5 comments about Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson.

1. I really loved this Book.. After spending years searching for any information on Bumpy Johnson, I was excited to find that this book would be published. When I recieved my copy I read it in two days, and was very happy to learn about the "Real Bumpy Johnson". He was some man... The movie couldn't get it right, but this book certainly has... Congratulations to the author on a job well done...



2. Imagine sitting around on the living room floor in your grandmother's house, listening carefully as your grandmother recaps your family history. That is the feeling I got while reading Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson by Mayme Johnson and Karen E Quinones Miller.
   
   Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was already making a name for himself. His parents, worrying about his safety, send him to live with his older sister, Mabel, in Harlem. This was the beginning of a new sheriff in town, and he meant business.
   
   If loyalty is what you wanted; Bumpy was the man to find. Anything happening in Harlem had to be approved by him as well, and he never ever backed downed. Especially when he knew he was right. Though his main business was numbers running and protection, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, on a drug trafficking charge. Something he did not see coming, for all of Harlem knew the type of man he was.
   
   Mayme Johnson wanted to set the record straight about the type of man, her husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, was. The type of people he kept company with and how he dealt with those who thought they could bring him down. At 93 years-old her memories of the things which took place, from the time Bumpy was young all the way up until the day of his death, was impressive. Though she met Bumpy in 1948, he along with his true friends shared the events of his earlier days with her, as well as things that took place when she was not there.
   
   Mayme Johnson and Karen E Quinones Miller cleared up a lot of falsified information in Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson. Sometimes they flipped back and forth within the timeline, but it was not hard to keep up with. The main thing I had a concern about was the lack of proper editing. There were numerous errors of all sorts. The binding was also an issue for me. I found it hard to hold the book comfortably. All and all I still recommend Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson to anyone wanting to know the truth about the real American gangster.
   
   Jennifer Coissiere
   APOOO BookClub



3. 
   I was dubious about buying this book, but I decided to go ahead and get it since I'm familiar with the author. I knew it wasn't something I would like myself, but figured my boyfriend would so it wouldn't be a waste.
   After I got it I flipped through a few pages before my giving it to my boyfriend. Well why did I do that! I was hooked from the very first page.
   This is really and truly one of the best books I've ever read.
   It tells the story of Bumpy Johnson, the gangster who ran Harlem after fighting it out with the Mafia in the thirties. I had seen the movie Hoodlum, so I knew Bumpy was a colorful character, but the movie didn't tell the half of it. This books tells Bumpy's early life, how he turned to a life of crime, and the principles he had while in the life. He wasn't like the thugs they have out here now. He was tougher than any alive, for one. But also, as tough as he was (and he was tough!) he still was a good man in a lot of ways. That's why he was so loved.
   The book tells about Bumpy's childhood in Charleston, his arrival in Harlem in 1919, and how he got started as a gangster. We also learn about a lot of the other colorful characters he ran with like Bub Hewlett and Madame Queen who were also portrayed in the movie Hoodlum, and also what eventually happened to them.
   It also tells about Bumpy's time in prison, and how he raised so much hell there the wardens were trying to figure out how to get him the heck out of prison. Can you imagine that?
   The book also tells about other Harlem characters who've never been written about. Like Dickie Wells, who was a gigilo who romanced white movie stars and got rich doing so, and then spent all his money uptown in Harlem, treating black women to a good time. He was a gigilo who never took a dime from a black woman but bilked white ones for all they had.
   And the book also talks about Red Dillard Morrison, who was almost (but only almost) as colorful as Bumpy.
   And the book gives an interesting history of Harlem that I never knew, and how the black people had to hire people like Bub Hewlett and Bumpy Johnson (they called them the Harlem Bad Men) to protect them from the whites who would come up from Hells Kitchen and try to break black heads. Bub really put a stop to that!
   There's also great stories about Bill Bojangles Robinson, Lena Horne and others. And I didn't know that Bumpy was godfather to Sydney Poitier's oldest daughter. But with all that, Bumpy was still a bad man, and a colorful one that you can't help taking a liking too. He didn't smoke or curse around women he didn't know, but he would still shoot or cut a man in a minute.
   Like another reviewer already said, the book reads like a novel, and a really good one. Even though it's more than 200 pages I flew through it and then was mad when I was finished because it was so good I didn't want to stop reading it.
   I can't say enough about this book. Like I already said, it's one of the best I've ever read. I really, really, really recommend it to everyone!



4. This book is GREAT!. I love the way Bumpy Johnson's story is told from his wife's point of view without the book being all about her. Ms. Quinones-Miller is such an excellent writer that you forget while reading it that it is a non-fiction book. I read this book from the moment I got it until I finnished and I was not dissapointed at all. I suggest this book to anybody who loves BIOGRAPHIES AND URBAN FICTION. It is the best!!!



5. Thank You Mrs. Johnson for sharing this true to heart story about Bumpy Johnson with alot of history intertwined. I looked at American Gangster and Hollywood have it all wrong. From reading this book about Bumpy's life, I feel that he helped pave the way and made Harlem what it is to this day, and his legend still lives thru Harlem. This story was told from his childhood years until his last days. I felt I truly knew Bumpy Johnson when I read the book, but while reading, I wished I had not only knew Mr. Johnson, but I wished only for a glimpse of The Harlem Godfather. This book is told thru his wife's voice, and it was no fairy tale, but it was told from the heart of a woman who loved him the most. I not only learned about Bumpy, but I learned about others such as Lena Horne, Bill "Bojangles", Lucky Luciano, Flash Walker (who Frank Lucas so wanted his life to be) and Billie Holiday. I was the most amazed at how a young little boy from the south that came to Harlem and took over. I also have to give Bumpy his credit whatever he went thru or did, he still loved his people and did his time like a true man and snitching wasn't even in his vocabulary.
   
   Thanks Mrs. Mayme Johnson and Karen E. Quinones from setting the record straight for all of America. Thanks for educating me on a part of American History of Bumpy Johnson, and telling me a story that I will will always know who the real Bumpy Johnson really was from his start until that last tear from my eyes to the end of the book!! Bumpy Johnson, Harlem's and America's True Gangster R.I.P. !!

5 comments about Still Life With Rice.

1. This book was recommended to me, and although I was warned about some of the "weirdness" of the approach, still thought it might be worth reading. I was disappointed on many levels, and would not recommend this book to anyone else.
   
   First off, this is not a biography in the strictest sense. It should be treated as historical fiction. The author takes the voice of her grandmother and is clearly making up a number of details (some slightly disturbing, like grandma's sexual encounters). Some of her history, however, is inaccurate.
   
   As has been mentioned elsewhere, the author isn't the best writer. As an example, at one point she is talking about the U.S.-run refugee camps around Pusan and describes numerous hardships such as being sprayed with DDT, fighting rats, cold showers, and dangerous electricity. And then to finish it off, she writes the line, "The worst hardship, however, was the lack of privacy." What?!?
   
   I think what irritated me the most, however, was what was left unsaid most of the time. I suspect part of this is because the author didn't do her research, and part of it is because of the author's own biases. The grandmother is from the yangban class, so a member of the aristocracy of Korea. The background and connections this entails are somewhat covered in a peripheral way, but not in a conscious way. Through most of her life, the lead character is well off. And when she does suffer hardships, the obvious connection between her background and the experiences and results are stripped out. It didn't come as a shock to me that such a wealthy landowner wasn't happy with land reform.
   
   Another issue here that is important to 20th century Korean history but are completely glossed over is that grandmother collaborated with the Japanese in China. This is skirted around, but there is nothing respectable about selling opium to the Chinese, even before acknowledging that the Japanese are the suppliers. There is mention that this made her a little uncomfortable, but it didn't get in the way of her greed. When they return wealthy to Pyongyang, their neighbors know about what they did in China. Again, no surprise when this comes back to haunt them; the core of the military in the north was formed from people who fought against the Japanese.
   
   All this, taken with the occasional historical inaccuracy and the grandmother's fanatical approach to religion at the end of the book took away all trust I had in the author to tell me a "real" story. Because the grandmother seems to present certain events as "miracles", you have to figure out for yourself how events really played out. When you find out that other male relatives are still around later in the book, you can only guess what role they played during the late 40s.
   
   In the end, the author's search for her Korean identity leaves us with a negative impression of what it means to be Korean. I think that's a disservice to Koreans and Korean-Americans.



2. This book is amazing. It really brings the Korean culture into sharp focus. The North Korea-South Korea divide was tragic and this story is beautifully told tying in the war, family, love, divide and salvation. I recommend that you also purchase In the Absence of Sun.



3. Summer reading doesn't have to be a chore. This book was required summer reading for my 9th grade communications students at an international school in Korea. While "required" might turn some off, I was pleasantly surprised at the novel's readability. It is the poignant memoir of a Korean woman who survived the Japanese occupation and civil war of her country eventually making her way to America to live in California. Her grandaughter tells the story through her grandmother's eyes, and it is truly amazing how provocatively she relates the private wishes, dreams and feelings of this woman of a different era. What is most impressive is the feelings invoked on the reader of the applicability of this woman's story to the nation of Korea as a whole. I hope that the wish related at the end of this fantastic memoir comes true!



4. This is truly an incredible journey: A true story that reads like a gripping novel: from a mother trying to cast out the worms that gnaw at her daughter's stomach, to trying to cross the shell of a bridge from North Korea to South Korea during the war, with children in tow. It will make you appreciate everything you have: your family, the food on your table, the clothes on your back. It will make you want to read the sequel: In the Absence of Sun, which details the family's struggle to smuggle family out of North Korea--unbelievable! There can't be a more oppressive country on the planet. Helie Lee draws attention to this divided country that is often overlooked.



5. and this is one of them. This is a good quality book written from an interesting perspective. I highly recommend.

5 comments about My Life as a Traitor.

1. This is a story of a woman's ordeal of humiliation and torture for no reason other than she desired some small freedoms in her life and the lives of her people.
   With much of what we see in the news daily, it is easy to see Iran and its entire people as our enemy. This is not the case and we should never forget the people there who long to just be allowed to wear pink shoes and feel the sun on their hair.
   Well done Zarah, great book, I hope everyone reads it and I am happy to know that you have found freedom and peace. I pray that the country of Iran will also find freedom and that it's people will know the joy of pink shoes and sunshine.



2. This is an excellent, touching and mesmerizing story of courage and suffering. Ghahramani reveals her innemorst feelings throughout in a disarming way. Well written and interesting from the first to the last page. Brutality and torture are described vividly, yet not in a crude or brutal way. A good read and a must for everyone.



3. There are a number of good books out there on the atrocities that have gone on in the prisons of Iran and Iraq. What makes this book unique is that it explores in a very personal way the mind set of the tortured prisoner. The author does an excellent job of explaining her thoughts and feelings while incarcerated. She gives the torture she endured a very personal quality by explaining how even the smallest of psychological details were used to advantage by her captors, e.g., endless waiting and uncertainty, use of details about family to extract confessions, restricted personal hygiene, appeals to her vanity, etc. While the physical torture that she was subjected to was not as severe as that chronicled in some other books, it is clear that the psychogical component was inescapably devastating. A very open and honest recounting of human fraility and exploration of self. It will have you asking "What indeed is courage?"



4. The book is well-written and its a story that needs to be told---to help us understand oppression and the violation of human rights in today's Iran, and the dangerous conclusions arrived at by religious extremists who cause a inordinate amount of suffering in the world. However, it troubles me to know that this author, now safe in Australia, told details that could result in suffering for family and friends remaining in Iran. Zarah Ghahraman knows that the current regime tortures perceived ideological "enemies".
   
   Meanwhile, the Iranian government goes after adolescents who engage in age-appropriate teenage rebellions against authority. This is both ridiculous and dangerous and shows they are not fit to lead! The government's abuse is a far greater threat to their leadership than any student protests.



5. I could not put this down. I finished in a day and can't wait to pass this one to a friend. The human spirt is stronger than we can imagine.

5 comments about A Place to Stand.

1. This book is Great. A must read true story--Great writing. You must buy this book, if you don't--your missing out on something Great!



2. Excellent service. This is avery haunting book. I attended one of his workshops in San Antonio. He is an outstanding poet. I am glad to have the opportunity to read this book.



3. I discovered JSBs work on the Modern American Poetry website. I loved the imagery and passion and redemption in his poem 'El Gato.' I cried. I have read a few of his collections and they are to poetry what Cormac McCarthy's works are to literature. I can't wait to get this book.



4. A Place To Stand, magnificent novel about the author, Jimmy Santiago Baca, and his career selling drugs, and prison. He talks about how he had to fight for his privileges to read. Then to write, all with the help of a nice old man named Harry. He also writes poems for other inmates for books. He tries to keep his rights and keep his life on track in prison.
   
   He talks about his mother dieing, which just thinking about telling strangers about that happening to my mother would kill me. He also has to deal with a lot of racism through the whole thing, from his mom, to the present day. This book will show you that no matter who you come from, or what, you can always know the best for your life, and do the best for your life.



5. I'm giving this book five stars, not because it is a literary masterpiece, but because it is a compelling memoir that I can't forget. I felt a gamut of emotions while reading this book, but for the most part I ached for Mr. Baca and the pain and anguish he suffered. I thank him for writing about his life so eloquently.

5 comments about The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America.

1. My son, Jeremy, always gives me good books. He doesn't just pick up the latest best-seller, but takes the time to choose something special just for me. He hit a home run with The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski. It's the story of an extended road trip Posnanski took with legendary Negro League player and manager Buck O'Neil. The lessons learned along the way are great ones for sons and fathers to share.
   
   Posnanski, an award-winning sports columnist for the Kansas City Star, chose not to write a biography of the irrepressible O'Neil, even though the story could bear to be told over and over again. Instead, he penned a moving memoir of the year he spent with the then-93-year-old O'Neil as he toured the country promoting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and the memory of those men who played the game in the days before whites and blacks could share the field. The trip takes them everywhere from Nicodemus, Kansas, to New York, New York, and O'Neil has a fascinating story to tell at every stop.
   
   He talks about Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Josh Gibson, names that will always be enshrined in baseball's collective memory. But he also tells the tales of forgotten men like Dan Bankhead, the first black pitcher in the major leagues, who would have been a great hurler if he hadn't been afraid to pitch fastballs inside against white batters.
   
   The key theme of the book is Buck O'Neil's spirit-lifting embrace of the best in every person he met. Despite years of back-breaking struggle, O'Neil never turned bitter, never condemned anyone for their prejudice, never had a bad word to say about the often ugly conditions the black ball players endured. Even when he failed to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Buck O'Neil refused to be angry about it. To make up for the egregious mistake, the Hall awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award after his death.
   
   The lessons Posnanski drew from his experiences with O'Neil are well worth telling and the book he created from them is well worth reading.
   
   Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo



2. This book got to me, in a very good way.
   
   Buck's stories are funny and poignant, and we as readers definitely learn some history if we pay attention. But even more than that we can learn from Buck O'Neil's outlook on life. He was patient, caring, outspoken in an articulate and positive way (something our politicians should learn how to do), and he had grace. More than anything else reading about Buck O'Neil was a lesson on how to live with grace.
   
   I want to tell you the last words of the book, but I won't.
   
   If you like baseball, people or life you will like this book.
   
   Highly recommended!!



3. Sometimes a great author writes a 5-star book, and sometimes he must only get out of the way and let 5-star material shine through. "The Soul of Baseball" is one of the latter. This isn't a knock on Joe Posnanski. The decision to tell the story by reporting on a year in O'Neil's life, rather than interpreting O'Neil's history, was a brilliant judgment. The reader benefits from Posnanski's willingness to set his writer's ego aside.
   
   Another good Posnanski decision was reporting O'Neil's occasional querulousness. Rather than seeing O'Neil as a mindless happy face, the reader sees O'Neil as someone who must work to maintain his positive approach. The occasional lapses serve to highlight the effort that O'Neil makes to bring the light into the lives of those around him.
   
   But ultimately, the star of the book is Buck O'Neil. Not because he was a great ballplayer or manager. But because he was a decent, good-hearted human being whose attitude toward life is worthy of emulation.
   
   I give few 5-star rankings, but this book deserves it several times over.



4. Reading this book gave me insight into the Negro Leagues and more importantly into Buck O'Neil. Buck O'Neil was a man today's player should study and revere; not only because of his courage but for his respect of the game.
   
   The Soul of Baseball is a history lesson I encourage any fan or player to read.



5. This is an outstanding book by one of my favorite writers. Joe really knows how to tell a story and paint a vivid picture with his words. I loved it so much that I just couldn't put it down. A must have for any and all baseball fans.

5 comments about The Day I Stopped Being Pretty.

1. I finished this book in one day. I tried to put it down and just could not. Mr. Lofton takes you along with him on his journey. The good and the bad. He bravely shines a light in to his closet, showing all of us our skeletons. He and his story are a fantastic.... bright shining light.



2. Author Rodney Lofton's debut offering, "The day I Stopped Being pretty" is a brave, unvarnished telling of Lofton's tale of desire to connect with his father and gain his unrequited affection and his experiences as he struggles with his sexuality and lives and loves with an HIV positive diagnosis.
   
   
   This is no powder puff read and is not for the faint at heart. This author uses frank - in your face language as he takes us along to walk a mile in his shoes. I was sympathetic for the adolescent who never knew the love he obviously needed from the most important man in his life. I was scandalized by the wanton antics of a young man desperate for love and acceptance, and the unrelenting abuse of body and soul, described so graphically -would it ever end. I felt compassion for the vulnerable misguided waif and I held out hope for the man going forward in the face of insurmountable odds, after being diagnosed with HIV. We get just a glimpse of his redemption in the end- leaving us wondering and wanting to know more.
   
   
   The narrative flat lines at times as Lofton detours into sideline anecdotes that seem disjointed, and there are questions posed that are not quite addressed. However, when he finds his zone you know it. He vividly chronicles his experiences with promising prose, evoking emotion and thought. The issues he raises as he lays his soul bare for us are still relevant and worth being brought to the forefront once again.
   
   
   Brilliant marketing (which can be seen at [...]) coupled with the interesting subject matter and Rodney's apparent writing skill - which is unpolished but still shines through- make this package hard to resist. I have no doubt that a follow up to this memoir will be worth a look. Look for our interview with Rodney to be posted soon.
   Would somebody please tell this man he is still pretty! Congratulations Rodney Lofton.
   
   Terri E. Williams
   Reviewer
   Sisters Sippin' Tea Literary group - Tulsa Inc.



3. Rodney Lofton "The Day I stopped Being Pretty" captures the attention from the very first page, his written words speaks volumes and allow the reader a front row seat into the mind and soul of a man on a journey of self discovery and soul preservation, the openeness in which he tells his story leaves the reader at times speechless and drained from the tears that are sure to come. This book is so raw and honest that It makes the reader take a real look at their own lives,loves and immortality. A Truely Great and Inspiring Read!



4. Rodney Lofton scores points for opening his life's story to readers in this memoir. His incredible recollection of some very difficult life's experiences draws the readers into his world. One cannot help but feel the pain of a son wanting the acceptance of his father while simultaneously coping with his evolving homosexuality. Lofton does not sugar coat his own part in a life that was somewhat self-destructive. He describes broken relationships and drug assisted sexual encounters to illustrate the depths to which an individual can be pushed or pulled. I applaud his work and look forward to the continued story. I am sure there is much that is yet to be told.



5. The Day I Stopped Being Pretty I opened this book with many, many judgemental thoughts. After reading this book i can truely say that he has opened my little world in my mind. People don't always live like we think they should. It took Rodney to open my eyes to see that the same struggles that he had was the same struggles alot of people has in life. After reading for a while it wasn't about a young black boy being gay anymore, i could relate to his fellings. The way he wrote his story made it easy to identify with something you went through in your life, different circumsatances but same feelings. As i turned each page i could feel his heart beat on each page. There were tears alot of tears and then joy that a young man could go through so much and still claim the victory. I would recommend this book too anybody going through anything, you'll see its not so bad. I especially recommend this to anybody who has a family member or friend struggling though this, even anybody who has hatred in thier heart for a persons sexual prefrence should read because you will see that they are just like anybody else we all want to feel love in comfort.

5 comments about Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain.

1. I must admit that I vacillated between sorrow and anger for Lori. She seemed to have such a hard time identifying with her Blackness and I didn't realize young Black people struggled with this identity crisis while coming of age in the '80's. Having lived through the turmoil of the '50's and '60's, I assumed that people of African descent living in America were Black and Proud.
   
   I'm happy that Lori is finally appreciating the blessing of being born Black, one manifestation of the Source of all of us.
   
   Now she will be able to impart to her children and others that on a spiritual plane, all of us share the same Source even though the multitude fails to realize that the breath of life, the air that sustains us all is the same. Many will go through life not realizing this simple fact and will continue to erect barriers/walls to separate us.
   
   Her memoir is a gratifying read and many will enjoy her awakening.



2. This memoir by Lori Tharps, who also the co-authored of Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, was a nice, easy, lightweight coming-of-age story. The book got a little whiny at times as the author tried to reconcile the differences between the Spain of her imaginations and the real Spain especially as it related to the treatment, ideas and attitudes of Black people. But I was completely on-board as she struggled to figure out her identity as a Black person. She grew up in an area that was predominantly White and was never really confident in her Blackness especially when dealing with other Black people. As a first generation Nigerian born and raised in the states, that has been something I too have struggled with. If you speak English properly, enjoy reading and the Opera, well, then, you are not really Black. We know that's not true but I think it's something that many young, upwardly mobile, intelligent Black people face. What does it mean to be truly Black? Ms. Tharps story is inspirational in that she finds her own way to be authentically Black. I felt like she glossed over some things (like her children's birth and her practice of the Ba'hai faith) but these, I suppose, were not the focus of her book. She is, however, refreshingly honest about herself and her feelings/emotions in her page-turning memoir. I think it's that candor that makes you want to continue reading because there is nothing overly exciting going on in the book. It's her story. And it's just life. The ups. The downs. And the in-betweens.
   
   Great summer reading.



3. Tharps' story about her love-hate relationship with Spain was high on my list of must reads for this summer - and it turned out to be time well-spent. Tharps chronicles her youth in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she was the only Black girl in her predominately white classes, to her undergrad days at Smith college, where she is one of the few Black women on campus. Tharps struggles to find herself and determine where she fits in. As a youth, she develops a strong love for Spain and vows to see this country that she has fallen so deeply for. Tharps takes her readers to Salamanca and we watch as her adoration for this country slowly turns to something else when she encounters its citizens and learns its hidden truths. This is simply a love story - and in the end, I think Tharps eventually learns to love the thing that is most important - herself.



4. I could not put down Kinky Gazpacho!!! Lori's delivery of her story was heartfelt and warm, as well as insightful and educational. It has made me even more determined to broaden my life experiences by travelling to other countries (including Spain!!), and immersing myself in different cultures. Kinky Gazpacho leaves the reader hopeful, inspired, and ready to engage life fully.



5. Lori Tharps describes herself on " My American Meltingpot ":
   
   * Gender: Female
   * Occupation: Writer/Teacher/Mom
   * Location: Mount Airy : USA
   
   Black-American Female. Wife of Spanish Male. Mother to 2 SpaNegro boys. Writer. Author. Teacher. Chameleon. People Person. Aspiring Icon.
   
   Kinky Gazpacho expands that information in a factually interesting, emotionally interesting way. She grew up in a white suburb of Milwaukee Wisconsin. For a reason she doesn't really explain, at an early age she decided her destiny lay in Spain. She didn't know anyone there, had never visited the country and barely spoke Spanish. (She equally unrevealing later in the book about why she joined the the Baha'i faith.)
   
   Part of her reason may for seeking an identity may lie in this passage about International Day from her grade school days:
   
   "The activities started at lunchtime. Our usual family-style meal was a smorgasbord of international flavors. We had bratwurst and apple turnovers, Swedish meatballs and some sort of Chinese stir-fry with crunchy noodles. No snails, though. After lunch we headed to the gym and were met with a riot of color and noise and information. We went around as a class first, visiting the different booths. Each booth represented a different country and was manned by volunteer parents in costumes. And then we were free to roam around, playing games, sampling sweets, and reading about distant lands. As I meandered around the gym, I completely forgot about my lack of heritage and just enjoyed all the activities with my friends. And then it was time for the parade of costumes, and I moved to the edge of the floor. I wasn't the only one without a costume, though. Other kids had forgotten or couldn't find anything to wear. I tried to act like I belonged with them.
   
   "By the time International Day was over, I felt like I had been holding my breath and I could finally let it go. All day long I had been praying nobody would ask me where I came from and why I wasn't wearing a costume. The fact that they didn't ask made me realize that they all probably knew and didn't want to make me feel bad. Everybody knew that Black people came from nothing."
   
   Tharps attended Smith College and spent a year studying in Spain. Her "innocent dreams of a place where race doesn't matter are shattered." She learned that southern Spain is a very racist area, with a long and complex history of Black slaves from Western Africa. Her researches indicated that the history of slavery is suppressed by the Spanish Government and forgotten by the Spanish public.
   
   On the personal side, she is chased down the street by kids and pointed at by adults. She learns that chocolate covered peanuts are packaged in "little plastic statues of a naked Pygmy with oversized red lips, bulging eyes and and a spear in his little hand" called " Conguitos ". [Google the word; it's almost shocking how the image leaps off the computer screen.] A Spanish mother struggling with her child, points to Tharps and says: "If you don't behave, I'll give you to that." An article in a Sunday paper discusses "the Black woman's hypersexuality through their intrinsically savage nature."
   
   Despite the culture shock, Tharps stays in Spain and eventually meets Manuel. One of the most moving passages describes how Manuel introduces Lori to his family. His grandmother spies on her; his grandfather is warm in his welcome, but tells her many racist jokes. Lori is careful to collect her hair in the bathroom after washing and drying it.
   
   Thaps's hair provides important insights. In an interview with "Ebony", Tharps says "I had just finished writing my first book, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, and it seemed everything about the Black experience in America could be traced back to our hair. I was joking with my husband that my next book would be the story of how we met and fell in love and that it should be called Kinky Gazpacho -- the Kinky referring to me and my kinky hair and the Gazpacho being the traditional tomato soup from Spain that my husband could not live without."
   
   This wonderful book is a memoir, a travelogue and most of all a love story. It taught me a great deal about the Black experience in the US, about slavery and racism in Spain, and about the human heart.

No comments about The Faith of Barack Obama.

5 comments about The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker.

1. Eric Liu presumes to represent all Asian Americans in this short sighted and pretentious memoir. However, he only represents himself, as most of the "Asian American traits" he writes about are simply reflections of his moderate middle class views and life.
   
   Liu seems to be trying to separate two parts of the Asian American identity: the Asian and American sides. Though is quick to defend himself after writing about Asian American issues and stereotypes, begging to clarify that he is not the same, he subsequently attempts to evoke "sameness" when asking other Asian Americans to see things from his viewpoint. I couldn't stand that he seemed to want to speak for all Asian Americans. His advice could have been left out, with only his history making up the bulk of the book, and it would have been interesting and insightful. Instead, it was borderline offensive. He needs to stop speaking for all Asian Americans and giving terrible advice.



2. An essay collection on the Chinese American experience, that seems, by its title, to be modeled after James Baldwin's seminal NOTES OF A NATIVE SON. In many ways, especially in the earlier essays, Liu reaches a similar level of discourse, with broad historical strokes, and deeply literary, informed and informative poetic writing. Insightful and well-spoken words for the Asian American dichotomy of experiences, and includes powerful and moving sketches, most especially about Liu's father in the first essay. Youthful, searching, contemporary and intelligent.



3. I accidentally read this book but unfortunately found I dislike it. As a Chinese who speaks and write imperfect English, I have read lots of books on Asian American history and memoirs. But I found Eric Liu, while trying to show off his ability to be assimilated and his desire to be accecpted by White American culture, does not really try to understand other Chinese including his own families. For example, when he describes his grandma, he does not show interest in her story and experience and share her opinions, because for what she talks about-Chinese and Taiwanese politics,Hong Kong pop stars, etc., he did not have interest. And he did not speak and read Chinese very well himself. He describes the grandma who has a rich experience, opinion and courage as if she was a mummy, just because she was not well adjusted to the new environment as himself. When Eric Liu describes New York's Chinatown, it seems that he was more American and Americans--it was noisy, "they" looked funny, everything there was exotic...He looks at Chinatown not as a native Chinese who respects and sympathizes people living there, in spite of their somewhat unbecoming habbits, but like cityboy going to the countrysiade for the first time and cried,oh, they are so dirty. "we are Chinese, but we still outsiders", he said. He obviously exaggrated the diffrence between his family and Chinatown people. But if his own family was so elitist, why was he never trained by parents to write a thank you note?
   To be sure, I agree that American born Asians should identify with American culture and be more involved in politics, as Liu sugguests. But Liu is just too proud and pretentious. For Chinese American exprience, I would rather read Joy Luck Club.



4. Eric Liu wrote a memoir - he's entitled to his opinions - and he is not a self-hating Asian. Most of our problems stem from too much emphasis on race and race identity. I think we should all celebrate culture (not race) and diversity of culture (and not deny our culture) - but for those of us who feel that we're losing our parents' culture, we shouldn't feel too bad about it - because we're gaining another culture or developing a new kind or blend of culture (1.5 generation, etc.). Eric Liu mainly explores the question of what exactly Asian-American identity is. What's the point of trying to put ourselves into a box? It ends up being more restrictive and confining - and unnecessarily so. If you're Chinese or Taiwanese or Korean or whatever - learn to be comfortable with that - and with the fact that you're also American. In fact, to be American should not nullify your Chineseness. If you have been blessed with the opportunity (or the desire) to learn (and retain) your parents' language while growing up, be thankful for it and use it to help immigrants who really need help assimilating and adjusting to life in America. I think the group that needs advocacy is not the generation of Asians who have grown up as Asian Americans but the recent immigrants.
   
   The more important question is why this constant yearning for a sense of identity in all of us? And where do we truly get our sense of identity in a world of constant flux and change? If we fix our sense of identity on our culture, culture's bound to change, too. "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!"



5. The author gives an account of growing up in America as the child of Chinese immigrants from Taiwan. He mentions his awkward teenage years, attending Yale University, and choosing a career path different from that of the stereotypical Asian-American: Marine officer, political staffer, television commentator, and essayist.
   
   The first essay is a well-written, powerful tribute to the author's father, who immigrated to the United States and ultimately spending a majority of his life in his new country. This essay alone would prompt me to recommend this book to all immigrants and their children, Asian or otherwise.
   
   This book is at its best when the author reflects on his own life and identity. However, when he drifts into pondering questions on assimilation and "omniculturalism," he forgets that he speaks only for well-educated, upper-middle class Asians born in the United States. To uneducated fishermen, indentured domestic servants, restaurant workers, and other blue collar Asians, assimilation will be far more difficult, if not impossible. Because the author appears to ignore this and other barriers to assimilation, I have to disagree with his theory that today's Asians are the "New Jew."
   
   Overall, the book was a good read, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Asian-American culture. However, this book is hardly an authoritative look at Asian-Americans, and it only provides one man's perspective.

5 comments about Slave: My True Story.

1. I am was in shock throughout this entire book. I could not believe that this actually happen in the 21st century. Mende told her story so descriptively. I could not stop reading it. Excellent memoir.



2. Parts of this book were too graphic for me. I can't believe what women in some parts of the world have to endure. I couldn't finish it.



3. I just finished reading this book and wow. One of the things that really helped me was the references to modern things like cell phones and VCRs. It really helped reminding the reader that this happens today. The book will have a profound effect on whoever reads it. We live in what we consider a civilized society but who knows what goes on in the house next door. I wish the remaining years for Mende to be filled with health, love, and happiness.



4. The story of Mende begins as a young girl growing up in a harsh environment in the mountain region of the Sudan. She is playful, witty, too smart for her own good, somewhat at odds with her mother, and completely enamored by her father. She is loved by her family and culture, and loved back in spite of some harsh rituals (female circumcision) and a harsh environment (dangerous wildlife and at the mercy of the land).
   
   When raiders attack her peaceful village it all changes. She is raped on the way to the slave traders who then shove her off to an absolutely evil woman in Khartoum where she is unknowingly sold as a slave. No choices, no friends, no comforts, no real safety. She is a body of labor. Flesh that can work as a substitute for others who practice the art of leisure. Beaten and dehumanized to the point of absolute affliction.
   
   She is then traded off from Khartoum to London where she manages to escape the home of a diplomat. She is now free. But she has still not seen her family in over a decade. She is in complete fear of her own country and those in power. And she is a devout Muslim all the while.
   
   This tale shows us that violence towards darker skinned people is alive and well in the world. The violence in Sudan is not religious as much as it is racist and classist. Mende was an unclean barbarian who did not deserve to be treated as a human by her Arab captors.
   
   Slavery is alive in the world and while much of the world decides to look away at such atrocities, there are undoubtedly thousands like Mende when she was just a little girl who are being beaten and abused in every way possible as I write this. Beaten for not washing dishes the correct way, for talking to others, for laughing, for smiling, for an unnoticed wrinkle left in a shirt, a counter left undusted, for not calling their owner "master". It is a reminder to those in the West that there are parts of the world where basic survival and the freedoms that we have are not taken for granted. A healthy reminder.
   
   The book itself is wonderfully crafted, hard to put down even though you want to avert your gaze often.



5. I am 11 years old and when i read the book Slave it changed my whole way of reading. I really didnt like how she was beaten for no reason. She went through very harsh things like the rape on the way to the camp. The repeated beatings from Rahab. The part where she meats Babo and when she made a run for it had me really nervous thats all i have to say because i dont want to tell the story. Slave is a must read.