The Hit

by Julian Mayfield

"Well-plotted, extremely perceptive." —  Kirkus Reviews

In Harlem of the 1950s, the age-old dream of sudden wealth centers on the numbers game. Hubert Cooley, an avid gambler, would do anything to get enough money to place a bet. For him, the possibility of a "hit" represents the solution to everything that's wrong with his life and the chance to escape from his demeaning job as a superintendent, from the pressures of family life, and from Harlem itself.
This compelling novel traces a day in the life of Hubert and his family, from its ordinary start to its increasingly dramatic episodes of conflict, violence, and disillusionment. Author Julian Mayfield was a distinguished interpreter of the black experience in fiction, journalism, theater, and cinema. His vivid and compassionate tale of ghetto life portrays not only its pitfalls but also the redemptive possibilities to be found in self-knowledge and the recognition of human truths.

Genres: Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2020

Reviews

[Cody]

For a much longer explication of Mayfield, see my review of his The Long Night. That review, much like its subject material, is the sister review to this, largely in that it is everything this isn’t—mimicking the same binary cleaving Mayfield accomplishes with The Hit and The Long Night taken together. I’d argue they’re of a piece, and neither is quite as great without its other; this, when read closely, becomes self-evident whatever their superficial dissimilarities. I would also insert one essential clause here for the future-perfect reader: when were these books written, and for whom did the offer some form of succor? If The Long Night can be seen as Light or the breaking of dawn, The Hit is all Dark, a palpable late evening slipping without hope into the unconscionability of endless night. My advice is to take both, in sequence, to get Mayfield’s full thematic arc and better appreciate the breadth of his expansive and quietly revolutionary project. I’m taxed to think of another nonperformative subversion so chthonic in execution.

[Vanity Crowe]

I love reading books from authors of the past. This was a very good read, I really was cheering old Herbert along the entire read. The fact that no one believed in him and labeled him as " crazy or peculiar" really bothered me. I understood why once he hit the number, he wanted to get out of dodge, and away from everyone. The ending really sucked but it's a direct imitation of life. This was definitely a 5 star read from an author in the 50's. I highly recommend everyone to read it.