1 comments about On the Jericho Road: A Memoir of Racial Justice, Social Action and Prophetic Ministry.

1. This book was such an encouragement to me to practice justice with pit bull determination the way he did. It is excellent & life changing. Highly Recommend!

5 comments about Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross.

1. I enjoyed Luther Vandross' biography by Craig Seymour immensly. I think that because Luther was so private, Craig drew out the essence of the man as much as possible. I learned so much about Mr. Vandross from the biography that I felt like we could have been personal friends. The author makes the man come off of the pages and into your life. You can feel Luther's pain, his joy, his mysterious loves, as well as the heart beat of his music from the book. I have read the book at least five times within the past year.
   
   The other reason the book is so good is because this is the only complete biography of Luther Vandross that I know of. Thank you Craig Seymour in being persistant in persuing Luther to write the book. Thank you for bringing us "Luther."
   
   Mr. Seymour is their a sequel?



2. A book about Luther has been long overdue, but to be honest a lot of people would be reading it purely to find out who he did and did not sleep with. That is one reason why I like this book, it makes it clear that Luther was super private, and although we may all have ideas about his love life we can never conclusively say.
   
   The book tells a lot about his work as a backing vocalist as well as his triumphs and failures. I would have liked a little about his friendships for example with Oprah, Patti LaBelle etc. I would have liked to know more about Luther away from music and how he lived, but I guess that is why private life is called just that.
   
   Overall this book does give you a picture of Luther, but I just don't think it is as glossy and HQ as Luther truly deserves. Credit where credit is due however, the author does do a good job with the story, it was never going to be an easy book to right. I think fans would appreciate it a lot, but if you are expecting juicy tabloid fodder then find some other book to read.



3. I as with many other fans lost more than a singer when Luther passed away last year. Luther's songs touched the very core of me during the days I was trapped in a loveless marriage; he seemed to know very intimately what I was experiencing and seemed to express those very words so meticulously in his verses. It wasn't until I read this book that I could even begin to know why. His own tragic and lonely search for love ironically proved to be a blessing to the world in providing the many cherished loved songs that will play on forever.
   If you are a true Luther fan this is a MUST read. You will begin to understand and find the parallels of his works with his personal life and his haunting weight struggles. A true professional, Luther never delivered less than perfection in his music and it was through his pain that his fans were able to look beyond love. I am looking forward to a followup to this book. : )



4. I ordered this book because I loved Luther Vandross deeply and I miss him and I'm still in shock over his passing. I received this book and read it cover to cover in two days. I was somewhat disappointed in this book in that it depicted Luther as being a moody spoiled brat--so to speak who wanted things his way or no way, and if you didn't do thngs his way he would lash out. While I didn't know Luther personally I don't believe that he was that way. This book quoted a lot of things that BET's "Journeys in Black" broadcasted. I was very disappointed by this book and I found it a total waste of time to read. If you want to know about Luther refer to Bet's "Journeys in Black" on DVD.



5. I must say that I found this peek inside the life of Luther Vandross very informative. I appreciated the fact that I was allowed to read his perspective on the things that drove and influenced him emotionally and musically as well as why they did so.
   All too often in publications we only get the writer's perspective and it is often biased. There are even some occassions in this book when the author offers his views on certain subjects, he tends to highlight the facts or situations that seem to support those views even when other options are available.
   Overall I think the book did what it was supposed to. As with most Luther-authorized media, it told us what we needed to know, and were "entitled?" to as fans of his music. He suffered losses and celebrated successes, worked hard, believed in himself, paid his dues and shared it all with us through that music.
   Enough said.

5 comments about Broken Alliance: The Turbulent Times Between Blacks and Jews in America.

1. Kaufman's basic assumption is that the alliance between African-Americans and Jews was never as smooth as history makes it out to be. By exhaustively researching that alliance and presenting it through the points of view of six prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement, Kaufman provides a unique overview of the racial issues of the previous century, but it is not without flaws. First, like many liberals, Kaufman is too broad-minded to take his own side in an argument. Thus, he goes into great detail in explaining away Black antisemitism, but never seems to realize that there is no Jewish equivalent. Black outrage over the lack of Jewish support for affirmative action is constantly brought up throughout the book, but the use of quotas to restrict Jewish admissions to Ivy League schools is mentioned only twice, creating the impression that Jews were opposed to affirmative action out of a desire to avoid competition, rather than out of fear of being shut out (again) of the professions. He routinely glosses over the records of many of the militant Black leaders who took over after Dr. King's assassination, making them seem simply outspoken or radical, rather than thuggish or criminal, as in the case of the Black Panthers, for example. Anti-semitic acts are routinely explained away as having been taken out of context (his history of the Oceanhill-Brownsville controversy provides a context for the reading of a virulently anti-semitic poem on WBAI that all-but excuses it). His coverage of the Crown Heights riots (in the updated version of the book) avoids mentioning critical facts about the murder of Yankel Rosenbaum and subsequent acquittal of Lemrick Nelson which cast the Black community in a poor light (the jury actually partied with Nelson after the acquittal). The final chapter of the book is a discussion of the importance of the alliance, but it is written on the presumption that political conservatives dislike both Blacks and Jews and are relishing the fight, which is stated explicitly, and which diminishes the value of the book as a historical record. In the end, it's simply an attempt to get Jews to keep giving money to Democrats and Blacks to continue to vote for them so that they can defeat those evil conservatives. Given the rise of anti-semitism since 9/11, the history in this book is even more critical to understanding the schisms in American culture, but Kaufman's bias reduces its value, taking what could have been the definitive history of a critical alliance in the Civil Right movement and reducing it to a partisan appeal.



2. This book takes a good look at some social problems in America. It was written in 1988, but I have the updated edition from 1995.
   
   Blacks and Jews are minorities that cooperated during the civil rights struggles of the early 1960s. And there is still some cooperation on that issue, as various states continue to discriminate against minority voters.
   
   We see some of the cooperation and also some of the problems as this book as the experiences of six different people are examined in detail.
   
   Paul Parks, a Black who joined the civil rights movement in the 1960s, in chosen as an example of one who valued a Black-Jewish alliance. In April 1945, he was one of the soldiers who liberated the concentration camp at Dachau. But in 1967, he noted that there were complaints by some Blacks about Jewish landlords in the ghettos. Parks wanted to distinguish between the slumlords and those Whites who were actively helping the Blacks, given that without White support, Black causes would be hurt. But we see how many of the more politically involved Blacks thought of the Jews not as another minority but as part of the White majority.
   
   Next, we see Jack Greenberg and Esther Brown, who filed a landmark suit against segregated schools (Brown versus the Board of Education). These were Jews who saw the issue "not as a Negro cause but as a human cause." Still, there were problems when some Blacks decided to boycott a class that Greenberg taught at Harvard on "Race and the Law" to protest the fact that the instructor was not Black.
   
   After that, there is the story of Rhody McCoy, a Black who became the head of the Ocean Hills-Brownsville school district in New York City. Right away, there was a problem with a teacher strike. McCoy kept the schools open by hiring sustitute teachers, but this soured relations with the strikers. The issue became bigger, bitter, and painful, and certainly reduced cooperation among Blacks and Jews in the city.
   
   The story Kaufman tells next is of Roz Ebstein and her family. Hers was just one of many Jewish families in Chicago that supported the civil rights movement in the 1960s. But we discover the effects of blockbusting, as her neighborhood, rather than becoming integrated, simply became almost exclusively Black. Eventually, she and her family felt forced to move to a new neighborhood, a few miles away, in order to be in a better school district and to avoid harrassment from Blacks.
   
   There is an excellent section about Martin Peretz, who became the editor of The New Republic in 1974. Right away, we see one effect of Black-Jewish cooperation, namely that some Jews who learned more about Black culture and history decided they might as well learn about Jewish culture and history as well. Peretz, a liberal, couldn't stand Begin, a conservative Israeli Prime Minister. But Peretz made a point of supporting Israel's right to exist in the New Republic. Peretz, a stong supporter of civil rights, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the civil rights movement. But a turning point came in 1967, with the National Convention on New Politics. This group became dominated by radicals who tended to ignore problems of poverty, oppression, the war in Vietnam, racism, and discrimination and instead attacked Zionism. Peretz was more cautious about which groups he supported after that.
   
   The final chapter is about Donna Brazile, a well-known political campaign chairwoman. We see her introduction to issues that were separating Blacks and Jews: Jewish landlords, failure of some Jews to support affirmative action, and failure of some Blacks to support Israel. Plus, some specific problems, such as the firing of Andrew Young as UN ambassador and Black Presidential candidate Jesse Jackson meeting with terrorist leader Yasser Arafat. Through all this, Brazile kept her focus on trying to get as diverse and inclusive group of supporters as possible in her campaigns.
   
   I was struck by the mention of Alice Walker, who wrote "The Color Purple." Walker is well-known as a sensitive and thoughtful person. The book tells that when asked about Farrakhan, she condemned him as a bigot and an antisemite. But the book also tells of Walker's attitude about Israel, and this shocked me. I'm not asking that she favor some minority, whether it be Blacks, Jews, Pagans, or anyone else. But I am asking someone with her credentials to support human rights against aggressive and lying tyrants, thugs, and bullies. I feel that Walker should have found some way to oppose antizionism very strongly, and I certainly condemn her for not doing so.
   
   I think the issue of cooperation among minorities is important. There is a tendency for minorities, often in an effort to win favor with the majority, to show hostility to other minorities. That is not the true path.
   
   I recommend this book.



3. I highly recommend this book - particularly the section on "the last Jewish liberals" who tried to make integration, civil rights work for their family in a changing South Side Chicago neighborhood.

   It didn't work, they eventually fled the lowrer class, Black takeover and moved to the suburbs, only they stayed longer than the other Whites.

   The book works well because the author writes very personal stories that present the truth about what happened.




4. Both Jews and blacks have suffered greatly in various parts of the world. In the United States, there has been somewhat of alliance between the two groups. Brokedn Alliances deals with this alliance, like the NAACP having many Jewish lawyers and how Jews and Blacks came toghether for the civil rights movement. It also deals with how these groups have been losing contact due many factors like black anti-semitism and the importance of Israel to American Jews.

   Broken alliances is definetely something people should read if they want a better understanding of the history of race relations.




5. The Jews and African Americans share a history of suffering and bigotry unequaled in recent times. History suggests that they should be the closest of partners in dealing with these issues. However to read the news you would think that they were historical enemies. This has not always been true. The Alliance between Jews and African Americans was a powerful force for change over most of this century. Jonathan tells the story of that Alliance and how it fell apart.

   As a journalist Jonathan tells this unique story from the perspective of important individuals on both sides. He traces them and their changing perspectives through these significant historical changes. It is this personal perspective that makes Jonathan's stories so compelling.

5 comments about A Lawyer's Life.

1. Cochran, the cool crusader
   Brian Gilmore
   
   A LAWYER'S LIFE
   
   By Johnnie Cochran with David Fisher
   
   St. Martin's. $25.95.
   
   It was on that fateful day approximately eight years ago, when Los Angeles attorney Johnnie Cochran agreed to represent O.J. Simpson in his trial for the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, that the modern era of the African-American attorney began. The public's perception of black attorneys in the United States was forever changed by Cochran's demonstration, to millions worldwide, that a black lawyer could be cool and competent in the courtroom. Of course, black attorneys, male and female, have always been capable, but Cochran, with the generous assistance of Court TV and countless other media outlets, made the case to the American public.
   
   Cochran has loomed even larger since then, so it is no accident that we are now offered his second memoir since the end of the Simpson trial. Much more opinionated than Journey to Justice, the new book, A Lawyer's Life, is akin to memoirs by so-called legends of the law, such as Conrad Lynn's There Is a Fountain and William Kunstler's My Life as a Radical Lawyer, even though Cochran is a bit different from those famous crusaders for justice. He believes in justice, too, and pursues it. But he also likes to dress immaculately and says so. He isn't afraid to say that he enjoys being paid for his talents, either. And he isn't afraid of the bright lights of the media.
   
   This book could have been called Johnnie Cochran: My Struggle Against Police Misconduct. That's because Cochran exposes in meticulous detail some of the most striking examples of police misconduct and racist behavior in California, New York and New Jersey. In A Lawyer's Life, you will meet William Anthony Leonard, 19 years old, shot to death by the police while opening a window. Leonard, according to Cochran, was baby-sitting at the time to earn extra money. The police officer who saw him opening the window saw him only as a black man and "assumed he was a burglar."
   
   There is also Phillip Johns, shot to death by the police in his bed because they had received a wrong address from an informant. And Ron Settles, a standout college football player, who was found hanging from the bars in his cell after he was arrested during a bogus traffic stop in an affluent section of Los Angeles. Settles, Cochran suggests, was one of the many victims of the infamous L.A. police choke hold that killed so many men of color over the years. And there is Leonard Deadwyler, shot to death by a Los Angeles policeman after being stopped for speeding through residential neighborhoods. Deadwyler was trying to get his pregnant wife, who was in labor, to the hospital on time. Cochran, who lost the $3-million wrongful death civil suit he brought on behalf of Deadwyler's wife, states passionately that "no case affected me more than the shooting of Leonard Deadwyler."
   
   Cochran's crusade against police misconduct and racist behavior culminated in the Simpson trial, where the naked bigotry of the LAPD was exposed in the person of Mark Furhman. Referring to the now- famous screenplay tapes as the reason he became involved in the trial, Cochran is unapologetic about his tactics. Furhman, according to Cochran, was "talking about his life as a cop. Framing people, setting up people, killing people." Cochran cannot understand why the tapes were never released to the public, considering that Furhman has become a successful author. "If people were permitted to hear these tapes," Cochran adds, "I feel confident that Furhman's career would end quite abruptly and he would be forced to crawl back into his hole, never to be heard from again."
   
   A Lawyer's Life also includes Cochran's journey to New York to work for Court TV, and the police brutality case stemming from the vicious assault on Abner Louima. Cochran made history when he broke down the "blue wall of silence" by suing the city's powerful police union. He also includes the Amadou Diallo killing, even though here he met with one of his biggest professional disappointments. Diallo's mother initially hired Cochran to handle the case for her but fired him later because he was not always immediately available.
   
   Not far away in New Jersey, Cochran represented four young black men who were racially profiled on the New Jersey Turnpike. The young men, now known as the "New Jersey Four," were pulled over and eventually sprayed with gunfire by the police during the traffic stop. The case became synonymous with racial profiling nationwide, and cost New Jersey nearly $13 million in damages.
   
   Finally, after detailing his representation of hip-hop magnate Sean "Puffy" Combs, Cochran takes time, among other things, to discuss the possible lawsuit he is contemplating with other attorneys to seek reparations for slavery. He admits he doesn't really have any answers yet. "Who are the plaintiffs?" he asks. "Who are the defendants? What remedy do we propose? Is there a statute of limitations?" These are, of course, daunting questions.
   
   Yet if you read A Lawyer's Life, you come away knowing that soon Johnnie Cochran, great-grandson of a slave, will provide answers to them all. Then, as expected, the cameras will start rolling.
   
   Brian Gilmore, a public interest attorney and the author of Jungle Nights and Soda Fountain Rags: Poem for Duke Ellington, wrote this review for the Washington Post.
   
   Copyright The Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.



2. This book is a must read for African American lawyers or if you are considering a degree in either law enforcement or any other legal profession. Cochran is candid and tells the facts. It is a real eye opener about the US legal system.



3. I think it's always good when a storyteller can take us inside the courts and tell us what happens there. And according to this book's author, every lawyer is a storyteller. I believe him.
   
   A LAWYER'S LIFE was written by Johnnie Cochran. I've never seen the man. Not in person, not on TV, nowhere. Are you shocked? I was very careful to avoid all press coverage of the OJ trial, simply because anything that heavily covered should be avoided.
   
   The book's a compelling read, and OJ only gets a few pages. A good proofreader wouldn't hurt, and someone really needed to clean up the repetition. But I'm only nitpicking here.
   
   No hate mail, please. Reading a book like this is about hearing the author's side, understanding it, thinking about the issues, and reaching your own verdict, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I'd bet you can find this one in your local library by now. Pick it up, start reading, and see what happens.



4. I thought the readings from chapters 1 through 9 were great. I mean Johnnie Cochran took the reader through cases familiar, and unfamiliar. In detail how some police are just terrible, how the system has bias in who will be the victim. But, the last chapter 10. Oh MY! If you dont read the book, just read chapter 10 it'll make you rethink alot of things. Its powerful-Johnnie goes on stating how the system has failed so many, how corporations get away with discrimination. His life and what its like to be a lawyer. Its just great. Read the book, and if you dont do that. Just read the last chapter, number 10 its worth it.



5. Great reading; in depth information from a perspective other than the media of true life events as told by an intelligent, compassionate individual that was truly interested in the well-being of all mankind.

No comments about I Hope I Look That Good When I'm That Old: An Older African-American Woman<br> Speaks To All Women<br> in All of America.

3 comments about Along This Way: The Autobiography of James Weldon Johnson (Penguin Classics).

1. One of the superb American autobiographies, and one of the great autobiographies of any period. After reading an example of this calibre it does not surprise me that I am rarely able to read biographies... second hand views, with some exceptions (Philip Horton's biography of Hart Crane, Frank Harris' of Oscar Wilde) are simply not sufficient....those exceptions being almost invariably written by men or women contemporaries who lived and loved in the same circle as their subject.
   James Weldon Johnson was a great American, not just a great African American, and a master stylist. This book is a pleasure to read both for its countless wonderful episodes and for the inspiring way of its prosody. He is one of those writers who makes you feel that his wonderful style is an organic product of a graceful upbringing, it is classic and yet unmannered...or rather the manner, being the grace, is the man, all inseparable. There is an additional poignancy in the narrative, especially in the childhood portion, deriving from our knowledge that the nobility of his home education is a thing entirely vanished from the American scene. He went to school, but was also in every sense home schooled. See the autobiography of Kenneth Rexroth for a similar example..."The years as they pass keep revealing how the impressions made upon me as a child by my parents are constantly strengthening controls over my forms of habit, behavior, and conduct as a man." (Along the Way, p. 19, Penguin ed.)
   This is certainly one of the best examples of Childhood Autobiography in the World Literature of any age. It should at the very least be required reading in AP English for Black History Month. The very highest endorsement.



2. James Weldon Johnson (1871 -1938) was the closest American approximation possible to a Renaissance man. He is best-known for writing the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing", considered the "African-American National Anthem." He was a poet, the author of "God's Trombones" among much else (including the poem "Fifty Years" still one of the best meditations on Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation) and of the famous novel "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" (1912). But Johnson was much more. He served several tumultuous years in diplomatic service as American counsul to Venezuela and Nicaragua. With his brother, Rosamund, and Bob Cole, he formed part of a famed and highly-successful black songwriting and Vaudeville team in the early years of the Twentieth Century. Johnson founded the first African-American high school in his home town of Jacksonville, Florida and, almost in passing, he became the first African-American admitted to the Florida bar without attending Law School (by reading law and passing a treacherous oral examination.) Johnson was a newspaper editor and a founder of the NAACP where he took an active role in litigating against laws restricting the voting rights of African-Americans, and, in particular, worked tirelessly in support of Federal anti-lynching legislation. In the final decade of his life, Johnson taught creative writing and American literature at several universities and lived, for a time, the life of contemplation and reflection that he said had been his lifelong goal.
   
   Johnson lived an inspiring life. And in his autobiography, "Along this Way" (1933) he allows the reader to share in much of it. The autobiography is a lengthy and detailed work in which Johnson not only tells the story of his life, but he also describes a good deal of African-American history in the South, where he grew up, and in the rest of the United States during the pivotal half-century following reconstruction. We can see in Johnson's story, for example, how segregation and Jim Crow gradually but forcefully came to pervade the Southern States in the late 19th and early 20th century. Johnson also gives vibrant descriptions of life in New York City, of the growth of Harlem, and of African-American singers, actors and entertainers on Broadway -- in which he himself played a prominent role. There are chilling descriptions of lynching and of Johnson's efforts to bring this barbaric practice to an end. One of the more memorable scenes of Johnson's personal life in the book is a description of how he himself was almost lynched when he was observed talking alone to a light-skinned woman in a public park in Jacksonville. (His would-be attackers thought the woman was white.)
   
   The book is divided into four main sections, with the first describing Johnson's childhood and education at Atlanta University. Part two presents a picture of New York City and Johnson's efforts as a songwriter. Part three focuses on Johnsons counsular work in Latin America while Part four discusses Johnson's work with the NAACP. But these are only the broadest, bare-bones descriptions of an extraordinary life. Johnson combines his discussion of his public life with insightful comments on most of his writings, including his poetry, novel, his history "Black Manhattan" and his work as an anthologizer of African-American poetry and of Spirituals.
   
   There are moments in the book when I wanted to know more of Johnson's inner life. He tells us, for example, of his courtship of and marriage to Grace Nail but, with the exception of some discussion of her reactions to Johnson's diplomatic posts, we see little of her in the book. Johnson is reticent, in common with most writers of autobiography, in letting us see too deeply beyond the public figure. But at the end of the book, he offers the reader some broad reflections, centering upon his agnosticism and of his hopes and ambitions for humanity.
   
   Johnson's life focused upon his efforts to secure the rights of black people in the United States, but his life, work, and writings were universal in theme. In "Along this Way" he gives us the story of a life both active and reflective. His book is a precious work of American literature.



3. I purchased this book several years back, as part of the research for my second book. I cannot recommend any book more highly. Anyone interested at all in African American life from the 1880s to the 1930s (particularly as it was lived in New York City from about 1899 to the Harlem Renaissance) should buy it. There is not a more fascinating autobiography in print anywhere! And the life of this man! He was the founder of the first high school for African Americans in the state of Florida, located in Jacksonville (the high school my own mother would attend); the first African American to pass the bar exam in the state of Florida; part of the first successful African American Broadway composing team (after he left Jacksonville and moved to New York City); composer of the lyrics to, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the song long considered the African American national anthem (his brother Rosamond composed the music); a consulate in Nicaragua and Venezuela; the first executive secretary of the NAACP, in which capacity he pioneered anti-lynching legislation (though he was unsuccessful in seeing it pass, the effort is described in the book, and is a fascinating lesson in the machinations of Congressional politics in the 1920s); author of groundbreaking fiction such as, "The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man"; author of the nonfiction classic, "Black Manhattan." The list goes on... His accomplishments, his dignity and intelligence were stunning, simply awe inspiring. And it is a real shame, an indication of how troubled our culture is, that Hollywood has never made a movie about his life, and he is barely mentioned as a key figure who shaped American culture (notice I didn't say African American culture, I said AMERICAN CULTURE). To everyone reading this review, BUY THIS BOOK. You are in for an experience so delicious it will shame you if you never before knew it existed. It will make you want to call for the resignation of all college professors who do not have "Along This Way" as REQUIRED READING for any course designed to examine the history of American culture.

No comments about The Myth of Black Progress.

3 comments about Reading and Writing: A Personal Account.

1. I was introduced to V.S. Naipaul a number of years ago principally through his non-fiction. He is an elegant writer with unique perspective and insights. Although his unusual background is well-known to his audience, the first half of this spare book (64 pages) focuses on how his desire to become a writer ultimately developed substance. There are some wonderful passages about his father's habit of reading portions of books to his son that emphasized the particular qualities or character of the author. I found myself wanting to learn more about this relationship because it seems that it explains a good deal about Naipual's interests and his style.

   The second portion of the book is a bit more disjointed. It opens with Naipaul speaking about the two Indias: the political India (of Ghandi and the freedom movement) and the personal India (of his grandparents)and how it has been represented in literature and how that representation misses the essence of the country. The final portion is an interesting analysis of the evolution of the novel and how Naipaul views it as a derivative form that is nearing the end of what it can do.

   The first half of the boook was the most valuable to me as it added to my understanding of the writer and his craft and particularly about Naipaul as an artist. If you enjoy his work this should be of interest to you.




2. I listened to Naipaul's nobel lecture, and found many of the things he touched on in that speech echoed in this short work. Naipaul speaks at length about growing up in Trinidad, and of the people he encounters. He speaks about his education. He also speaks about his father's short stories. Reading this book gives one a good sense of what led Naipaul to his first novels, as well as what led him to his later ones. The somewhat puzzling ending wraps up the writer's pessimism re: the future of the novel, which I found disingenuous. It's both unconvincing and the ultimate ingratitude to the form that won him the Nobel Prize.



3. `Reading and Writing ` by V. S. Naipaul ( Pub. New York Review Of Books ,2000) A review by V. Ramsamooj Gosine.

   In spite of its brevity, Reading and Writing ` by V.S.Naipaul is compulsive reading for anyone who is interested in the development of this writer and by extension other writers.

   This short work of non-fiction ( 64 pages), examines critically the strands of history which have shaped and reshaped Naipaul's thoughts and ideas . For example, Naipaul pays glowing tribute to his father whom he saw writing patiently and enthusiastically. Little Vidia listened to his father read stories and this greatly influenced him . So much was Vidia influenced that at age 11 he had already decided that he wanted to become a writer. It was a noble thing and he wanted to be part of it.The book also sifts through memories of his childhood, his days at Oxford, and his earliest attempts at writing. We are all influenced by the landscape we grew up in. It is an inescapable fact and Naipaul is now sharing that experience with his readers, at the same time, he is looking at the material from a distance.

   This reviewer would have preferred a longer work in which Naipaul develops his major concerns on which his imagination fed: the Ramlila of The Ramayan, his anthology of Literature, his father's love for books which he got Naipaul interested in , Mr Worm, his primary school teacher, and the cinema. The basic themes are there and only readers who are acquainted with the material could readily understand the discussion. Those who have lived outside the colonial system would have certain problems.

   Not surprisingly, Naipaul thinks that education ( in his days ) produced only crammers , not real thinking men. This is the sort of opinion Naipaul forms when he analyses what he himself has been through.

   Even after Naipaul had written his earlier books and was set on the road to becoming an established writer, he was still searching, examining and analysing everything around him , including definitions. One gets the strong feeling that Naipaul is not the sort of writer who readily accepts things easily. Evelyn Waugh defined fiction as ` experienced totally transformed ` while Joseph Conrad ( a writer Naipaul admires ) saw the novel as a `fabrication of events which properly speaking are accidents only.'

   Naipaul questions and draws his own conclusions. In this way, he does nothing impulsively and accepts nothing without reservation , but shapes and reshapes. In parts of `Reading and Writing' Naipaul shares his own attitude to new raw material. And this is definitely worth looking at.

   In this autobiographical piece, subtitled "A Personal Account,' and written for the Charles Douglas Home Memorial Trust, the reader may have stumbled upon bits and pieces of information before but Naipaul painstakingly organizes his information l in such a way that each idea contributes and guides the reader along.

   `Reading and Writing' could be read in one sitting but truly , the work should be read slowly and meticulously. There is just so much to absorb and to consider if one is really to comprehend the mind of a great, gifted writer. Naipaul often presents different viewpoints , which invite the reader to weigh and consider just as he did when the material first presented itself to him. In this way, Naipaul admits the reader into the curious laboratory from which he emerged.

   In Part II, Naipaul continues a discussion - the importance of the novel - which he has raised elsewhere. He focuses on the novel and its uses in the later 19th century and now wonders whether the novel has served its usefulness. Interestingly enough, he quotes long passages from Charles Dickens and R.K.Narayan and makes pronouncements on their fiction and in all this, Naipaul the enquirer is still engaging his mind in discussion. What `Reading and Writing' reveals more than anything else is that Naipaul, the artist, is always challenging his mind to get at the best. Serious writers , especially the young, should read closely his conclusions. Naipaul is not unfair. His roving critical eye would not permit him to write second rate pieces. It is the sort of standard he places on himself.

   Naipaul thinks that,' Literature ,like all living art is always on the move....No literary form , the Shakespeare play, the essay, the work of history - can continue for a very long time at the same pitch of inspiration .' Harsh but realistic ! Is Naipaul then on a quest for another form to carry out his work ? And is he attempting to create a new form to mirror the world ? He partly answers the question in the new form he uses in his later travel books, (eg. India: A Million Mutinies Now ), but from all appearances ,he is still evolving something.

   `Reading and Writing ` opens up a new world for us to examine. It is not the world he created but it is colonial Trinidad , India and Motherland , England. This is certainly not a text to be rushed through, short as it may be, but it certainly gives an insight into Naipaul, the writer.

5 comments about Defending the Spirit: A Black Life in America.

1. Dr. Randall Robinson is a valued member in the African American community, he selflessly placed his life on the line many times for the empowerment of his people, not just for African Americans but for Africans (Black people) throughout the Diaspora, this book outlines a few of those occasions. South Africa owes a debt to him an a few other African American congressmen for taking a stand and making a profound difference.
   
   Without a doubt, had it not been for the efforts of Randall Robinson et al, I would not be surprised if South Africa would still be suffering from the ills of Apartheid today.
   
   I'm extremely proud that I had the opportunity to buy the book, I'm extremely proud that I had the opportunity to read the book, and I'm extremely proud that his inspirational message of Black empowerment is still with me today (I quoted it just this week).



2. there really must be a niche for everything considering this chucklehead has written a couple of books now that evidently some maniacs have bought and even liked! america is so great. randall you're useless as a thinker and as a writer. not because you're black, but because you're a moron.



3. it's because of books like this. randall robinson and david duke are on opposite poles of the same page. stop hatin', and start lovin'!!!! god is the way.



4. A must read for us Black folks and who gives a s--t what these racist white folks have to say. Why are all white folks racist or at the least have that one family member who is a "go to the grave" bigot ? Is it a mental illness that they(whitey) are all born with as Dr.Alvin Pouissant has suggested ?



5. Max Robinson was a joke as a newscaster and a disgrace as a person. His brother has kept his legacy intact.

4 comments about Only the Strong Survive: Memoirs of a Soul Survivor (Black Music and Expressive Culture).

1. Excellent autobiography from one of the giants of Chicago soul and a giant in the world of pop music in general.
   
   Lots of anecdotes about life on the road and the Chicago music scene from the 50s through the 90s.
   
   Butler is a major talent as well as an intelligent, literate man. A must read for fans of popular music in the last half of the 20th century.
   
   
   
   
   
   



2. A friend of mine gave me "Only the Strong Survive" as a Christmas gift, and now I treasure it as one of the best gifts I've ever received.

   This is more than a book about music--although eighty percent of it is. It is a history book, political book, inspirational book -- you name it! One would never think that a rhythm and blues singer had that much depth. For example, Mr. Butler uses the tragic case of his former bongo player to show the horrors of the war in Vietnam. Then, turning to politics, he reminds us of the debt we owe the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, and what all of us can do to make this world a better place. It is at once inspirational and entertaining, thought-provoking and profound -- a must-read for all serious readers!




3. A MUST READ ESPECIALLY FOR DUSTY RECORD FANS. MR. BUTLER IS CLASSY AND ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMERS BACK FROM THE 60'S, A TRUE PROFESSIONAL. I STARTED READING THE BOOK AND COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. TRUST ME THIS BOOK WILL NOT BORE YOU, WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT IS JERRY AND EARL ADD A TOUCH OF HUMOR TO JUST ABOUT EVERY CHAPTER. THIS BOOK IS A KEEPSAKE. JERRY ALSO HAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VOICES I HAVE EVER HEARD, DID YOU KNOW THAT HE WAS THE LEAD SINGER OF THE IMPRESSIONS AT ONE TIME AND HE LED ON THE SONG "FOR YOUR PRECIOUS LOVE" I AM A LIBRARIAN, AND I CONSTANTLY REVIEW AND PREVIEW BOOKS AND THIS IS A WINNER. AS JERRY SINGS IN ONE OF HIS SONGS "I'M A TELLING YOU".



4. Jerry Butler's book tells an important--and fun--story about his history as the one great rnb singers. Did you know he co-wrote I've Been Loving You Too Long, with Otis Redding. Butler also worked with Curtis Mayfield, who produced and wrote for him. His composition "Brand New Me," has been covered by countless artists from Dusty Springfield to Phoebe Snow. Don't just get the book--pick up his greatest hits too.