Harrison (Conversations with Love: Poetically Speaking, 2014, etc.), in an atmospheric memoir, contrasts segregated life in the South in the 1950s with new opportunities for African-Americans in the North in the ’60s and ’70s.
With this personal story, Harrison sees herself adding “to the body of literature by and about African American women.” The memoir opens in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1980, with the author’s mother lying in a coma; the present-tense narration and African-American dialect lend immediacy and authenticity to the scene. After this bittersweet prologue, the book looks back to 1950s Georgia. Harrison’s apt metaphors complement the sights and smells of the South: She describes her mother’s skin as being “as smooth and creamy as peach ice cream” and her Aunt Josephine as “meaner and crustier than an old alligator in a swamp.” Church services, folk tales and family stories also add color to this section. A chapter on “Soul Food” is a particular highlight, as are family photographs and transcribed letters. Harrison was just 2 years old when her family moved north “to escape boll weevils and Jim Crow.” Practicality and ideology intertwine as Harrison goes on to balance her education with life as a single mother. After early, violent sexual experiences, she obtained a scholarship that helped her attend Kent State, where she witnessed the Black Power movement and the infamous campus riots of 1970. Moving to Atlanta with daughter Angela, the author again experienced persecution. Her lyrical language sets the scene while also revealing racial tension: “Confederate flags waved from atop stately buildings. Pilloried plantations rose from hilltops.” However, the book’s punctuation and spelling errors (the musical group “the Beetles,” “Jeckle and Hyde”) are distracting, and some of the erotic vocabulary may sometimes make readers cringe (“[H]is hammer tore down the walls of my secret garden”). The memoir’s habit of identifying years by their music and television shows also lacks subtlety. After chronicling multiple moves and marital trouble, Harrison ends abruptly with her mother’s funeral in 1980—a hint that a sequel may be forthcoming.
An often inspirational, if uneven, memoir about overcoming racism and personal trauma.
Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: JAH Light Communicattions
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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