
shelves: academic, culturalstudies, education
review:
Freire's theories are why I believe in education and community as dynamic liberating forces. His ideas meld psychology, sociology, and literally create a new field in education. While I learned a great deal from the book - to use both professionally and personally, I found the writing somewhat stilted and unclear. This, I think, is due in large part to the edition of the book I purchased. The translation simply wasn't as good as it could have been. For example, Freire often referenced terms in other languages (French and German most often). The translated edition I purchased, did not feature translations of the other languages. For me, this interupted the flow of reading and was also confusing.

I think an enhanced edition would include a new foreward, contextualizing the use of Freire's work since his passing; a brief timeline of liberation movements in Latin America (and North America) - I think it would have been great to see a timeline of when Pedagogy was written alongside of when key educators and activists spoke; of course, more translation notes; and maybe a key terms glossary. I think a foreward by James Banks or Sonia Nieto, would make any edition of Pedagogy just spectacular.

Does anyone know of any enhanced editions of Pedagogy of the Oppressed? I'd love to check them out.
]]> 8188204 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:48:47 -0700
author: Truddi Chase
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1987
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/29/08
shelves: memoir
review:
There's some debate as to whether this memoir/book was truly written by a womyn suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. I have to say, the book is a hard read - the level of abuse described is discomfiting to tsay the least. I did appreciate the view into the MPD thinking - as several of this womyn's alters help her write this book.
]]> 25841896 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:37:39 -0700
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1876
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/29/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 25840825 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:27:25 -0700
author: Audre Lorde
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1983
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/29/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 23672408 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:21:41 -0700
Kinky Gazpacho intrigued me right away. It was the title that grabbed me. The double entendre, the photo, the promise of a womyn of color doing her own version of eating, praying, and loving, on another continent, that drew me to the book. That and a friend who loves Spain. Initially, I thought I'd pass the book on to her, once I was done.

So you see, I really wanted to love Kinky Gazpacho. Wanted to find out the joys of Spain (of which I'd hear many grumblings from Black friends who visited), wanted to learn how Tharps had negotiated her identity as a person of color, who as a result of the Civil Rights' Movement, grew up in a post-Civil Rights Era, wanted to learn the insights she gained from her traveling and her marriage.

I found myself disappointed. The writing was too loose, too familiar, too colloquial. Tharps also seems to resist delving deeply into her own insecurities, projections, and actions. Lastly, at the completion of the book, I gained no new knowledge, perspective, or sense of being touched by a person digging to uncover profound self-knowledge.

Tharps, who has worked with Entertainment Weekly and Vibe magazine, previously published a book entitled, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, has plenty of experience writing. That experience doesn't make itself known in this memoir. The overall tone fluctuates between stridently dramatic and flippancy. In part, I think because so much was "told" without being shown or adequately contextualized. Knowing that Tharps is a trained journalist, I made an assumption that she'd follow one of the golden rules of writing: show, don't tell. And if you're going to break that cardinal rule, do it with verve - do it superbly. Throughout the memoir, Tharps reverts to telling - telling us when she's angry, telling us when she's depressed, telling us when she's in love, telling us she felt uncomfortable with her race. As any writer, editor, or writing teacher can explain, telling first, doesn't build the connection, interest, or compelling narrative that makes a truly outstanding memoir.

As a reader, I felt I had to find clues beyond Tharps' telling. Clues to balance the telling, which often felt as if Tharps was again 17 years old, reliving the experience, as opposed to revisiting it, for the purpose of building to the key themes in the memoir. In memoir, there is such a delicate balance reliving to draw forth the original emotions and revisiting to ground and contextualize one's experience. With such great work on children of color in predominantly white schools and environments, I'd hoped that Tharps could own her dedication to assimilating more clearly - showing through her actions and thougths, how she strove to distance herself from blackness, to explain her ambivalence to Blackness.

In one memorable scene, Tharps recounts her attempts to connect with other Black womyn at Smith, her alma mater. Tharps attends a meeting of a Black womyn's association on campus, but leaves, dramatically and angrily, before the meeting has even begun, when she feels she's being ignored by the other Black womyn present. I found this scene truly interesting - for the drama of the recounting, the young Tharps' assertion in the moment that she was being rejected, and for my own nostalgia of those early months of college, where the smallest social interaction, threatens to foretell the future of the entire college social scene. But, just as I felt Tharps was going to address her discomfort with herself, her feelings of shame, and her need for belonging and acceptance, the scene dissumulates into a pep talk, letting her off the hook. We never learn if Tharps returns to the Black community at Smith (but we do learn of a smelly Black man whom she was involved with briefly) and that remains an uncompleted thread.

I would have loved it, if Tharps took that moment of anger, isolation, and hurt and used it as an example of her feelings around belonging to a Black community. As a reader, I assumed that Tharps' desire for belonging in Spain was a transference and continuance of her desire and struggle for acceptance throughout her childhood in predominantly white environments. Yet, I'm not sure if that's the conclusion Tharps intended me to draw.

That assumption comes, not only from my own experience, as "the only one," but also as a witness to the racial identity development of friends and acquaintances throughout primary school and college. The complex dynamics between those who feel they have to prove their Blackness, those who have evolved into their Black identity, those who constantly struggle - caught between assimilation and a desire to belong, and those who don't love blackness or their black identity and try to escape. Perhaps to a certain degree, that's all of us, who attended predominantly white schools or lived in predominantly white environments. We all had to learn how to negotiate how we would love ourselves - how we would survive, thrive, and make friends across boundaries, and still remain true to ourselves. As a classmate once said, "private school Blacks are a whole other breed."

The overly familiar and colloquial tone, while at times very endearing, also serves, ironically to keep the reader away from the deeper heart, both of Tharps' narrative, but also of Tharps herself. The personable terminology, down home references, hyperbole, and attempts at causal vernacular place a veil between the reader and the insights, which might have made this memoir more in the caliber of Black Ice, rather than a simple snapshot coming-of-age tale.

Lastly, Spain was to be a major protagonist in the memoir. While I do have a better sense of the country, I am stil puzzled by a few things - most notably, Tharps' humility around her language skills. I asssumed that with nearly 10 years of Spanish under her belt, Tharps would be completely fluent. This, I think, has more to do with my own ignorance around language, than it does with Tharps' depiction of her language skills - though I wonder if perhaps she's being very humble. I am further puzzled by Tharps' lack of knowledge before she went to Spain, about Spain's role in slavery. The role of slavery in Spain's history, as well as the role of Black people in Spain, becomes an important aspect of the book. As one who's very familiar with the history of slavery, I did not find these revelations at all new - in fact, I wondered how Tharps hadn't known. What's more, the whole south of Spain is a hop, skip, and a jump from Africa - the Moors conquered Spain - how could there not be an African influence? Tharps' awakening around the role fo Black people in Spain's history, unfortunately, is another example of the lack of connectedness to Black identity exhibited in the book. I felt uncomfortable as Tharps grew more comfortable is Spain as a result of learning about the oppression of Black people in the country.

Granted, this could be a writing technique. Tharps mentioned she loves Frederick Douglas, who in his writing, particularly in Narratives of the Life of a Slave, would feign lack of knowledge of a subject, in order to draw the reader in, even as he showed how much he knew on the topic. (I think the term in English theory is litotes.)

I've always been a proponent of the memoir, believing that the process of writing uncovers an individual's thoughts, feelings, growth, and challenges. That if a person writes honestly and from a place of their deepest truth, then the very telling of that story reveals layers of perspective, ideas, and an opening of the heart for those who read their narrative. I think it's a brave thing to write one's memoir. To commit one's story to paper. The idea that only older people can or should write memoirs, I've found, was an unfair (and possibly ageist) assumption.

I think memoirs are best in the hands of those willing to uncover the most profound angles of themselves. In this way, perhaps then, the memoir is best for those who are reflecting, negotiating, revisiting, and working out the issues that make them uniquely them. Making it all bare; who approach the memoir with a certain amount of reverence, appreciation, and rawness, with no attempt to protect, shield, or hide behind, within, or from issues that reveal themselves in the process of writing. For those who have found new levels of maturity within themselves as a result of the arc of their lives. I got the sense that Tharps wasn't completely at ease sharing all the information about her family - there are still aspects of family business, and perhaps her own life, that aren't meant (ore ready) to be all "out in the street." One of my favorite teachers was always fond of repeating a Kenyan proverb he grew up with, "empty cans make a lot of noise." In other words, being gregarious all time, talkative and seemingly willing to bare all, doesn't always mean someone is being entirely forethcoming or comfortable in their sharing. In fact, sometimes the noise distracts us from the lack of substance in the content.

Not to suggest that there's no substance in Kinky Gazpacho, but I do wonder if the extroversion of the author, creates an assumption of openness, comfort with the text, and a level of self-knowledge and awareness, that without being shown, as a reader I am left to assume or believe, rather than experience or witness.

As always, I proffer my review, knowing that I haven't ever written a book. Haven't ever stretched myself in that way. What do I know about birthing a memoir? And of course, what does it mean that I "collect" memoirs written by other womyn of color, having not dared to write my own. What experiences, after all, am I searching for, in the stories of others?


]]>
author: Lori Tharps
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/29/08
shelves: memoir
review:
Recently, I've decided to collect memoirs written by womyn of color. Ever since reading Harriet Jacobs', Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I have been drawn to these memoirs.

Kinky Gazpacho intrigued me right away. It was the title that grabbed me. The double entendre, the photo, the promise of a womyn of color doing her own version of eating, praying, and loving, on another continent, that drew me to the book. That and a friend who loves Spain. Initially, I thought I'd pass the book on to her, once I was done.

So you see, I really wanted to love Kinky Gazpacho. Wanted to find out the joys of Spain (of which I'd hear many grumblings from Black friends who visited), wanted to learn how Tharps had negotiated her identity as a person of color, who as a result of the Civil Rights' Movement, grew up in a post-Civil Rights Era, wanted to learn the insights she gained from her traveling and her marriage.

I found myself disappointed. The writing was too loose, too familiar, too colloquial. Tharps also seems to resist delving deeply into her own insecurities, projections, and actions. Lastly, at the completion of the book, I gained no new knowledge, perspective, or sense of being touched by a person digging to uncover profound self-knowledge.

Tharps, who has worked with Entertainment Weekly and Vibe magazine, previously published a book entitled, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, has plenty of experience writing. That experience doesn't make itself known in this memoir. The overall tone fluctuates between stridently dramatic and flippancy. In part, I think because so much was "told" without being shown or adequately contextualized. Knowing that Tharps is a trained journalist, I made an assumption that she'd follow one of the golden rules of writing: show, don't tell. And if you're going to break that cardinal rule, do it with verve - do it superbly. Throughout the memoir, Tharps reverts to telling - telling us when she's angry, telling us when she's depressed, telling us when she's in love, telling us she felt uncomfortable with her race. As any writer, editor, or writing teacher can explain, telling first, doesn't build the connection, interest, or compelling narrative that makes a truly outstanding memoir.

As a reader, I felt I had to find clues beyond Tharps' telling. Clues to balance the telling, which often felt as if Tharps was again 17 years old, reliving the experience, as opposed to revisiting it, for the purpose of building to the key themes in the memoir. In memoir, there is such a delicate balance reliving to draw forth the original emotions and revisiting to ground and contextualize one's experience. With such great work on children of color in predominantly white schools and environments, I'd hoped that Tharps could own her dedication to assimilating more clearly - showing through her actions and thougths, how she strove to distance herself from blackness, to explain her ambivalence to Blackness.

In one memorable scene, Tharps recounts her attempts to connect with other Black womyn at Smith, her alma mater. Tharps attends a meeting of a Black womyn's association on campus, but leaves, dramatically and angrily, before the meeting has even begun, when she feels she's being ignored by the other Black womyn present. I found this scene truly interesting - for the drama of the recounting, the young Tharps' assertion in the moment that she was being rejected, and for my own nostalgia of those early months of college, where the smallest social interaction, threatens to foretell the future of the entire college social scene. But, just as I felt Tharps was going to address her discomfort with herself, her feelings of shame, and her need for belonging and acceptance, the scene dissumulates into a pep talk, letting her off the hook. We never learn if Tharps returns to the Black community at Smith (but we do learn of a smelly Black man whom she was involved with briefly) and that remains an uncompleted thread.

I would have loved it, if Tharps took that moment of anger, isolation, and hurt and used it as an example of her feelings around belonging to a Black community. As a reader, I assumed that Tharps' desire for belonging in Spain was a transference and continuance of her desire and struggle for acceptance throughout her childhood in predominantly white environments. Yet, I'm not sure if that's the conclusion Tharps intended me to draw.

That assumption comes, not only from my own experience, as "the only one," but also as a witness to the racial identity development of friends and acquaintances throughout primary school and college. The complex dynamics between those who feel they have to prove their Blackness, those who have evolved into their Black identity, those who constantly struggle - caught between assimilation and a desire to belong, and those who don't love blackness or their black identity and try to escape. Perhaps to a certain degree, that's all of us, who attended predominantly white schools or lived in predominantly white environments. We all had to learn how to negotiate how we would love ourselves - how we would survive, thrive, and make friends across boundaries, and still remain true to ourselves. As a classmate once said, "private school Blacks are a whole other breed."

The overly familiar and colloquial tone, while at times very endearing, also serves, ironically to keep the reader away from the deeper heart, both of Tharps' narrative, but also of Tharps herself. The personable terminology, down home references, hyperbole, and attempts at causal vernacular place a veil between the reader and the insights, which might have made this memoir more in the caliber of Black Ice, rather than a simple snapshot coming-of-age tale.

Lastly, Spain was to be a major protagonist in the memoir. While I do have a better sense of the country, I am stil puzzled by a few things - most notably, Tharps' humility around her language skills. I asssumed that with nearly 10 years of Spanish under her belt, Tharps would be completely fluent. This, I think, has more to do with my own ignorance around language, than it does with Tharps' depiction of her language skills - though I wonder if perhaps she's being very humble. I am further puzzled by Tharps' lack of knowledge before she went to Spain, about Spain's role in slavery. The role of slavery in Spain's history, as well as the role of Black people in Spain, becomes an important aspect of the book. As one who's very familiar with the history of slavery, I did not find these revelations at all new - in fact, I wondered how Tharps hadn't known. What's more, the whole south of Spain is a hop, skip, and a jump from Africa - the Moors conquered Spain - how could there not be an African influence? Tharps' awakening around the role fo Black people in Spain's history, unfortunately, is another example of the lack of connectedness to Black identity exhibited in the book. I felt uncomfortable as Tharps grew more comfortable is Spain as a result of learning about the oppression of Black people in the country.

Granted, this could be a writing technique. Tharps mentioned she loves Frederick Douglas, who in his writing, particularly in Narratives of the Life of a Slave, would feign lack of knowledge of a subject, in order to draw the reader in, even as he showed how much he knew on the topic. (I think the term in English theory is litotes.)

I've always been a proponent of the memoir, believing that the process of writing uncovers an individual's thoughts, feelings, growth, and challenges. That if a person writes honestly and from a place of their deepest truth, then the very telling of that story reveals layers of perspective, ideas, and an opening of the heart for those who read their narrative. I think it's a brave thing to write one's memoir. To commit one's story to paper. The idea that only older people can or should write memoirs, I've found, was an unfair (and possibly ageist) assumption.

I think memoirs are best in the hands of those willing to uncover the most profound angles of themselves. In this way, perhaps then, the memoir is best for those who are reflecting, negotiating, revisiting, and working out the issues that make them uniquely them. Making it all bare; who approach the memoir with a certain amount of reverence, appreciation, and rawness, with no attempt to protect, shield, or hide behind, within, or from issues that reveal themselves in the process of writing. For those who have found new levels of maturity within themselves as a result of the arc of their lives. I got the sense that Tharps wasn't completely at ease sharing all the information about her family - there are still aspects of family business, and perhaps her own life, that aren't meant (ore ready) to be all "out in the street." One of my favorite teachers was always fond of repeating a Kenyan proverb he grew up with, "empty cans make a lot of noise." In other words, being gregarious all time, talkative and seemingly willing to bare all, doesn't always mean someone is being entirely forethcoming or comfortable in their sharing. In fact, sometimes the noise distracts us from the lack of substance in the content.

Not to suggest that there's no substance in Kinky Gazpacho, but I do wonder if the extroversion of the author, creates an assumption of openness, comfort with the text, and a level of self-knowledge and awareness, that without being shown, as a reader I am left to assume or believe, rather than experience or witness.

As always, I proffer my review, knowing that I haven't ever written a book. Haven't ever stretched myself in that way. What do I know about birthing a memoir? And of course, what does it mean that I "collect" memoirs written by other womyn of color, having not dared to write my own. What experiences, after all, am I searching for, in the stories of others?



]]> 25143618 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:46:56 -0700
author: Trisha Malcolm
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/22/08
shelves: craftiness
review:
Many of the designs in this book are interesting and fun. I learned stitches which I was able to incorporate into afghans and my general crocheting. I will say, however, that the directions were not always as clear as I needed them to be. Great book for inspiration and for some of the patterns.
]]> 25143337 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:42:48 -0700
Many crochet books provide less than clear directions and use jargon to explain each step. Not so here. As an extra bonus, there lots of suggestions on how to mix and match the squares.]]>
author: Jan Eaton
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/22/08
shelves: craftiness
review:
This is a fantastic book for crocheters! It has clear directions, varied designs and skill levels, and provides great ideas about color and design of blankets. I'd highly recommend this book for crocheters - especially those interested in crocheting as an art.

Many crochet books provide less than clear directions and use jargon to explain each step. Not so here. As an extra bonus, there lots of suggestions on how to mix and match the squares.
]]> 25138654 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:23:51 -0700
author: William Shakespeare
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1600
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 25137267 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:00:48 -0700
author: Nick Bantock
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/22/08
shelves: graphicnovel
review:

]]> 25135336 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:33:56 -0700
author: Henry Louis Gates
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1989
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 23887644 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:17:51 -0700
author: Esmeralda Santiago
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/06/08
shelves: general-fiction
review:

]]> 23886617 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:29:28 -0700
author: Nancy Rawles
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/06/08
shelves: general-fiction
review:

]]> 23700497 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:41:19 -0700
author: LeRoi Jones
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1971
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/04/08
shelves: playwrights-are-sexy
review:

]]> 22142641 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:36:45 -0700
While the book purports to be budget friendly, I beg to disagree - many of the ideas will cost you a penny, and may also be labor intensive. I recognize, however, that the Apartment Therapy philosophy is to take one's time as you build a home.

Overall, Apartment Therapy gave me lots of great ideas and suggestions. Well worth it.]]>
author: Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/03/08
shelves: craftiness, visualcultureart
review:
What a helpful book. And how sad that when I borrow ideas from it, thousands of other people will have also incorporated the idea! I don't mind though - Apartment Therapy is a solid primer when thinking about decorating space. The book is organized to provide biographical information about the owners/renters of each space, the layout of the home, and information about where to look for some of the great finds.

While the book purports to be budget friendly, I beg to disagree - many of the ideas will cost you a penny, and may also be labor intensive. I recognize, however, that the Apartment Therapy philosophy is to take one's time as you build a home.

Overall, Apartment Therapy gave me lots of great ideas and suggestions. Well worth it.
]]> 23091985 Tue, 27 May 2008 20:07:45 -0700
The plot is fairly simple: a young biracial Bostonian detective is tapped to attend a prestigious crime school studying forensics. He's sent by his demanding, hard as nails boss, Monique Lamont. All of a sudden he's called back to solve a murder from 20 years ago, and then a series of events (you get the idea) unfolds that shows nothing is what it seems. But the plot is so weak! And the use of character's races, seems pointless, and is instead used to explain their isolation, anger, triggers, and misdeeds. Moreover, the clues are misplaced in the novel. In short, the plot just isn't compelling enough.

I do think that Cromwell took risks - she wrote a female character, that one isn't inclined to like (a bizarro Kay Scarpetta), she introduced a lead character of color, and added a mythic/spiritual aspect, and intended or not, she brought to the forefront the use of genetics - even those found from crime scenes, to target certain races to develop pharmaceuticals. Having just finished Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington, I found this particularly interesting and relevant.]]>
author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/27/08
shelves: mystery-thriller
review:
Generally I enjoy Patricia Cornmwell's books, having first been introduced to her, through the book Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed, At Risk was not the best Cromwell book I've read. The plot seemed thin and unconnected and it was fraught with misogny and an undertone of stereotypical racial imagery, which disappointed me.

The plot is fairly simple: a young biracial Bostonian detective is tapped to attend a prestigious crime school studying forensics. He's sent by his demanding, hard as nails boss, Monique Lamont. All of a sudden he's called back to solve a murder from 20 years ago, and then a series of events (you get the idea) unfolds that shows nothing is what it seems. But the plot is so weak! And the use of character's races, seems pointless, and is instead used to explain their isolation, anger, triggers, and misdeeds. Moreover, the clues are misplaced in the novel. In short, the plot just isn't compelling enough.

I do think that Cromwell took risks - she wrote a female character, that one isn't inclined to like (a bizarro Kay Scarpetta), she introduced a lead character of color, and added a mythic/spiritual aspect, and intended or not, she brought to the forefront the use of genetics - even those found from crime scenes, to target certain races to develop pharmaceuticals. Having just finished Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington, I found this particularly interesting and relevant.
]]> 12496319 Tue, 27 May 2008 19:54:27 -0700
The collection is creative, grounded by simple parameters - each character has a name (but not always a last name). One surprise, is that the book features two graphic stories - an inclusive and engaging change.

Some stand-outs include:

Judith Castle, by David Mitchell. about a middle-aged narcissist, attempting to find love.

Frank, by Daniel Clowes, a tale of marriage and loss.

The Liar, by Aleksandr Hemon, which offers a unique twist on the story of Christ being crucified.

Judge Gladys Parks-Schultz, a mystery that surprised me as a reader. It is clever, engaging, beautifully written, and a great study in structure, story, and development. I enjoyed it so much, that I read it twice.

Perkus Tooth, by Jonathan Lethem, seems to be a postmodern Bartleby the Srivener, all social misfit and fringe. Another story in the collection which I read more than once.

]]>
author: Zadie Smith
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/27/08
shelves: shortstory
review:
What a gem! I truly enjoyed this collection of short stories, edited by Zadie Smith. As the title indicates, Other People's Lives, is character focused, designed to act as a window into the lives of each protagonist. The result is a collection of inspired writing - and the bonus is that the sale of the book benefits 826 Valencia, a non-profit organization that works with young people to develop their writing skills. Without a doubt each author brings to life an intriguing character, peeling back layers, rummaging behind language to bring to life people who jump off of the page. These are pros showing how good they are at what they do.

The collection is creative, grounded by simple parameters - each character has a name (but not always a last name). One surprise, is that the book features two graphic stories - an inclusive and engaging change.

Some stand-outs include:

Judith Castle, by David Mitchell. about a middle-aged narcissist, attempting to find love.

Frank, by Daniel Clowes, a tale of marriage and loss.

The Liar, by Aleksandr Hemon, which offers a unique twist on the story of Christ being crucified.

Judge Gladys Parks-Schultz, a mystery that surprised me as a reader. It is clever, engaging, beautifully written, and a great study in structure, story, and development. I enjoyed it so much, that I read it twice.

Perkus Tooth, by Jonathan Lethem, seems to be a postmodern Bartleby the Srivener, all social misfit and fringe. Another story in the collection which I read more than once.


]]> 822999 Sat, 17 May 2008 15:11:29 -0700

Published in 2006, before Reverend Jeremiah Wright's now infamous comments about HIV/AIDS,


Washington also catalogues the U.S. Department of Defense uninformed experiments with civilians, that included injecting extremely high levels of toxic materials - to test the impact of radiation. ]]>
author: Harriet A. Washington
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/17/08
shelves: history, washingtonpostbookworld
review:
Harriet Washington's, Medical Apartheid is a powerful history of experimentation on African Americans throughout U.S. history. Clearly well researched and compelling, though not always strongly written, Medical Apartheid begins by addressing the abuses of the medical establis


Published in 2006, before Reverend Jeremiah Wright's now infamous comments about HIV/AIDS,


Washington also catalogues the U.S. Department of Defense uninformed experiments with civilians, that included injecting extremely high levels of toxic materials - to test the impact of radiation.
]]> 11441022 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:06:52 -0700
And then I re-read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, which I found to be one of the best American novels written. Ellison, in his letters, often mentions the impact that Herman Melville had on him, and references Moby Dick as a discussion of nationhood, race, and obsession.

Well, I'd never heard the book positioned in this way. It more than piqued my interest. It drew me in to explore. I'd always loved Melville's short stories, so I dove in. How happy I am that I went back.

Now when I hear that Moby Dick is the best American novel, I nod in agreement - relish the imagery of Ahab upon his perch on the deck, think of Melville's well-placed humor, wonder at the role of destiny (manifest and otherwise), think of the pacing of the novel - the feat of building up to the crescendo, and the desperate search for belonging.

Well worth the wait and meets all the hype and adoration. If only it was introduced as a book, not only beautifully written, but one which seeks to investigate class and race dynamics in a new America. If it were explained that,Moby Dick is not only a symbol for obsession, but also a symbol of desire and yearning for whiteness, it would perhaps be far more interesting to read and enjoy.]]>
author: Herman Melville
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1851
rating: 5
read at: 01/08
date added: 04/18/08
shelves: adoration-of-author, favorites, whosecanonisitanyway
review:
When I first attempted to read this book, I was in a first-year Creative Writing Class. At the time, I was less than enthused about reading yet another white male, after a long run of school assigned reading of only white men. So I was resistant. And perhaps rightly so. After years of not having the opportunity to read international literature and literature by people of color, to my heart's content, I needed a break. An opportunity to explore and revel.

And then I re-read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, which I found to be one of the best American novels written. Ellison, in his letters, often mentions the impact that Herman Melville had on him, and references Moby Dick as a discussion of nationhood, race, and obsession.

Well, I'd never heard the book positioned in this way. It more than piqued my interest. It drew me in to explore. I'd always loved Melville's short stories, so I dove in. How happy I am that I went back.

Now when I hear that Moby Dick is the best American novel, I nod in agreement - relish the imagery of Ahab upon his perch on the deck, think of Melville's well-placed humor, wonder at the role of destiny (manifest and otherwise), think of the pacing of the novel - the feat of building up to the crescendo, and the desperate search for belonging.

Well worth the wait and meets all the hype and adoration. If only it was introduced as a book, not only beautifully written, but one which seeks to investigate class and race dynamics in a new America. If it were explained that,Moby Dick is not only a symbol for obsession, but also a symbol of desire and yearning for whiteness, it would perhaps be far more interesting to read and enjoy.
]]> 20490317 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:30:06 -0700
author: Anchee Min
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/18/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20489586 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:13:12 -0700
author: Kate Chopin
name: Izetta Autumn
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1899
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/18/08
shelves: