3 comments about Scars of the Soul Are Why Kids Wear Bandages When They Don't Have Bruises.

1. Scars is great on several different levels. First, it's one of the first hip-hop memoirs (certain not to be the last). It reminded me of last year's Random Family but told from the perspective of Miles Marshall Lewis, a Bronx-born "bohemian B-boy" (his words) who also happens to have a Sociology degree. Any readers interested in books that chart what the young black man in America goes through will dig this, the same as Black Boy, Makes Me Wanna Holler, Finding Fish, Manchild in the Promised Land, etc. Hip-hop was bound to produce its own and here it is. Straight outta da Bronx, Miles Marshall Lewis sprung out of the same place and time as hip-hop did and he lays out the correlations well.
   
   Then, it reminds me of the plot to "Brown Sugar" as well: a XXL magazine editor (MML was once one, like Sanaa Lathan's character) gets fed up with hip-hop (aren't we all?) and writes a book about it. Scars is that book. As music journalism, Lewis digs a little deeper than the magazines he's known for writing for by taking KRS-One's popular "I am hip-hop" perspective and injecting personal tidbits of Bronx flashbacks.
   
   Finally, his few insights on spirituality (the "Soul" in the title is no accident) and independent thinking are also noteworthy, above and beyond hip-hop. Scars was a good one. I expected maybe yet another "hip-hop rules! take us seriously!" book, and was pleasantly surprised.



2. Scars of the Soul Are Why Kids Wear Bandages When They Don't Have Bruises is divided in two: Memory Lanes and Gun Hill Roads (Part I), and The Def of Hip-Hop (Part II). In Part I, author Miles Marshall Lewis takes a hip-hop Slouching Towards Bethlehem approach, explaining his own life in terms of hip-hop culture. Before breaking down his dad's addiction to cocaine and heroin in "The Suckerpunch of My Childhood Files," Lewis alludes to the fact that the fathers of Nas and Jay-Z both struggled with coke and heroin, and that a greater understanding of MCs and men of the hip-hop generation in general can be reached when we understand the fathers' influence (a brilliant observation).
   
   Like Woody Allen in Zelig, Lewis seems to be present at many key moments of the golden age of hip-hop: waving his hands in the air at the Krush Groove X-Mas Party concert; dancing in a Doug E. Fresh video; smoking herb with Erykah Badu in Fort Greene, Brooklyn; signing the Hip-Hop Declaration of Peace at the United Nations alongside hip-hop's pioneers. These details were fascinating to me, particularly because 1) my first hip-hop album was Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg, 2) I'm white, and 3) I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, nowhere near the birthplace of hip-hop. Scars is highbrow, researched, and really quite witty.



3. In movie-pitch terms, this 1st book by Miles Marshall Lewis is a cross betweeen Antwoine Fisher's Finding Fish and Charlie Ahearn's Yes Yes Y'all, with a little Best American Essays flavor. Lewis's details about his dad's bout with heroin, his birds-eye view of hip-hop bubbling outside the South Bronx neighborhoods he grew up in, and the book's "hip-hop is dead" thesis make for an engaging and often hilarious reading experience. If that little kid from The Boondocks cartoon grows up to become a music journalist, he'll be Miles Marshall Lewis. Strongly recommended for those who feel like hip-hop has gone down the toilet and wonder what happened, as well as people who dig memoirs like Richard Wright's Black Boy.

5 comments about Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight.

1. Just finished this book and I learned a whole lot I didn't know about Ali. I just saw a documentary on PBS that covered some of this territory but the book is chock filled with interesting anecdotes and inside accounts that really show Ali in a different light than the way he's usually portrayed. The book compares Ali and his social conscience to Michael Jordan and his greed. But i would have liked to have heard what Ali himself thinks of this comparison.



2. I thought this book would be interesting but, really, was just utter disappointing. There were several factual errors, especially the one about the Ali-Liston bout. Also, many statements were made with little justification, quoting third hand sources, people who had little connection to Ali. I wish that the authors would have concentrated more on how Ali himself felt, what was going on in his mind at the most crucial time in his life. Finally, this book was dull, poorly written and very scattered.



3. Just saw the Will Smith movie Ali. Save your seven bucks and read this book. It's much more interesting and doesn't bore you with Ali's private life. What's more, it covers almost exactly the same ground as the movie, stopping at the Foreman fight and concentrating on Ali's stand against the war.

   Will Smith just can't compare to the real thing and the real Ali definitely comes through in this book which I read last year.




4. I ordered this book after Rich Hoffman of the Philadelphia Daily News called it one of the two best books ever written about Muhammad Ali (along with the Tomas Hauser oral history published ten years ago).

   He was right. This is the best book I've ever written about The Greatest. It has all kinds of inside information and stuff about the political Ali. Really makes you appreciate what he did for his country by speaking out and almost going to jail.




5. Other than a couple of minor factual errors (Sonny Liston bowed out of their second fight in the 7th round, not the 8th), this is a great book, filled with the best information and inside accounts I've ever seen about Ali and I've read just about all of them.

   It even blows away a few myths that I've always believed because they are repated by one writer after another.

No comments about Without Guarantees: In Honour of Stuart Hall.

5 comments about In the Garden of Our Dreams: Memoirs of a Marriage.

1. This is the story of two people who found love and friendship and strength in their life together. It is funny and inspiring and at times gut wrenchingly sad. I couldn't put it down.



2. This is a wonderful story about two people who meet, fall in love and marry. But the story does not end there. It is not a fairy tale. The authors share their story of life, love, hardships and experience during their marriage.

   I like the way the book is written in alternate turns of the wife's voice, then the husband's voice. As the adage goes, "There are two sides to the story." I enjoyed reading each spouse's version. If you've ever wondered what goes on in a successful marriage, this book provides you with one couple's story.

   Fafa Demasio




3. I enjoyed this book immensely. I previously believed that the Taylor/Haizlip story was somewhat snobby, with two daughters who went to Yale, and the big beautiful houses they lived in, yadda yadda yadda, but in reading this book, I realized that this was not the case. They have struggled and perservered. I especially enjoyed Harold's story and "getting to know him". I sort of knew Shirlee's story since I read The Sweeter the Juice, and it was really nice to read of how they fell in love, and most importantly, how they've remained in love along with their other trials and tribulations. This book definitely has it all. I was pleased to actually have something that I actually wanted to read on the train to and from work. I also must say that the segments outlining Shirlee's driving adventures had me laughing out loud, too! I highly recommend this book, and wish it didn't end.



4. I work at a women's organization where Shirlee Taylor-Haizlip is Scholarship Chairman, and I can say from personal experience that the Haizlips are not "kidding" anybody. The joke is on one of the previous reviewers, who discerned "interracial" from 306 pages of wit, candor and history. The Haizlips are as inspirational as their novel. They are gracious, genuine and clearly devoted to one another.

   I related to many aspects of their story, but also learned from its historical context. Above all, I simply enjoyed it. I laughed, and nearly cried, out loud. Read the book and you will want to share it. And, know that somewhere in Los Angeles, a garden really does flourish.




5. The Haizlips have written a lyrical memoir of their forty year marriage, demonstrating over and over that love and commitment are the foundation of a lasting relationship. Despite the challenges that they encountered, this steadfast foundation never waivered. The previous reviewer somehow missed the most poignant message of their story. Racism is the ever present snake in the garden. As recounted in Shirlee's first book, The Sweeter the Juice, the issue of color and race in America is a powerful destroyer of families. However, Shirlee and Harold have managed not to succomb to the bitterness that bigotry and hatred can breed, but have built a life together and contributed to the greater good of sociey, reflecting their love for each other. I was awed by their story and felt priveleged to read it. My life is richer for having read this work, but even more so for having had the pleasure of calling them my friends.

No comments about Liberty at Stake: Sikhs: The Most Visible, Yet Misunderstood, Minority of America.

5 comments about Wind Chimes and Promises.

1. "Wind Chimes And Promises", a well written story about a genuine loving and compassionate family. Ms. Adair wrote her heart out by taking her readers on a journey from Homer, Georgia(Banks County) to Indianapolis, Indiana. This was an excellent book. I pray Ms. Adair continue to share her God given talent with us.



2. This book was a wholesome story of a family's life spanning fifty years beginning in Georgia and ending in Indiana. Ms. Adair-Ward has done an excellent job drawing the reader into the joy and pain of her family. The story provided plenty of history about Indianapolis and the black community beginning in the early 1900's.
   Will and Sally Knowx owned a large farm in Homer, Georgia where there was plenty of room to roam for a family of twelve. During the early 1900's the south of full of racism and klan activity were reported widely. The Knoxes were forced to leave their home,family members and friends behind when rumors surfaced that the klan were targetting Papa. After an altercation in town Papa quietly moved his family to Indianapolis, Indiana. Little did they know that the klan were moving their headquarters to Indiana about the same time.
   Life for the family was different but their love sustained them.
   Indianapolis was an exciting place to behold with all the bright street lights and the trolley. But there was not as space as in the south. There was talk about Riverside Amusement Park and its limited access to blacks. Segregation was alive and well in this city.
   Papa Will was easy on the kids but Mama Sal was quite the disciplinary, despite her petite stature. She did not tolerate anyone messing with any of children. She had to pay a visit to the children's school early on to rectify a problem that had arisen with her boys.
   They also had plenty of mischief shared by all the children. Prudence in particular was quite headstrong.
   One incident in particular was when Prudence and her sister Blance had snuck off to the Douglas Theater to see an old friend perform. They had lied and said that they were going to a game at the school. Of course Mama Sal knew about the escapade. Nothing got past Mama Sal, she seemed to know everything.
   Pick up a copy of this book to find out what became of the Knox family. It will truly be worth the money.



3. What a wonderful book. I have read, "Wind Chimes and Promises" twice. If any reader of this delightful book has an imagination; they must be able to here Sal's wind chimes. I laughed at the antics of the Knoxes boys. I cried upon the deaths of Papa and Sal. I understood what Pru. went through with her husband. This book delivered a message about a Black family. A Black family moving and adjusting to the life from a small southern city to Indianapolis. Mrs. Adair opened her heart, put pen to paper and shared the courage, endurance, perserverance and most of all love of a large family. Well done Mrs. Phyllis J. Adair.



4. What a delightful book! I have read this book at least two times, and it keeps getting better. How wonderfully unique Mrs. Adair writes. I not only read, "Wind Chimes and Promises" I went further, and placed myself in the mist of a large, close knit family. What a joy to read of the strengths portraid, and the Prayers of Sal and Pru. It is very obvious this author did excellent research. I cried when "Papa and Sal." died. I loved reading about the events from the dinners at the "Knoxes." Mrs. Adair has placed so much love and patience in this book, and the readers are all the better for it. A Black family movin and adjusting from life in the South to life in Indiana. This book exhibited endurance, perserverance and a lot of love. Well done Phyllis J. Adair.



5. I was deeply touched by Ms. Adair's ability to share the history of her family in a way that recaptured days of my own youth and the joys I experienced with my family. Her story can be my story and the story of so many people. I cried at the sadness of the family leaving home for an unfamiliar place and the circumstance that lead to the move. I laughed at the sibling rivalry and I found myself smiling because it bought back so many childhood memories. I was reminded of how much fun it is to have a large family, even in the hard times. Wind Chimes and Promises was a joy from cover to cover. It brimes with family love and devotion; excitement as well as momemts of tenderness. It was the kind of reading that you couldn't stop until you were finished, and it left you wishing for more. I recommend it as a must read. I hope this will not be the last we hear from Ms. Adair, she is a gifted writer.

No comments about Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers.

No comments about Navigators: African American Musicians, Dancers, and Visual Artists in Academe (Suny Series, the Social Context of Education).

No comments about Bearing Witness: Memories of Arkansas Slavery: Narratives from the 1930s Wpa Collections.

4 comments about A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau.

1. Carolyn Long's latest work, like her earlier Spiritual Merchants, is an fascinating piece of historical detective work. Sifting through the legends that surround Marie Laveau--and briefly Voodoo in general--she has produced a readable, highly-accurate biography. Those who are hoping to find titillating accounts of midnight Voodoo orgies within its pages will be disappointed. Instead, what readers will discover are the facts behind a woman who has been alternately vilified and lionized by the American public. Voudou Priestess demystifies Laveau and gives future scholars as well as general readers a firm foundation upon which to base their understandings of Voudou and its ministers.



2. I appreciate the fact that there is a lot of legend and reality to sort through when trying to write an academic book about Marie Laveau. Unfortunately, once Long was done sorting through the legend and the reality, there doesn't appear to have been a lot to work with in terms of unraveling the legend/myth of Marie Laveau. The book is largely speculation on who Marie Laveau may have been, what she may have done, and questions if she really did it or not.
   
   During the course of the book, while attempting to construct a coherent picture of the reality of Marie Laveau, Long interjects elements of prior works on Marie Laveau that make certain claims, such as Zora Neale Hurston's work on "hoodoo" and Jewell Rhodes' "Voodoo Dreams" in order to debunk the mythology that they promote. This is admirable and necessary in the work of a true historian, but unfortunately they're awkwardly placed and without prior knowledge of the content of either of these books, it is difficult for the reader to appreciate Long's argument.
   
   Further to the literary criticism, the book spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on the social dynamic of 19th century New Orleans which is very interesting and necessary to a discussion of Marie Laveau and the voodoo culture, but not necessarily to the extent that it was utilized in this work.
   
   The book was interesting for the nuggets of information on Marie Laveau that do emerge from Long's work, but it doesn't represent any substantial scholarship. Sometimes there just isn't enough information to write a coherent, cohesive work on a subject. In that case, it's best to reduce it to an article or a monograph as opposed to padding the work to such an extent that the actual claimed subject of the work takes up a minimal part of the whole body of work.



3. Carolyn Morrow Long's portrait of the elusive but everpresent Marie Laveau is an awesome feat of detective work, a painstaking investigation of all the available church, court, government, and anecdotal records. In conveying her very thorough research in a clear, orderly, and graceful style, Long has produced as comprehensive a picture of this fabled woman as we are likely to get. Her account is definitive, and is likely to remain so for years to come.
   
   --Stanford Pritchard, Middlebury, VT



4. The research and details in this book are incredible. Dates, names, addresses - this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the life of Marie Laveau, or just New Orleans history. I'm taking the book on my next trip to the Crescent city to visit some of the places Long mentions in her book. Very well documented and extremely readable.