Black Issues Book Review articles from July 2000

Black Issues Book Review archives from July 2000

from the editor-in-chief.
July 1, 2000... Last year in one of our inaugural issues, we decided to defy the myth that black men don't read. Starting with avid reader and talk show host Tavis Smiley on our cover, and throughout the pages of BIBR, we showed the depth of interest in books...

Reconnecting to the Wonder ...
July 1, 2000... "People need stories more than bread itself. They tell us how to live--and why." This is an observation the Master Storyteller shares with Scherazade, the queen who saves her life by spinning 1001 spellbinding tales, in the recent TV adaptation...

letters to the editor.
July 1, 2000... DEAR EDITOR, I began reading Black Issues Book Review in January of this year. I found the book reviews informative; and when I got the May-June 2000 issue it not only guided my reading, but pleasantly surprised me. The articles on black...

Missing Joe Wood.(African American book editor and writer)
July 1, 2000... One year ago a talented editor, erudite essayist and remarkable man disappeared into the wilderness on Mt. Rainier. A friend and colleague tallies the loss to African American letters I met Joe Wood in 1986, when I was entertainment editor...

Deals.
July 1, 2000... Award-winning author Walter Mosley, whose novels Devil in A Blue Dress (Norton, 1990) and Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (Norton, 1997) have been transformed into feature films, is readying a new slate of film projects. Mosley is...

Fifth National Black Writers Conference 2000.
July 1, 2000... Thousands attended the Fifth National Black Writers' Conference held this spring in New York City. Based on the one-day writers conferences convened by novelist John Oliver Killens in the 1960s, the tradition of bringing together black writers...

Awards Spotlight.
July 1, 2000... NBCC nominee Connie Briscoe, author of A Long Way From Home (HarperCollins, 1999) and Sisters And Lovers (Ivy, 1995) has been nominated for a NAACP Image Award. Former poet laureate Rita Dove has been nominated for a 1999 National Book Critics...

on the shelf.
July 1, 2000... In this issue we're highlighting a number of books celebrating the lives and experiences of some of our favorite icons. There are a number of books out right now dealing with being black in America, with Sidney Poitier's exquisitely moving...

The Black Rose: The Magnificent Story of Madam C.J. Walker, America's First Black Female Millionaire.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Black Rose: The Magnificent Story of Madam C.J. Walker, America's First Black Female Millionaire by Tananarive Due Ballantine/One World, June 2000, $25.95, ISBN 0-345-43960-0 History is a tangible, living thing in Tananarive Due's...

Bodega Dreams.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez Vintage, March 2000 $12.00, ISBN 0-375-70589-9 The place is Spanish Harlem, and William Irizzary, a.k.a. "Willie Bodega," is running things. Feared by many and deified by most, Bodega slips covertly...

Hellified.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Hellified by Tracy Grant Visao Press, October 1999 $13.95, ISBN 0-9672836-0-4 Novelist Tracy Grant exposes readers to the depth of black male camaraderie in his debut release. Grant chronicles the experiences of Georgetown University...

Dazed and Confused: Surviving Life in the Game.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Dazed and Confused: Surviving Life in the Game by Troy Martin Trojan Works Publishing, January 2000 $14.00, ISBN 0-967-43700-8 Troy Martin's independently published novel is the story of young man from Houston stumbling through life...

The Hotel Alleluia.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The Hotel Alleluia by Lucinda Roy HarperCollins Publishers, January 2000 $25.00, ISBN 0-06-019395-6 One can't help but to give Lucinda Roy an "Amen" after reading her second novel, The Hotel Alleluia. Roy, the critically acclaimed...

Tuff.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Tuff by Paul Beatty Alfred A. Knopf Publisher, May 2000 $23.00, ISBN 0-375-40122-9 Winston (Tuffy) Foshay is a Generation X brotha' who drinks a lot, smokes a lot and takes a blunt, and takes a "so the f-- what" attitude toward life...

Beatrice Clancy.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Beatrice Clancy by George Elliott Clarke Polestar Book Publishers, September 1999 $14.95, ISBN-1-896095-94-1 Clarke's play, written entirely in verse, is set on a plantation in the Anapolis Valley of Nova Scotia in 1801. A play in five...

All the Lucky Ones Are Dead: An Aaron Gunner Mystery.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... All the Lucky Ones Are Dead: An Aaron Gunner Mystery by Gar Anthony Haywood G.P. Putnam's Sons, January 2000 $23.95, ISBN 0-399-14540-0 You don't need to be a top-notch detective like Aaron Gunner to get a thrill out of Gar Anthony...

Redemption Song.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Redemption Song by Bertice Berry Doubleday, February 2000 $21.95, ISBN 0-385-49844-6 "Our love was sweet and tart like lemonade on a sun-scorched day or the sweat that runs down your lover's face." So begins Bertice Berry's debut...

Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers edited by Kevin Young Quill/Morrow, February 2000 $14.00, ISBN 0-688-168760 According to editor Kevin Young, this exciting new anthology highlights the present-day directions...

This Just In.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... This Just In by Yolanda Joe Doubleday, March 2000 $23.95, ISBN 0-385-49256-l Cleverly crafted like a 30-minute TV news segment, Yolanda Joe's latest novel reads like breaking news: fast-paced, attention-grabbing, dramatic. The setting...

Midnight Robber.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson Aspect/Warner Books, March 2000 $13.95, ISBN 0-446-67560-1 There is every reason to believe that Nalo Hopkinson's second novel will receive the same acclaim that followed the release of her stunning...

Film Rites.
July 1, 2000... With Terry McMillan's third adaptation coming to HBO, other black novelists are embarking on the road to Hollywood Adapting novels to the big screen is not a new thing. Oscar Micheaux, one of the first black directors in this country, began...

Agents Who Make Bank.
July 1, 2000... Deal makers nurture the careers of popular black authors and more There just aren't enough book deals. Every writer won't get one. Plus, authors lack the time, credibility, contacts, and industry knowledge to successfully land good...

Music Hound World: The Essential Album Guide.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Music Hound World: The Essential Album Guide edited by Adam McGovern with forewords from Angelique Kidjo and David Byrne Visible Ink Press, 2000, $26.95 ISBN 1-578-59039-6 Every country puts its own ethnic spin on music whose roots are...

The Black Chord: Visions of the Groove Connections Between Afrobeats, Rhythms & Blues, Hip Hop and More.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Black Chord: Visions of the Groove Connections Between Afrobeats, Rhythms & Blues, Hip Hop and More by Vivien Goldman and David Corio with foreword from Isaac Hayes Universe Publishing, 1999, $29.95 ISBN 0-789-30337-X Every country...

Reggae Island.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Reggae Island by Brian Jahn and Tom Weber Da Capo Publishing, 1998, $18.95 ISBN 0-306-80853-6 Every country puts its own ethnic spin on music whose roots are in Africa World music, world beat, or fusion as it's known to some, is...

Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience edited by Kwame Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Basic Civitas Books, 1999, $100.00 ISBN 0-465-00071-1 Every country puts its own ethnic spin on music whose...

The Black Chord.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Black Chord by Vivien Goldman and David Corio Universe/Rizzoli Publications, 1999, $45.00, ISBN 0-789-30375-2. The ties that bind jazz, R&B, rap, salsa or reggae to the ancestral anthems of Africa is the main theme of The Black Chord,...

Louis Armstrong: In His Own Words.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Louis Armstrong: In His Own Words edited by Thomas Brothers Oxford University Press, 1999, $25.00 ISBN 0-195-11958-4. "My mother May Ann and my uncle Ike Miles used to tell us about slavery times. They said slavery wasn't half as bad...

Marian Anderson: A Singer's Journey.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Marian Anderson: A Singer's Journey by Allan Keller Scribner, February 2000, $30.00 ISBN 0-684-80711-4. One of the Civil Rights Movement's most eloquent voices was raised not in protest, but in song. After the Daughters of the American...

Dancing In the Streets: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Dancing In the Streets: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit by Suzanne E. Smith Harvard University Press, January 2000 $24.95, ISBN 0-674-00063-3. The 1960s--a decade of love and hate--was also the decade of Motown Records....

I'll Take You There.(photographer Deborah Wills)(Interview)
July 1, 2000... The Story of Black Photographers "Photographers were creating a story, not about black Americans but about the experience of being an American." --Deborah Willis Historically, photography has been used as a visual tool for many...

I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr. by Michael Eric Dyson The Free Press, January 2000, $25.00 ISBN 0-684-86776-1 There is a word for this alternative biography's stirring message: Corrective. This book scrubs...

Brothers on a Soapbox.
July 1, 2000... Who's Listening? In a world of popular commercial "fiction," how many readers are there for "nonfiction," essays, personal narrative and memoirs by African American male authors? Enough to recognize these authors are not all the same or...

round up corner.
July 1, 2000... CHECK OUT! While you are perusing the shelves of your favorite bookstore, check out these latest additions. Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English by John Russell Rickford, Geneva Smitherman, and Russell John Rickford John Wiley...

Workin' on the Chain Gang: Shaking off the Dead Hand of History.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Workin' on the Chain Gang: Shaking off the Dead Hand of History by Walter Mosley Ballantine, January 2000, $16.95, ISBN 0-345-43069-7 All along, we knew that Walter Mosley was deep. Now, with the publication of Workin' on the Chain...

In Search of Black America: Discovering the African-American Dream.(Review)
July 1, 2000... In Search of Black America: Discovering the African-American Dream by David J. Dent Simon & Schuster, February 2000, $25.00, ISBN 0-684-81072-7 All along, we knew that Walter Mosley was deep. Now, with the publication of Workin' on the...

The Measure of a Man.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier HarperSan Francisco, May 2000, $26.00 ISBN 0-6251607-8 One of the most influential actors of our time, Sidney Poitier has stubbornly remained an enigma, a complex tangle of myth and mystery,...

Still Groovin': Affirmations for Women in the Second Half of Life.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Still Groovin': Affirmations for Women in the Second Half of Life by Ruth Beckford The Pilgrim Press, September 1999 $19.95, ISBN 0-8298-1337-3 In a youth-driven society, women over age 40 need support. They need to know that life can...

Black Identities: West Indian Dreams and American Realities.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Black Identities: West Indian Dreams and American Realities by Mary C. Waters Harvard University Press, February 2000 $35.00, ISBN 0-674-00067-6 Waters, a sociologist, gives an excellent analysis of West Indians in New York City....

Doing What's Right: How to Fight for What You Believe--and Make a Difference.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Doing What's Right: How to Fight for What You Believe--and Make a Difference by Tavis Smiley Doubleday, January 2000, $17.95 ISBN 0-385-49930-2 Tavis Smiley, host of "BET Tonight," has made a career as a self-proclaimed advocate for...

Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Poet.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Poet by E. Ethelbert Miller St. Martin's Press, June 2000 $21.95, ISBN 0-312-24136-4 The 1990s were a period which offered a profound and progressive focus on fatherhood, with a...

Sisters Are Cashing In: How Every Woman Can Make Her Financial Dreams Come True.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Sisters are Cashing In: How Every Woman Can Make Her Financial Dreams Come True by Marylin French Hubbard Berkeley Publishing Group, January 2000, $14.95, ISBN 0-399-52572-6 One can easily find hundreds of books that will supposedly...

Understanding the Tin Man.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Understanding The Tin Man by William July II Doubleday, January 2000, $15.00, ISBN 0-385-49663-X Motivational speaker and best-selling author William July II attempts to answer in this follow-up book to Brothers, Lust and Love:...

African Americans on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... African Americans on Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket by Robert C. and Karen E. Hayden Select Publications, 1999, $25.00 ISBN 0-963- 56822-1 Much has been written about the African American presence on Cape Cod's offshore islands. Some...

A Love Supreme: Real-Life Stories of Black Love.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... A Love Supreme: Real-Life Stories of Black Love by TaRessa and Calvin Stovall Warner Books, February 2000, $23.95, ISBN 0-446-52171-X Husband and wife authors TaRessa and Calvin Stovall had a clearly stated mission: to strike a blow...

Maximize the Moment.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Maximize the Moment by T.D. Jakes Putnam, January 2000, $19.95, ISBN 0-399-14565-6 In his newest book Bishop T.D. Jakes pulls readers in with an anecdote of a woman in a coffee shop who is so caught up in her thoughts that she forgets...

Ron Brown: An Uncommon Life.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Ron Brown: An Uncommon Life by Steven A. Holmes John Wiley & Sons, Inc., May 2000, $24.95, ISBN 0-471-18388-1 When former Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown perished in a fiery plane crash in 1996, it seemed the entire country mourned his...

Yusef Komunyakaa--Blue Notes: Essays, Interviews and Commentaries.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Yusef Komunyakaa--Blue Notes: Essays, Interviews and Commentaries edited by Radiclani Clytus University of Michigan Press, February 2000, $15.95, ISBN 0-472-06651-X Since 1977, Yusef Komunyakaa has carved a special place for himself in...

Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams by Linda Dahl Pantheon Books, February 2000 $30.00, ISBN 0-375-40899-1 In her preteen years, Mary Lou Williams was already earning money to help support her family by playing the piano at...

Signifyin(g), Sanctifyin', & Slam Dunking: A Reader in African American Expressive Culture.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Signifyin(g), Sanctifyin', & Slam Dunking: A Reader in African American Expressive Culture edited by Gena Dagel Caponi University of Massachusetts Press August 1999, $60.00, ISBN 1-558-49182-1 "What is this `black' in black culture?"...

The Messenger Reader.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The Messenger Reader edited by Sondra Kathryn Wilson Modern Library, 2000, $14.95 ISBN 0-375-75539-X Harvard University researcher Sondra Kathryn Wilson resurrects a treasure chest of poetry and prose published in one of the 20th...

Working the "Black Expo" Circuit.
July 1, 2000... New authors and small publishers get up close and personal with readers at the summer's black conventions and conferences When an unknown, self-published novelist in his 20s wanted to sell his work and get a little name recognition, he set...

Selling the First 5000 Copies.
July 1, 2000... An Award-winning writer finds her own way to readers Imagine this: It's... 1960. You're 16 and live in Detroit's inner city. One day, a newspaper ad catches your eye. You're fascinated as you read about an Exchange Program that sends...

Mother-Daughter Reading Clubs.
July 1, 2000... Bonding through book-talk Shireen Dodson has made bonding with children a literary pastime. Fueled by a desire to establish open communication and build a solid relationship with her adolescent daughter Morgan, Dodson founded The...

Putting Love On The Line.(romance novels)
July 1, 2000... African American romance writers convene and confer virtually LaShaunda Hoffman lives for romance, but loves the power of the Internet. Unable to attend a Romance Writers of America conference, this Missouri native put her love on the line,...

Links to Romance.(websites)
July 1, 2000... Many authors utilize the Internet as a promotional tool. By creating a personal website, you can expose yourself and your novel to thousands of readers simultaneously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bestselling romance author Francis Ray's...

Summer Fun!
July 1, 2000... Books to entertain all kids Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children continues to grow its title listing with the addition of two colorful and vibrant picture books for children. The first on the list is Ken Wilson-Max's early spring...

Say Hey! A Song of Willie Mays.(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Say Hey! A Song of Willie Mays by Peter Mandel illustrated by Don Tate Jump at The Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, March 2000 $15.99, ISBN 0-7868-0480-7, Ages 4-8 A lifelong fan of the New York Mets, Peter Mandel, author of Red Cat,...

Children of Long Ago.(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Children of Long Ago by Leslie Jones Little pictures by Jan Spivey Gilchrist introduction by Eloise Greenfield Lee & Low Books, Inc., April 2000, $15.95 ISBN 1-584-30008-6, Ages 4-8 Life was quite different in the early 1900s. There...

The Piano.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Piano by William Miller illustration by Susan Keeter Lee & Low Books, Inc., April 2000 $15.95, ISBN 1-88000-098-9, Ages 4-8 Set in the deep South of the early 1900s, The Piano is a warm story of an African American girl named Tia....

Mama Elizabeti.(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Mama Elizabeti by Stephanie Stuve Bodeen illustrations by Christy Hale Lee & Low Books, Inc., May 2000 $15.95, ISBN 1-584-30002-7, Ages4-8 Elizabeti has a newborn baby sister and Ellizabeti's Mama must take care of her. So now it is up...

Furaha Means Happy! A Book of Swahili Words.(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Furaha Means Happy! A Book of Swahili Words by Ken Wilson Max Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, March 2000 $12.99 ISBN 0-78680552-8, Ages 4-8 Furaha Means Happy! A Book of Swahili Words is another offering from Ken...

Why I love Harry Potter.(Review)
July 1, 2000... This orphaned boy-wizard character mesmerized my son, turning a reluctant reader onto the magic of books Harry Potter opened the door, and my 7-year-old son walked giddily through it, hardly daring to trust the magic. Harry Potter, for...

Black Women Carry the Torch of Olympic Glory.(Review)
July 1, 2000... This September, Sydney, Australia will be the host of the first Olympiad staged in the new Millennium. The ancient Greeks established the Olympics in 776 B.C. as contests to determine athletic, intellectual and artistic superiority among their...

scoreboard.(literature on African American women athletes)(Review)(Brief Review)
July 1, 2000... See How She Runs: Marion Jones--The Making of a Champion by Ron Rapoport Algonquin Books, June 2000, $21.95, ISBN 1-565-12267-4 Rapoport's empowering biography of the woman called "the next great sports superstar." Marion Jones is the...

Cruising for Book Sales.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Black authors meet and greet on the high seas Blame it on "The Love Boat" the long-running television series that permanently wedded the notion of cruising and romance into the American psyche. Four years ago, Emma Rodgers of Black...