Book Description
In 1906 Atlanta, after a summer of inflammatory headlines and accusations of black-on-white sexual assaults, armed white mobs attacked African Americans, resulting in at least twenty-five black fatalities. Atlanta's black residents fought back and repeatedly defended their neighborhoods from white raids. Placing this four-day riot in a broader narrative of twentieth-century race relations in Atlanta, in the South, and in the United States, David Fort Godshalk examines the riot's origins and how memories of this cataclysmic event shaped black and white social and political life for decades to come.
Nationally, the riot radicalized many civil rights leaders, encouraging W. E. B. Du Bois's confrontationist stance and diminishing the accommodationist voice of Booker T. Washington. In Atlanta, fears of continued disorder prompted white civic leaders to seek dialogue with black elites, establishing a rare biracial tradition that convinced mainstream northern whites that racial reconciliation was possible in the South without national intervention. Paired with black fears of renewed violence, however, this interracial cooperation exacerbated black social divisions and repeatedly undermined black social justice movements, leaving the city among the most segregated and socially stratified in the nation. Analyzing the interwoven struggles of men and women, blacks and whites, social outcasts and national powerbrokers, Godshalk illuminates the possibilities and limits of racial understanding and social change in twentieth-century America.
Customer Reviews:
Laugh Yourself Sick With This .......2006-04-25
You are under orders to get all of Jerry Van Amerongen's
"The Neighborhood" and "Ballard Street" books!
Here are some examples from this selection:
(1) We see a fellow flying off his bicycle in the
direction of a truck which has written on the side
"Another shipment of Warrior Farms attack dogs" with
numerous snouts sticking up the top of the truck with
lots of teeth waiting to greet him. The caption is
"The Saga of Harold (Hard Luck Hadley) continues.
(2) A barn is full of people wearing goofy
costumes, all of them holding candles along with
signs with single
letters of the alphabet written on them.
The caption is "A secret society called 'The
formation of the vowels'".
(3) An annual stockholders' meeting of a corporation
is being held, but instead of the executives sitting
by the podium, there are dummies instead with the
real people hiding behind them making faces in the
direction of the audience and carousing in other
ways. The caption is "Top Management acutally looks
forward to the Annual Sharholders' Meeting".
(4) We see a lounge with a lot of empty chairs
and a single customer wearing a Texas-style
10-gallon hat. At the front is an iguana tied
to a chair with a microphone in front of him.
The caption is "Another low moment in lounge
entertainment near Midland, Texas" (BTW-that
is where President W Bush is from!)
I am sure after reading these samples you are
all rushing out to buy this book. One at
a time, please!
Puts Gary Larson and his ilk to shame!.......2000-12-12
You may know van Amerongen's current strip, "Ballard Street" from current funny papers. "The Neighborhood" is in exactly the same spirit... the art of understatement and sublimely funny drawings of hapless older folks desperate for a clue. My favorite FAVORITE strip has an older gentleman looking out his upstairs window, down onto the lawn, where the neighborhood dogs have amiably arranged themselves to spell out the word "Hi." The man is saying to his wife, "Helen, could you come here a minute?" OH MY GOD I can't even think about this strip without falling over. This book is fun for the guest room, or the coffee table, and is enjoyable over and over and over.
The Neighborhood in Color is Incredibly Funny.......1998-09-18
The Neighborhood in Color is another example of how talented Jerry Van Amerongen is, VERY. The comic panels are so very bizarre and the captions can be such an understatement that they can deliver most of the laughs.
Book Description
The creative team behind the smash hit Crowns:Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats returns with a glorious tour of the spirit of Harlem—a collection of fifty stunning black-and-white photographs and unforgettable interviews that capture the heart and soul of one of the most famous and vibrant neighborhoods in the world.
Harlem, long known as the epicenter of black cultural life in America, is undergoing a radical change. An unprecedented infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars in development capital is revitalizing the community and transforming a cityscape marred by decades of poverty. In a striking show of exuberance, upscale shops are materializing in once-abandoned buildings, new homes are popping up in vacant lots, and sheets of glass twinkle in place of grim, boarded-up windows. The economic renewal has lured a host of new people to the neighborhood—doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, and even a former president. But it has also posed a threat to many residents who have lived through the worst of times and now fear that they will lose their homes and livelihoods as boom times sweep in.
Spirit of Harlem documents this extraordinary period of transition through the words and faces of newcomers and longtime residents alike. There are reminiscences of Harlem during the 1920s through the 1960s, stories of friends and families gathering at churches, in local shops, and on the streets, and thoughts on what the future holds for the neighborhood.
Millions of tourists visit Harlem each year, and many people in the United States can trace their roots to this legendary area or have read about its remarkable history and impact on American life and culture. In more than fifty stunning portraits and essays, Spirit of Harlem brings all its splendor, rancor, drama, and glamour vividly to life.
The voices of Spirit of Harlem:
“The minute you step out your door, everything in Harlem is in your face. There is a beauty and a poetry in all that . . .” —Lana Turner, real estate broker
“Bubba and me thought Harlem was Heaven, all the lights and the sights. I asked my aunt, ‘Where do all the white people live?’” —Rev. Betty Neal
“When I came up from the subway, I said, ‘Oh man, I'm lost!’ But then I saw the Apollo and it blew me away. I said, ‘Wow, this is it! I’m in Harlem!’ I had never been to Harlem before, but I just knew I belonged here.” —Bryan Collier, author and artist
Customer Reviews:
Spirited Account of a Historical Neighborhood.......2004-06-23
SPIRIT OF HARLEM: A Portrait of America's Most Exciting Neighborhood
by Craig Marberry and Michael Cunningham is a beautiful book filled with two page pictorial accounts of famous and not so famous people and places that make up Harlem USA. Places such as the famed Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Harlem Hospital, to the Harlem YMCA, the Dance Theatre of Harlem to Hats by Bunn. It also serves as a historical account because the author and photographer delve into the heart and soul of Harlem's past that made it the elite capital it was for African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. SPIRIT OF HARLEM opens with a foreword by Gordon Parks, which sets the tone for this collection, and is followed by the author and photographer's insight into their first glance of Harlem. This collection of narrations also provides a sequencing of accounts by current and former residents of all ages and nationalities with candid black and white photographs of the subjects highlighted. Most photographs include a building, which serves as a backdrop or a tangible item that is featured in the story that follows. The first person accounts are encouraging, heartfelt and humorous as well as dismal and oppressive.
SPIRIT OF HARLEM showcases traditional and non-traditional professions such as a former activist, an art dealer, artists, a bookstore owner, a chess player, Chief Executive Officers, a choreographer, a nun, an opera singer, a real estate broker and a social worker. Other professions include a fencer, funeral parlor owners, an Asian gospel singer, a Caucasian graphic designer, hair braiders, historians, a journalist, a literary agent, a law firm partner, medical doctors, ministers and church deacon, a photographer, a restaurant owner and spa owners, along with a myriad of other professions.
One of my favorite narrations is by Isabel Powell, the first wife of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. The former Mrs. Powell tells a humorous short story of their meeting, her occupation, his father's rejection of her and finally, her feelings upon their divorce. Another is Kevin Taylor, a producer for Black Entertainment Television and his recollection of the Harlem Shake, a gyrating dance that took the teens of Harlem and the country by storm. Finally, Ron Clark, a Caucasian, southern, male teacher who moved from the South to teach in Harlem; his tactics for winning parental involvement and the buy-in from his students.
Some people have a distorted perception of this island within an island but SPIRIT OF HARLEM validates the fact that historically and currently there is much to see, do and learn about Harlem. SPIRIT OF HARLEM is a treasured collectible that provides a journey into a rich past.
Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
definitely worth buying.......2004-06-13
This book has fascinating stories of ordinary and extraodinary people. For each person interviewed, there is a picture or 2 and a story told by that individual. The writer did an excellent job at capturing these stories in first person...i felt like I was actually sitting in front of these people and listening to them tell me about a moving incident, their childhood, reflections on life... Some of these stories made me laugh and some made me cry. It was a neat experience to "meet" all these interesting people. The photography is beautiful
Nothing but the Best.......2004-01-14
As a Native New Yorker, It does me proud to see fellow New Yorkers talk about Harlem, past,present and future. I have enjoyed this book as well as Crowns(I own them both),and it is such a treasure to see Harlem at its finest. This book is highly recommended.
Excellent, informative, and moving.......2003-12-07
Spirit of Harlem is a wonderful treasure of a book. Looking at the photographs and reading the interviews is like going on a journey. Your eyes take in every color and every shape; your ears take in every sound, every smell, and you can hear the people's voices, some ordinary, some famous, yet they all ring loud and rise from these pages.
I've never read anything like this book, one that forces you to laugh and cry at the same time. One that opens up your eyes to a world that you didn't really existed. It's a flavor-filled coffee table book bursting with wondrous history. And it truly embodies the human spirit as the voices of people from different races and cultures all share their common bond of living and/or working in Harlem.
The Spirit of Harlem is just that - a spirit of discovery that races through from the pages and causes you to learn things you've never heard before. Even if you've haven't been to Harlem, the book makes you proud and happy to know that such a place exists. This important and heartwarming book is highly recommended.
Book Description
Laws and cultural norms militated against interracial sex in Virginia before the Civil War, and yet it was ubiquitous in cities, towns, and plantation communities throughout the state. In Notorious in the Neighborhood, Joshua Rothman examines the full spectrum of interracial sexual relationships under slavery--from Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and the intertwined interracial families of Monticello and Charlottesville to commercial sex in Richmond, the routinized sexual exploitation of enslaved women, and adultery across the color line. He explores the complex considerations of legal and judicial authorities who handled cases involving illicit sex and describes how the customary toleration of sex across the color line both supported and undermined racism and slavery in the early national and antebellum South.
White Virginians allowed for an astonishing degree of flexibility and fluidity within a seemingly rigid system of race and interracial relations, Rothman argues, and the relationship between law and custom regarding racial intermixture was always shifting. As a consequence, even as whites never questioned their own racial supremacy, the meaning and significance of racial boundaries, racial hierarchy, and ultimately of race itself always stood on unstable ground--a reality that whites understood and about which they demonstrated increasing anxiety as the nation's sectional crisis intensified.
Customer Reviews:
Race and reality in Virginia.......2004-09-19
Joshua Rothman's "Notorious in the Neighborhood: Sex and Families across the Color Line in Virginia, 1787-1861" is a book in the tradition of C. Vann Woodward's "The Strange Career of Jim Crow." Both treatments on the history of race relations in the American South explode popular myths about how whites and blacks acted in a slave society. The common misconception about the color line, still very much in vogue today outside academia, posits that whites managed to maintain a nearly complete separation of the races from the colonial era to the end of the Civil War. Rothman, Woodward, and other American historians know differently. Woodward forcefully argued that segregation, the institution held dearly by generations of southerners, only gradually came into being from the 1880s forward. Rothman examines another aspect of slavery and segregation, namely interracial unions and relationships, to arrive at the conclusion that many whites in the South engaged in liaisons with blacks regardless of their social standing or class. The author focuses on Virginia because that region often personified the opinions and stature of the South as a whole.
Rothman's sources-including the requisite court records, divorce filings, newspapers, government records, and narratives that are the bread and butter of the social historian-easily bolster his thesis. The author argues that during the early national and antebellum period, relationships between the races flourished as long as the people involved followed an important caveat. His first example is the Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings entanglement. Rothman argues that nearly everyone in Albemarle County, Virginia, where the founding father resided, knew about his relationship with one of his slaves. The white population tacitly accepted this technically illegal union because such relationships were frequent but kept under wraps. In other words, as long as those involved remained quiet about their sexual activities with slaves, no one called them on it. The author claims that the attempt to expose Jefferson's relationship for political gain actually had the reverse effect: white southerners resented having their double standard exposed to the light of day. The other example Rothman cites, the David Isaacs/Nancy West attachment, provides reinforces the author's conclusions about the Jefferson/Hemings acquaintance while also providing a counterpoint. In this case, whites brought charges against the two because they openly flaunted their illicit liaison. Again, as long as people involved in an interracial affair kept the matter close to the vest, little usually came of it.
Interactions across the color line involved every level of Virginia society. Rothman examines criminal cases in Richmond, slave crimes, interracial divorce and adultery, and the position of mixed bloods in this white/black culture. Repeatedly, the book uncovers evidence that race was not intractable but rather a nebulous conception upon which generations of whites erected increasingly baroque legal, political, and economic policies. For instance, the relations between blacks and whites in Richmond unfolded with a minimum of constraint for decades as long as the authorities contained these contacts to a specific part of the city. Murders of whites by slaves did not automatically result in a death sentence, but often involved a careful consideration of the mitigating factors that led to the crime. Whites who sued for divorce on the grounds of interracial adultery rarely made race the central argument in their petition. And the legal codes created to determine who was white and who was black in Virginia led to utter chaos because such laws failed to account for the increasing mixed blood population, a population that did not fall easily into either category. Rothman finds again and again that the 1850s saw a hardening of racial attitudes as the South came under increasing attack from the North on the issue of slavery.
"Notorious in the Neighborhood" excels in providing yet further proof that race is a socially constructed notion owing more to ideology than biology. The author proves that race, at least in Virginia during the period in question, meant different things to different people at different times. The legal codes defining race changed several times, something that could never happen if race was a fixed category. Rothman discovers that efforts to tighten up racial categories, to institute a precursor to the notorious "one-drop" rule of the later Jim Crow era, deeply concerned many lawmakers who believed that meddling with blood quotients could redefine many white people as black. If race never changes, how could someone suddenly become black or white with the flick of a pen? The racial policies of the South assumed idiotic heights as judges, politicians, and other civil authorities navigated through the strange new world created by the increasing mixed blood population. When confronted with the reality of interracial offspring, laws defining racial separation and identification hiccupped. The best example Rothman gives of the ambiguity of the race system sits at the beginning of chapter six where he spells out sixty-one different racial categories recognized in Virginia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Rothman's book stumbles slightly when it fails to examine the role of religion in these forays across the color line. Obviously, as the other evidence presented in the book easily proves, southern churches failed to prevent interracial sex. Why? White southerners certainly were a church going people, and we know that the pulpit served as a major dissemination hub of racist theories and doctrines. Did southern churches follow the arc of other institutions by subscribing to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding interracial relations in the early national and antebellum period only to harden their stance as the Civil War loomed on the horizon? What was the position adopted by the churches concerning mixed blood offspring? Did the churches influence the political debates on racial legislation, divorce and adultery petitions, and interracial crime? It would seem Rothman relegates religion to a subservient position in society more at home with modern America than the pre-Civil War South.
brilliant.......2003-08-30
This is a brilliant work on a subject that has been shrouded in silence. Although it's obvious that interacial matches have been going on since Jamestown there has been little scholarly work on the topic. Love and sex across the color line was a dangerous business in most of America but in Virginia it was particularly complicated. Mr. Rothman's book deserves to be in the library of anyone who is serious about history.
Average customer rating:
- A Dangerous Read (www.wordsntone.com)
- A great story filled with many challenges for all of us
- Thought provoking and challenging
|
God's Neighborhood: A Hopeful Journey in Racial Reconciliation and Community Renewal
Scott Roley , and
James Isaac Elliott
Manufacturer: InterVarsity Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Composers & Musicians
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Religious
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Christian Living
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Evangelism
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Sociology: Concepts and Applications in a Diverse World (7th Edition)
ASIN: 0830832246 |
Book Description
"Jesus relocated, and calls us to follow . . . his creation became his neighborhood."Scott Roley was once an up-and-coming singer/songwriter in the contemporary Christian music scene, but then God called him to a different kind of ministry. He left his life of privilege, became a church pastor and moved into a disadvantaged neighborhood. There he began to learn hands-on what "loving your neighbor" required of him--social justice, community development and racial reconciliation. As a youth of the '60s, Roley attended the March on Washington and was captivated by Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision for societal transformation. Now, as a community leader and activist, he is embodying the ideals that are needed to forge a just society. His work demonstrates how God uses faith-based organizations to change lives. Roley's life journey, told here with James Isaac Elliott, exemplifies Christian hope in caring for the disinherited and renewing our communities--one neighborhood at a time.
Customer Reviews:
A Dangerous Read (www.wordsntone.com).......2004-11-14
God's Neighborhood is chiefly a journey. Scott Roley, once a rising contemporary Christian music artist and song writer, reaches back to his childhood, moves us through his growing up years and on into his adult years, asking us to join him on a life journey, a spiritual journey. He pauses along the way, asking the questions, "What providence placed me here? What does God want me to learn?" Like he asked while living in Washington DC, "What providence placed me in a neighborhood close enough to Washington to view the Capital dome? What should I be learning, seeing, thinking?" But, Roley doesn't stop asking the question in Washington DC-he asks these questions at every turn, every venture throughout his life. Eventually, Christian music ministry gave way to a different kind of ministry. Roley pens it best, "God's Neighborhood is about understanding and participating in Christian community. It describes a response to the biblical mandate of care for the poor." In reading God's Neighborhood, we are asked to join the author as he leaves his life of privilege, then seeks church ministry, and eventually moves into a disadvantaged neighborhood. There, we learn with him and his friends (among whom is another famous Christian artist, Michael Card) what "loving your neighbor" actually means. What it means with feet and hands, namely community development and racial reconciliation. "We must look into the eyes of poverty," Roley exhorts, "and examine the heart, soul, and psyche of it. People aren't just in need of drug rehab, roof over their heads or decent food to eat. They also require the dignity of true and relevant education, affordable health care, and living wage opportunities." And yes, this from an Evangelical Christian. Roley writes, "The journey of our hearts into racial reconciliation and community renewal from Hard Bargain to Mount Hope is a moment-to-moment decision to place faith and trust in Christ. It is why we strive for the renewal of our streets, rehabilitation for our crumbling homes and lives, the revival of real relationships among the least and the lost, and redemption for all through our Savior Jesus." Roley invites us to share the same journey, a journey that exemplifies Christian hope in caring for the disinherited and renewing our communities, one neighborhood at a time. This book, although very easy to read and fast paced, is dangerous-a book, not for Christians who are faint-hearted, or comfortable in their complacency.
A great story filled with many challenges for all of us.......2004-06-18
Congratulations to IVP! And God bless the Empty Hands Fellowship. This is the book of the summer, a non-fiction reminder of what God's Kingdom should look and feel like. This is one of those rare books that makes you smile, cry and think at the same time.
Do not, however, be fooled by the title. This is not a story of a smiling middle-aged man in a cardigan sweater, sitting around entertaining his neighbors with his Martin six-string. This is a challenging account of one man and his family living in pursuit of God's grace in true community. And we are invited to join with his many friends to enter into that same pursuit of real connection.
With loving tenderness, Scott demonstrates the way we should be living with our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those who we are reluctant to call our neighbor. A vulnerable, transparent account documenting the trials and triumphs inherent in efforts of racial and relational reconciliation.
It took me a little over three hours to read it. The stories are so compelling, well written, and interesting, I did not want to put the book down. Interspersed among the stories are thought-provoking jewels for all of us desiring God's best for His Kingdom. They are biblical perspectives that are being lived out every day in Franklin, Tennessee.
And as I write these words I know that Scott and his bride of almost 30 years, Linda, do not limit their interests to middle Tennessee, but are ministering in villages in the Andes mountains of Peru in pursuit of enlarging God's Neighborhood.
This book demands a sequel with Paige Pitts' and Denny Denson's voices added to Scott's.
Thought provoking and challenging.......2004-06-07
Very well written and thought-provoking reading. What is our responsibility to those around us? Challenges us to reach out to those who are "different" from us, whether racially, economically, or any other way.
Average customer rating:
- Contemporary take on Huckleberry Finn with a few flaws
- A Moving Modern Coming of Age Novel
- A good read
- Good book
- Innocence and Truth
|
The Color Midnight Made : A Novel
Andrew Winer
Manufacturer: Atria
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Break Any Woman Down
-
The Good Men
-
Pope Joan: A Novel
-
Graceland (Today Show Pick January 2005)
-
Water for Elephants: A Novel
ASIN: 0743439902 |
Book Description
In this rare and beautiful book that bears all the marks of a classic, gifted first-time novelist Andrew Winer has created one of the most unforgettable heroes in recent fiction, and in so doing offers us a profound portrait of America.
Conrad Clay, a curious and passionate white boy growing up in a depressed, primarily black community in the San Francisco Bay Area, is trying to hold on to the people around him: his mother, who is obsessed with her failing marriage; his father, a drinker who is prone to violence and has been fired from his job; his ailing grandmother, the one person he trusts; and his best friend, Loop, who increasingly distances himself from Conrad under pressure from their peers. As Conrad's family breaks apart, he looks beyond his home for love and attention -- a search that will force him into a head-on collision with adult life. For a while, he finds solace in the home of Mary, Loop's self-possessed single mother, who gives him the attention and care his own mother cannot. As Conrad puts his trust in Mary's blind son, Midnight, his life changes in a way he never could have imagined.
With empathy and humor, The Color Midnight Made takes us through the heartbreaking experiences of a boy coming to terms with the world he has inherited. In its masterful portrayal of race and class, it both illuminates the dark corners of our national psyche and reaffirms our capacity for kindness. At its heart, this resonant and lyrical rendering of childhood's end is a compassionate work of grace, a luminous meditation on love, loss, friendship, and family.
Customer Reviews:
Contemporary take on Huckleberry Finn with a few flaws.......2006-04-09
I'm sure Winer had various influences when writing this novel, but it strikes me as a contemporary reworking of Huckleberry Finn. Like Huck, Conrad Clay has a broken home and alcoholic father, resists the conformity of school and organized religion, and tells "whoppers" sometimes but is essentially good at heart, with the gift of feeling sympathy for others. Most importantly, he has a real connection to African-American culture; in fact, one wonders if Winer wrote this novel in light of the discovery that Twain may have modeled Huck's speech on that of black children. Conrad is able to move between cultural worlds and draws emotional sustenance from a nearby black family (in this, Winer reverses stereotypes, as it's the white family that is dysfunctional). The strengths of this novel, then, are its dialogue (the various speech-patterns of the East Bay, CA community) and a well-developed moral viewpoint. Regarding this latter strength, Jane Smiley, Wendell Berry, and others have argued that Twain's major fault was an individualistic desire to escape from community, instead of responsibly attempting to solve social problems. Generally speaking, there will be no "lighting out for the territory" for the young narrator, and without giving away the plot, I'll just say that the novel is a bildungsroman that involves Conrad's growing awareness of, and sympathy for, the problems of others in the community.
That said, the novel has some flaws that keep me from recommending it without reservation. I think Winer over-idealizes childhood and the black community at times. Sometimes the childish, innocent things Conrad does are a little cloying, too "TV Movie of the Week." Meanwhile, his surrogate family is very multicultural-for example, it includes a [...] couple-and it felt, as much as I hate to use this term, a little "politically correct." To the extent that Winer endorses a "Well, we may not make much money, but we get by for all that" viewpoint, he can be said to minimize the very real and serious effects of economic inequality upon black families. Most seriously, in my view, Winer never really figured out just how old Conrad was. We often get physical descriptions and accounts of events that sound like they're coming from a much older person. For example, in the opening pages the narrator says "Streetdust soaked up oilspots under buzzing telephone lines, which sagged low and heavy from too many people talking through them." This is a clever description, but I'm just not sure a fifth-grader, even a genius poet in the making, would use figurative language in that way. This fluctuation in Conrad's mental age sometimes causes a discordance in the plot. There's one point, for example (I'll try to phrase this ambiguously, but if you're worried about spoilers, you might want to stop reading here) where it's clearly indicated that Conrad (a) knows what adultery is and (b) takes a certain physical object in a neighbor's house as an indicator of whether or not adultery is happening in his own environment. Yet later in the book, Conrad suddenly seems blissfully ignorant, and when there's a confrontation, Conrad is trying hard to figure it all out: "I still wasn't sure exactly what was going on," he thinks. Now, this is a time when an author should *show*, not *tell*: if Conrad really is too young to know what's going on, that should be apparent in the way Winer narrates the story through Conrad's perspective. If Winer has to actually make his character think, "I still wasn't sure exactly what was going on," that betrays a certain insecurity on Winer's part as to the mental age of his character. This problem wasn't big enough to keep me from enjoying the book, but I didn't believe in Conrad quite as fully as I believe in the reality of Huck Finn.
In sum, this book is well worth ordering through Amazon because of its sharp dialogue, vivid rendering of a community, and clear moral perspective. However, I also think that Winer's next novel will be much better.
A Moving Modern Coming of Age Novel.......2005-07-25
I met the author of this novel, who spent much time in New York City, and writes with the passion of experience and the knowledge of life in the streets. The hero of this novel is a young white man living in a primarily black community in a shipyard town near San Francisco. He goes from foster home to foster home and attends Christian churches attended by blacks. While its about identity, its also about friendship (he befriends a blind man who draws a new color thats symbolic of the soul). It's also about tolerance, humanity and a boy's journey into manhood. It's a modern coming of age novel. It's well-written and soulful. Dickens, while not in an obvious way, directly influenced some of the characteristics- the waif who is taken in by a "family" and taught good values. The book is very modern and contains language that is very realistic and down-to-earth, like its tone. I look forward to a sequel if it is ever written.
A good read.......2004-07-18
This book is interesting and a good read. Characters in the book are well developed throughout the story and create a sense of reality for the reader. I would highly recommend those who read this book to read the whole book at once so they don't forget important details throughout the story and grasp the full meaning of this book.
Good book.......2003-09-11
I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of some aspects of my own childhood (parents not getting along, father getting drunk and swearing, feeling alone in the world, unhappy about family life). At first I thought it was a bit slow but then it picked up (not too far into it) and never lost my attention after that. The author keeps an even pace between hardship and humor so one does not get depressed reading the book. The part I remember the most (and still gives me a chuckle) is when Conrad is in church (forced to go my his mother who does not attend with him). Apparently the church choir is predominately white (if not all white) and a black church choir comes to visit. Conrad is bored and not very interesetd in the strained singing of the white church choir but when the black church choir comes in with their own unique way it makes Conrad sit up and pay attention and he thinks to himself "We have a situation!" If you didn't get a chuckle out of that you'll have to read the book and see how the author described it. It is poignant.
I recommend this book. It is an easy and relativly fast read. I loaned it to my 15-year-old nephew. He has to do several book reports for school and needs something that he can read that isn't too long. I felt this was a good balance between not too long but would also hold his attention and be a pleasure to read.
Innocence and Truth.......2002-11-12
Conrad Clay, the ten-year-old protagonist of "The Color Midnight Made" is the center of his own universe...one that's slowly but inexorably going to pieces. Growing up white in a predominantly black area of San Francisco isn't easy--but "Con" is adaptable and trusting. Perhaps too trusting. As he watches his family crumble, and his relationship with his best buddy "Loop" (a derivative of "Froot Loops")grow distant, Con moves through the world like a lost soul.
Andrew Winer has created a character in Conrad equal to Holden Caulfield--a rebellious, naive and innocent young man searching for truth. "The Color Midnight Made" is darkly poetic, moving, and wonderfully told. This is a story that stays in your mind long after you've finished reading it.
Average customer rating:
|
Coping With Poverty: The Social Contexts of Neighborhood, Work, and Family in the African-American Community
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
African-American Studies
| Special Groups
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0472086979 |
Book Description
Conservatives often condemn the poor, particularly African-Americans, for having children out of wedlock, joblessness, dropping out of school, or tolerating crime. Liberals counter that, with more economic opportunity, the poor differ little from the nonpoor in these areas. In answer to both, Coping with Poverty points to the survival strategies of the poor and their multiple roles as parents, neighbors, relatives, and workers. Their attempts to balance multiple obligations occur within a context of limited information, social support, and resources. Their decisions may not always be the wisest, but they "make sense" in context.
Contributors use qualitative research methods to explore the influence of community, workplace, and family upon strategies for dealing with poverty. Promising young scholars delve into poor black inner-city neighborhoods and suburbs and middle-income black urban communities, exploring experiences at all stages of life, including high-school students, young parents, employed older men, and unemployed mothers. Two chapters discuss the role of qualitative research in poverty studies, specifically examining how this research can be used to improve policymaking.
The volume's contribution is in the diversity of experiences it highlights and in how the general themes it illustrates are similar across different age/gender groups. The book also suggests an approach to policymaking that seeks to incorporate the experiences and the needs of the poor themselves, in the hope of creating more successful and more relevant poverty policy. It is especially useful for undergraduate and graduate courses in sociology, public policy, urban studies, and African-American Studies, as its scope makes it THE basic reader of qualitative studies of poverty.
Sheldon Danziger is Director of the Poverty Research and Tranining Center and Professor of Social Work and Public Policy, University of Michigan. Ann Chih Lin is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Michigan.
Books:
- What's Going on Down There?: Answers to Questions Boys Find Hard to Ask
- When I Was Your Age, Volume One: Original Stories About Growing Up (When I Was Your Age)
- Who Killed Albus Dumbledore?: What Really Happened in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Six Expert Harry Potter Detectives Examine the Evidence.
- Wine For Dummies (For Dummies (Cooking))
- WORDS THAT WORK: IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S WHAT PEOPLE HEAR
- YOU: The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
- 1,000 Places to See Before You Die Traveler's Journal (Travel Journal)
- 12 Simple Secrets of Happiness: Finding Joy in Everyday Relationships
- A Taste of the Good Life: A Cookbook for an Interstitial Cystitis Diet
- American Cinema/American Culture
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Academic Writing for Graduate Students, Second Edition: Essential Tasks and Skills
- The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
- Red Sea
- The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City
- The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography
- The Great Gatsby
- The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness
- A Short History of the U.S. Working Class: From Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century
- The Corporate Mule: Don't Give Up Your Soul for the Company Goal : A Novel
- El Seguro Social Preguntas Y Respuestas: Su Guia Para Navegar Por El Sistema Y Obtener Lo Que Usted
Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906
Rage in the Gate City: The Story of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, And Violence In A New South City (Southern Dissent)
Bloody Dawn: The Christiana Riot and Racial Violence in the Antebellum North
Reading Rodney King/Reading Urban Uprising
