From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen
Starting with "A Sort of Preface," Toni Cade Bambara lets her readers know for sure that the fifteen superb stories that follow are not autobiographical fiction "cause the minute the book hits the stand here comes your mama screamin how could you and sighin death where is thy sting..." Most of the stories are told in the resonant voices of a young women with views. "My Man Bovanne" is an affectionate story about blind and aging love. "The Hammer Man" tells the girl's side of the story in her fight with Manny, who "was supposed to be crazy. That was his story. To say you were bad put some people off. But to say you were crazy, well you were officially not to be messed with." "Raymond's Run" tells how twelve-year-old Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker - a girl with "a big rep as the baddest thing around" - takes care of her big brother Raymond and beats Gretchen P. Lewis in the 50-yard dash. In "Mississippi Ham Rider" an aspiring young reporter from New York - called, "in the third person absentular," a "high-yaller Northern bitch" trying "to hit on evil old Ham" - tries to interview and tape an old southern blues guitar player. In resplendent and affectionate language, Toni Cade Bambara writes "straight-up fiction" with the powerful and lasting force of good strong love. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.
Review
"Ms. Bambara grabs you by the throat...she dazzles, she charms." --Chicago Daily News
"Among the best portraits of black life to have appeared in some time." -- Saturday Review
"Bambara presents situations that build like improvisations on a melody....As drawn with spirit and subtlety. [Her characters] are-even in their defeats-a pleasure to watch."
-- Newsweek
Review
"Ms. Bambara grabs you by the throat...she dazzles, she charms." --Chicago Daily News
"Among the best portraits of black life to have appeared in some time." -- Saturday Review
"Bambara presents situations that build like improvisations on a melody....As drawn with spirit and subtlety. [Her characters] are-even in their defeats-a pleasure to watch."
-- Newsweek
Book Description
Ms. Bambara grabs you by the throat...she dazzles, she charms." -- Chicago Daily NewsIn these fifteen superb stories, written in a style at once ineffable and immediately recognizable, Toni Cade Bambara gives us compeIling portraits of a wide range of unforgettable characters, from sassy children to cunning old men, in scenes shifting between uptown New York and rural North CaroLina. A young girl suffers her first betrayal. A widow flirts with an elderly blind man against the wishes of her grown-up children. A neighborhood loan shark teaches o white social worker a lesson in responsibility. And there is more. Sharing the world of Toni Cade Bambara's "straight-up fiction" is a stunning experience."Among the best portraits of black life to have appeared in some time." -- Saturday Review"Bambara presents situations that build like improvisations on a melody....As drawn with spirit and subtlety. [her characters] are-even in their defeats-a pleasure to watch."-- Newsweek
From the Inside Flap
In these fifteen superb stories, written in a style at once ineffable and immediately recognizable, Toni Cade Bambara gives us compelling portraits of a wide range of unforgettable characters, from sassy children to cunning old men, in scenes shifting between uptown New York and rural North CaroLina. A young girl suffers her first betrayal. A widow flirts with an elderly blind man against the wishes of her grown-up children. A neighborhood loan shark teaches o white social worker a lesson in responsibility. And there is more. Sharing the world of Toni Cade Bambara's "straight-up fiction" is a stunning experience.
From the Back Cover
"Ms. Bambara grabs you by the throat...she dazzles, she charms." --Chicago Daily News
"Among the best portraits of black life to have appeared in some time." -- Saturday Review
"Bambara presents situations that build like improvisations on a melody....As drawn with spirit and subtlety. [Her characters] are-even in their defeats-a pleasure to watch."-- Newsweek
Gorilla, My Love ANNOTATION
In these 15 superb stories, written in a style at once ineffable and immediately recognizable, Toni Cade Bambara gives us compelling portraits of a wide range of unforgettable characters, from sassy children to cunning old men, in scenes shifting between uptown New York and rural North Carolina.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In these fifteen superb stories, written in a style at once ineffable and immediately recognizable, Toni Cade Bambara gives us compeIling portraits of a wide range of unforgettable characters, from sassy children to cunning old men, in scenes shifting between uptown New York and rural North CaroLina. A young girl suffers her first betrayal. A widow flirts with an elderly blind man against the wishes of her grown-up children. A neighborhood loan shark teaches o white social worker a lesson in responsibility. And there is more. Sharing the world of Toni Cade Bambara's "straight-up fiction" is a stunning experience.
Art & Photography
Book Info
