African-American Books

Great Book by an author who was born into the game and has the unique abilty to show blacks involvement with Wallstreet since day one.

You never know where you're going unless you know where you came from! I just started the book, and I wish my finance professors had incorporated this into the otherwise impeccable curriculum at Clark Atlanta. Very interesting read. Every person on wall street should read it, it's not only black history but AMERICAN history.

I found the information in this book very informative and surprising that black participation in finance went back as far as it did. Stories of black stockbrokers and mutual fund salesmen in the 1950's to the investment bankers of today, records the slow but meaningful progress made on the Street in the last few decades. Hopefully, the progress will continue....

This book was an impulse buy for me, I have always had little interest in Wall Street but my son works in the securities industry so I thought I would read this for some background. I am very glad I did because I did not realize how deep African American history in the financial world is. I enjoyed the stories of people like Philip Jenkins and John Patterson, early pioneers who deserve greater recognition for their contributions. I think that this book is an important contribution of both African American and Wall Street history and does a good job of illuminating aspects about the history of finance that went unrecognized for far too long.

This book fills in the missing pages of Wall Street's History. It documents how African-Americans overcame racism and other barriers to become successful in the financial securities industry. This should be part of every business school's curriculum.

I brought this item as a gift for someone who was dealing with fibroids. Prior to ordering the book on line, I had the pleasure to review the book as well. It is an excellent and informative book, which is well written. I recommend this book for any women who is dealing with fibroids.

Thank you.

the best book on the market for women of color who suffer from fibroids.when i was thinking of surgery monique's book helped me make the final choice.I am so glad I bought it.I will recommend it to all those who are going through the same thing.

This book is WONDERFUL. It is easy to read and the humor is great too! It gives you more information then you can image. It prepares you with questions to ask your doctor; what foods to avoid, how to share what you are going through with your mate and much, much more. More importantly, she praises God! A book to have in your library. An EXCELLENT Reference tool. I have recommended this book to four women within the last two months and told at least twenty or so about it. Ladies, we must not keep this to ourselves... SHARE it with others.

I found Monique Brown's book more informative than any I read of its kind. So much so, I recommended it to a number of women and even purchased it as a gift for some of my friends.
Many of them wished they would have known about the book prior to undergoing a hysterectomy or a myomectomy.

I found the case studies inspiring and the resources quite helpful for my research. The diagrams were awesome as they helped me to picture what fibroids actually look like in and on the uterus. Furthermore, the natural healing information has been extremely helpful in providing alternatives to surgery. Overall, I especially liked that it was an easy warm read and not cold and clinical.

First, let me say that, "It's A Sistah Thing," by Monique R. Brown, is one well written and well researched book on fibroids. Ms. Brown's credits include: senior editor of Black Enterprise Magazine, an adjunct professor at Long Island University, and President and Founder of Professional Women of Color.

The author, Monique Brown, had fibroids and has herself faced the horrible specter of hysterectomy. She was one of the lucky ones and got a myomectomy. She reports that her myomectomy improved her sex life.

The main thrust of the book is to advance alternative approaches to fibroids; however, she does take the op to sound many important alarms. She is delicately raising the hysterectomy/race connection. She notes UAE is new with few studies done and then adds Dr. Scott Goodwin's remark, pg. 203, "If you embolize and block the blood supply to the nerves going into the uterus, those nerves may very well be damaged. And if you were feeling something in your uterus that was pleasurable, you may no longer feel that after embolization."

And Monique is pretty straightforward about hysterectomy and sex. On page 204 she quotes Herbert A. Goldfarb as saying that 40% of women indicate a reduced sexual response after a hysterectomy and then goes on to briefly explain why. But what made me buy the book?

One short sentence found on pg. 201, "There's also a theory that the vagus nerve, a nerve that shoots from the cervix to the brain stem, is a pathway for orgasmic sensations." Readers, that is not common knowledge. Ms. Brown has done her homework.
Let her share what she has learned with you!

This book was needed quick for a college class - thanks for making it easily accessible without having to leave the house to search for it.

This was a very interesting story, I enjoyed this book better than Their Eyes Were Watching God, and that says alot. The story of John Buddy is a turnpager and you will not be disappointed. The best I've read in a long time.

I loved this story. The story is so true to life for many women who are with men, who don't seem to be able to get it together, unless there is a woman making it happen.

The husband is a great orator, but isn't the kind of man he should be. His wife is his long suffering mate. I just love Zora's use of black dialet. It is so beautiful.

When I read the following excerpt, it felt like something hit me in the head. I was moved beyond words. It goes something like this: "Ah done been in sorrows kitchen, and ah done licked out all the pots; ah done died in grief and been buried in de bitter waters. Ah done rose from the dead lak Lazarus. Nothing can touch mah soul no mo!"

I highly recomment it.

I got an excellent book from this person. thank you so much. great doing business with you.

I always thought of Toni Morrison as the leader, the queen, and the matriarch of black women's fiction, but the more I read of Zora Neale Hurston, the more I feel that everyone else must have taken their cues from her!

Her writing is enchanting and thought provoking, her use of "black" language is absolutely delightful. The story and the characters are interesting in and of themselves. What makes this work really shine is the language, and the heritage and history that it preserves. She takes care to write the way that people speak, resulting a unorthodox spelling and usage that at first I had to say out loud in order to properly understand. (My grandmother didn't have to do that, though, and for that reason alone, she loved Zora Hurston.) Ms. Hurston also uses words, idioms and phrases that are unique to black america, and that my generation would likely have lost -- the news of the "Black Dispatch," "Old Hannah" rising, "hittin' a straight lick with a crooked stick." Some of the sayings I remember my Grandmother using, and some I remember using as a child. I found all of them interesting and beautiful, and I am grateful to Ms. Hurston for finding them valuable enough to put down.

Author Nick Kotz brings out the personalities of the heavy hitters of the 1960's, especially President Lyndon Johnson and civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. The book begins with the assassination of President Kennedy as Lyndon Johnson is then thrust into the presidency. Determined to carry out Kennedy's programs Johnson achieves initial success with his Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Equal Voting Rights Act of 1965. The author does a wonderful job characterizing Johnson's ability to give others the "Johnson treatment" in convincing them to go along with his programs. He has to deal with, not only conservative Democratic politicians determined to keep segregation permanent, but with diverse personalities such as Bobby Kennedy who felt Johnson was trying to "take over" too fast following his brother's assassination, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover who kept voluminous files on those he may need to blackmail at some time in the future, and Martin Luther King, Jr. who wanted to achieve equal rights through nonviolence. King realized, however, that he needed to wake up the country by having them see the physical violence his marchers were subjected to in the South. Vietnam put the kibosh on Johnson's Great Society program and War on Poverty to such an extent that he chose not to run for a second term in that horrendous year of 1968 which saw both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated, the Vietnam was spiraled out of control, cities continued to burn in rioting as they had in 1967, and Richard Nixon went on to become the next president. Whether you lived through these years or not they were historic times and this book is required reading for those wanting to learn about this period in history.

A few more pieces to the civil rights movement,very well written. there was new stuff here along with insight and some behind the story things I really liked. You should enjoy this one.

Before reading this book my interest in the Civil Rights Era was probably at best a 4 on a scale of 1-10. After reading a few pages, I was instantly hooked. "Judgment Days" is easily one of the best-written books I've read in the last year (possibly only surpassed by "John Adams"). Nick Kotz does a wonderful job at making history read like a novel and despite the fact that someone completely unfamiliar with American history would still possess some basic knowledge of the subject matter: most Civil Rights legislation is passed, Vietnam is a quagmire, MLK is shot - I found myself unable to put this book down. Upon reading this book, I have a new-found respect for LBJ, view MLK in a different light, and my disdain for J. Edgar Hoover is even greater. This book should be a mandatory read for most US History and Civics classes. The struggle of the Civil Rights Era is only a generation removed for most of America's youth - yet is viewed as distant history. What MLK and others endured to ensure that the American Dream is possible for anyone provided that they want it, is eye opening (to say the least). The author does a great job of revealing how in the "land of the free" you were only truly free as long as your skin wasn't black. Nick Kotz deserves the Pulitzer for this book and it's also an excellent tie in to "The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Senate" by Robert A. Caro.

No need to be interested in Civil Rights to enjoy this book. If you aren't hooked after the first chapter, no need to continue.

Though Kotz is writing about oft-covered material, this book comes across as a fresh and vital examination of the relationship of two of the most important figures of the previous century. He spends a lot of time going over well known facts but also highlights the personalities of these two men. The portraits that emerge are quite interesting. MLK comes across as a man committed to change and--despite minor flaws--as the hero he was.

More surprising is Kotz take on LBJ, who comes across as equally committed to change and righting wrongs. Kotz argues that LBJ always displayed a commitment to improving the lot of the poor. Though he does not explain LBJ's early votes against civil rights, he argues that his eventual support of major civil rights legislation had its roots in his desire to help the disadvantaged, like those he grew up with in the Hill Country of Texas.

While stressing that both men were brilliant leaders, Kotz does not shy away from their flaws--of which LBJ had many. Most interesting is his take that both hoped to accomplish significantly more in the realm of abolishing poverty when their efforts were cut short--LBJ's by the morass of Vietnam and MLK's by a bullet. Ultimately this was a great read and should serve to hold those readers over who are eagerly awaiting the years-away release of Robert Caro's next LBJ volume.

This is one of my favorite Baldwin novels. Only someonle with Baldwin's background could so poignantly express who Arthur was and how he felt about his music. An excellent piece and a must read!

This book is the best book I have ever read in my life. Its emotionally naked grappling with what race and violence has done to our country is painfully acute and brutally honest. Every American should read this.

From the moment I read the first page, I have loved this novel. I have read it several times and each time the characters come to life and I find myself caring about them. Hall has to deal with so many issues--least of all, is Ruth the woman he truly loves or should he be with the evangelist? Arthur-the gay gospel singer who sometimes would just as well have a drink or a man than sing the gospel, but who sang it so well when he chose to. Then there are the complex lives of their friends and parents that seem so real and yet so tragic. Baldwin created a masterpiece!

Probably one of the more underappreciated novels in American literature. It is unfair to charecterize Baldwin as merely a social critic of the civil rights era. He stands alongside Dickens as one of the great writers of any era, with the ability to articualte an understanding of human nature that trancends any era and stands second to none.

This novel is a testament in a way, the testament of a man who has lived long and well, too much even and too hard, in the world. A testimony too. Every single event in this novel about a black man who became a gospel singer and then a blues singer is the crystalisation of the whole history of Afro-Americans in the USA, the whole history of each character that is living the event through, the whole past and future of a present that is both crooked and promising. That is the very dilemma of this book, a dilemma that we feel and sense everywhere, on every page. Each moment in the life of these characters is the condensation of the cosmic, historical and human past of the individual and the sublimation of all possible wishes, desires, potentialities that this individual has developed in his situation and with his heritage. The novel may appear as very pessimistic because one cannot evade their heritage. But it is tremendously optimistic because one can always choose to realize their dreams, even if the situation around limits the possibilities and the chances to succeed. The aim of life is not to succeed, but it is not to fail, hence to move forward a few steps, and that one can always do it, even if it entails a lot of suffering and a lot of pain. Baldwin is also very optimistic about the world, about human beings, about Afro-Americans because he believes and tries to demonstrate that this forward progress of the pilgrims we are is fuelled by the happiness one gets from life, and that happiness comes from one's effort to accept what may provide happiness, no matter what that is, and the first thing to accept is love, no matter what form it may take. Yet there is a limit for Afro-Americans, a limit and a contradiction : they have great difficulties thinking in other terms than racial terms. They have been the victims as a « race » of deportation, slavery, discrimination, in a word a holocaust, and they cannot differenciate between the whites who are responsible for that fate, those who have made a direct profit out of it, even if many others have been able to enjoy some improved conditions thanks to the exploitation of black slaves, and the whites who have no responsibility in this historical process. How can we put on the same level, in the same boat the slave owners, the slave traffickers on one side, and the serfs that could only survive between famines, and the workers who were exploited too in the factories, and still are ? How can we put in the same bag the pharmaceutical firms that let Africans die because they don't want generic drugs to be produced and the workers of these pharmaceutical firms who are exploited just the same, even if in another way : the research and the patents the bosses want the poor to pay at the highest price, and in this very case most of these firms are American in the world, have been produced by workers who should be considered as the owners of their work and are, too often, paid a pittance when compared with the riches their bosses get out of this work. That's James Baldwin's dilemma. He hardly can discriminate between the white corn and the white chaff, and the white chaff is the workers, those who create the riches of the white corn. Some chapters become extremely poignant when this issue is brought up here and there and when Black Arthur cannot accept to love and be loved by white Guy, just because Guy is white and considered by principle as an accomplice of what the lords of the white « race » have done in history. And one of James Baldwin's concluding thoughts is : « To undo the horror, we repeat it ». And not to repeat the horror of the killing of a black man by some whites (like Peanut for instance), Baldwin makes his Arthur die in London, in a pub where he is the only black man, and by falling in a state of amazed drunkness on the stairs leading to the restrooms in the basement, at a moment when love had been slightly roughened by life into a distance that could have been avoided if love had not gone through a storm in what appears like nothing but a glass of water, the glass of water of everyday life.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Umph .. Umph .. Umph .. Daniela and Caleb's love story was really good. Both had a fierce attraction to one another that escalated into a sizzling passion. Everyone around them could see it, except for them.

Buy and enjoy bcz a Maureen Smith novel is ALWAYS worth the money!

This is my second novel by this author and I can tell you she just gets better. A legal Affair is for true romantics. Daniela and Caleb's chemistry sizzles on the page and will have you wishing you had a crack at the sexy Caleb yourself. More than a man's man, Caleb has everything a woman could ever wish for. Daniela was a great heroine who was smart, sexy and knew how to hook her target with supreme ease. This author is one to watch.

Being in college right now, the prospect of finding a gorgeous teacher to fawn over and fall in love with is like the biggest fantasy popping around in my head. This is the second book that I devoured by Mrs. SMith and again was not disappointed. I believe this was her first stab at contemporary romance, rather than her usual romantic suspense and I'll be damned if she didn't blow us out of the water with this one as well. Ex lawyer turned rebel law professor Caleb Thorne is knocked off his feet when beautiful Daniella Roarke walks into his class late on the first day. From there, the book takes the most delicious turns. From a fight with sweets, to stolen kisses in a stoage closet, you'll be hooked. I hope my school gets a Caleb Thorne. he he he

In the first installment of Maureen Smith's Harlequin "Affair" series, one of the biggest cases in Roake Investigations history lands in their laps. Daniela Roake goes undercover as a law student in hopes of obtaining information from Caleb Thorne, her law professor, regarding his father's past indiscretions. However, after one look at Caleb, and knowing she would have to get even closer to him in order to complete her assignment, Daniela was a goner. Caleb, on the other hand never knew what hit him, one minute he was lecturing at a leisurely pace and the next he was staring into the face of his soul mate. After her first day jitters, Daniela gets into the swing of things, but is unprepared for the feelings Caleb evokes when they eventually find themselves alone. Unable to maintain his composure whenever Daniela is near, Caleb is willing to jeopardize his career to be with her. Daniela, torn between feelings of the heart and bound by duty, is having a hard time keeping her cover under wraps.

In Smith's first contemporary romance readers are rewarded with an awe-inspiring story about finding the perfect mate. Daniela and Caleb's relationship was an ignited fuse, burning fast, and finally triggering an ultimate explosion. Although, readers will not find the suspense, espionage and mayhem in Smith's previous novels, A LEGAL AFFAIR has enough twists and turns to keep you glued to its pages. I highly recommend this novel as well as book two, A Guilty Affair, and its follow-up, A Risky Affair slated for release March 2008.

Reviewed by Pamela Bolden
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

I truly loved this book!This is my first maureen smith novel and now i am a huge fan!!Its well written and enticing.Caleb is most defnitley my kind of man.Ive read alot and i do mean ALOT of romance novels and this one stands out from the rest!

Great book. Insightful writing.

I purchased this book for my American Religious Diversity class and found that it gives you a clear timeline of the Civil Rights Movement and how Martin viewed it as the American dream and how Malcolm viewed it as a nightmare. The book's chapters follow the Civil Rights Movement chronologically by date and discuss Martin's and Malcolm's personal lives, religious obligations, beliefs, priorities, and virtually every other aspect in enough detail to give you a clear picture of the time. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil Rights Movement.

Dr. Cone really points out the differences between Dr King and Malcolm X like no one else. But more importantly he sees so many simalaities. For erxample Malcom X encouraged blacks to go to Christian churches and get involved in social isues. Further, Dr Cone points out that Malcolm X wanted to go to Law School!!.

Also it is interesting that Dr. King refused to debate their respective postions.

Every time I am in Harlem at Lennox Ave and 125th St. I reflect on Dr Cone's masterpiece.

Have all children and adults read this book.

Darrell Pone,MD
Old Westbury, NY

Dr James Cone's MARTIN AND MALCOLM AND AMERICA: A DREAM OR A NIGHTMARE is one of the best books I've encountered.

Cone discusses the rhetorical strategies of Martin Luther King, Jr, and Malcolm X as they applied to their particular audiences: King to the South and Malcolm X to the North. Cone argues that Martin King's strategy of non-violent protest, while effective in the extremely segregated and anti-integrationist South, was not effective in the North (particularly in cities like Chicago and Detroit) because the discourse and policy of "integration" was already superficially accepted by Northeners. The "liberal" North found King's rhetoric to be more or less agreeable even as the structures of discrimination continued to subject black people to a brutal double-standard. Thus Malcolm X's policy of Black Nationalism (separatist rather than integrationist) that allowed for violence epitomized by the slogan "by any means necessary" was more successful in the North because it more effectively confronted personal and systematic racism. Long story short: two different rhetors with different rhetorics because of different situations, different audiences, with different immediate goals. Interestingly, near the close of both men's lives--Malcolm X killed in 1965 and Martin King in 1968--Malcolm began to sound a little more like Martin; and Martin began to speak even more forcefully, not unlike Malcolm had been known to do previously.

I had the great luxury of hearing Dr Cone present a lecture based on the book back in 1992. Twelve years later, my assesment of the book remains constant: Outstanding.

This book is one of the best books I've read concerning MLK Jr. and Malcolm X in a comparative manner. From beginning to end it is written in a fashion that keeps you intrigued. I won't provide a summary because that has already been done but the detail of these mens lives is remarkable. I definitely feel that you can not go wrong with purchasing this book because you will not be disappointed.

Judith Dupre's book is a keeper, a volume to be read and treasured for generations. It's for those with a relative who fought in World War II, and those who have visited Gettysburg, seen the Liberty Bell and marveled at Mount Rushmore.
Ms. Dupre infuses major historical events with glowing new life. She fills her pages with interesting facts and profound truths, explaining, for instance, why the triumphant Indian Americans were not commemorated in the first 120 years after the Little Bighorn Battle in Montana. Other battles -- from Gettysburg, World War II, Korea -- yield important cemeteries. Ms. Dupre's presentations range from the familiar (Statue of Liberty) to the unfathomable (Saint-Gaudens's monument to Clover Adams in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery.) In a book that easily stirs emotions her description of New York City prisoners burying the unclaimed bodies of convicts at Hart Island ("the marginalized are interred by the marginalized with dignity") is especially poignant.
The book will be valued by those with connections to these sacred sites, but it belongs in the collections of all who are tuned into American history.

Bravo! MUCH MORE than a "coffee table" book! Dupré's thoroughly researched and cogently presented text outshines the fascinating graphics. "Monuments" taught me more than I had intended to learn about the subject, and made me realize memorials talk about history in an unique way. I would recommend this book to any and all readers, especially those interested in getting a new and intriguing take on presidential and military history.

What impressed me of this work is how well it was researched. It has many side stories. Names and dates are carefully reported. The linkages to similar memorials or concepts are included in shaded boxes as ancillary threads. Was also impressed on the timeline, that reveals how the event that is memorialized eventually came into fruition of an actual memorial.

My only criticism is not clarifying the geographical location of the monument (it assumes the reader knows where it is).

The bonus is including ample space on the mass-conscious inpromptu memorials, such as leaving teddy bears, flowers, notes on the side of a tragedy or catastrophic event. I would add to that the silent and passive solitary memorials left by people along roadsides, memorializing a traffic accident. Or even the placement of a geocache, a box in the woods containing a logbook, such as the one in Western Pennsylvania in remembrance of two teenagers killed ["In Memory Of Clairenda and Loretta" GCQHZP]

On the discussion of people mourning by leaving items at places such as the Vietnam Memorial, Oklahoma City, Columbine, the author however missed to mention that the same people that visit such memorials can actually take an object that is laying there. The items left are considered as abbandoned property by the National Park Service for 30 days, and only thereafter picked up and inventorized into the national museum system. In the meantime, the same item can be picked up by visitors, and the memorial acts as an exchange place. ... very much like a geocache.

This fascinating and unusual book is beautifully produced- it would make an excellent gift. It's a kind of treasury of richly detailed visits to a wide variety of different kinds of monuments. Dupre describes each one historically, evoking the powerful emotions behind the monument or memorial so that the original need can be felt and understood. The book gives us access to the people who created these monuments, and for whom they were created. Scholarly and also profoundly intuitive, Judith Dupre understands that a monument is by definition a labor of love, and has given us one.

Judith's books are always enjoyable but there is something especially wonderful about this one. It isn't just history or architecture, she finds the heart of why we remember, the purpose of these places. The histories are told with sensitivity and care, and the dozens of people that inhabit the book are portrayed colorfully and with close observation of their humanity, something usual lacking in ordinary history books. Having been to Manzanar several times and wandered over its acres myself, her narrative touched me and brought alive the people and the time.

I would recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in the human side of history.

CAUTION: Be aware of your surroundings if you are in public! You will find yourself bursting out in unexpected, uncontrollable laughter. This book, in fact, all of the books by Pat G'Orge-Walker are absolutely, positively, downright hysterical! I would love to see these characters brought to life on stage in a play.

I have never, ever laughed so much and so hard at any book in my entire life! I laughed so hard that I cried. My co-workers would come over to my cubicle to see if I was alright since I was usually the only person in my row after 5pm and I would find myself laughing out loud even though I tried hard not to. This was a wonderful, wonderful book and I was sorry to finally finish it. I have read all but one of this author's books (I am having trouble finding the last one as it is out of print now). Of the 3 that I have read, this was the funniest with "Cruisin On Desperation" being next. Definitely an enjoyable read!

This novel is off the wall.It is very funny,lively, and page turner.
It really blend with some of our church folks these days maybe, not as much, but it's there.I look forward to reading more from Pat.Keeping it real!!

This book had its moments that was funny and it makes you think about our "church folks". I enjoyed how things turned out in the end. I'm waiting for the next book to see what happens with Miss thing that was talking to the lawyer.

When Mother Eternal Ann Everlastin dies, the fried chicken hits the fan in Pat G'Orge-Walker's, Mother Eternal Ann Everlastin's Dead. After being a faithful member of Ain't Nobody Right But Us--All Others Goin' to Hell Church, pastored by the Rev. Knott Enough Money, Mother Everlastin moves her membership. Needless to say, the Rev. Bling Mo' Bling, of The No Hope Now--Mercy Neva Church, is all to happy to receive the wealthy-widowed-several-times-multimillionaire into his fold. When Mother suddenly dies with her hands clutched to the cash register during service, the antics begin as everyone competes for Mother's millions. Unknown to everyone, the overbearing Mother is still running things from the grave as she teaches the members of both churches a lesson on serving God with a sincere heart.

If you have ever gone to an African-American church you will recognize some of the antics in Mother Eternal Ann Everlastin's Dead. Although I am not a particular fan of this particular genre, I found this book to be laugh-out-loud funny at times. Walker managed to bring over-the-top characters to life while delivering a powerful message in the process.

If you are a Christian fiction fan and you like a good laugh, do, by all means, get a copy of Pat G'Orge-Walker's, Mother Eternal Ann Everlastin's Dead.

T. RHYTHM KNIGHT
APOOO BookClub

'My Jim' was a interesting love story. I have never read 'Huckleberry Finn', but I will now. I would like to know Jim from Mark's point of view. Although the story was told in the ending days of slavery, the lives of Jim and Sadie are so similar to black men and women's lives today. Men are setting out to find whatever and leaving their families behind, often making new ones along their journey. Meanwhile, the woman waits behind trying to hold to the love and the keep the family together.

My Jim flowed like a great poem through its rhythm and imagery. I read this book in eight hours and enjoyed every minute. Sadie was a rock, who had weakenesses, like real people. I appreiciated that about her character. The only thing that took me for a loop was the absence of punctuation marks, particularly commas and quotation marks. I believe Ms. Rawles omitted them for dialect effect, but it forced me to re-read some sentences to see who was speaking, or to clarify the meaning for the sentences. But otherwise a great read!

Among the many poignant scenes in Twain's "Huckleberry Finn", few stand out like "Jim's" soliloquy on his lost family's life. Jim's discovery that a daughter was deaf was one of many things Huck discovered about Jim's humanity - and his own. What was omitted in the account was mention of Jim's wife, dear Elizabeth's mother. Nancy Rawles has taken Twain's character, a runaway slave who shatters Huck's traditional views, and weaves a tale about this unknown woman. Of greater significance, however, is Rawles' vivid personalising of what it meant to be a black slave in the freedom-loving United States. In a book economical with words, but graphically rich, Rawles has given us a gut-wrenching account of slave life.

Jim's granddaughter has an offer of marriage, but is hesitant. The gran, Jim's wife Sadie, urges her to accept the proposal from "a good man". Sadie will make the pair a quilt, which will have the family story illustrated in the patches and pieces sewn in. As the quilt is assembled, Sadie relates the story of her own life and the man she loved. As a slave with "healing" talents, Sadie led a precarious life on a tobacco plantation near Hannibal, Missouri. While her powers were in demand by white and black alike, her situation as a slave made her vulnerable. The scenes of abuse, both verbal and physical, are sure to keep the book out of the reach of children. That's a shame, since the story is being told to a teen-ager, who has little more notion of slave life than today's youngsters. Sadie is able to glean some comfort from Jim, finally coming to love him. The marriage scene, performed by members of the slave community instead of a white church, is telling.

Jim, owned by Miz Watson and kept out of the fields, follows a peripatetic life. He is in and out of Sadie's ken, and Rawles' technique for imparting his journey with Huck down the Mississippi is handled with tantalising subtlety. If you haven't read "Huck Finn" much will be lost in translation. Jim's more extensive experiences in comparison with other slaves gives him a raging desire for freedom. Sadie, ever cautious and wary of patrollers who recover runaways, tries but fails to temper Jim's ambition. Later, when emancipation does come during the Civil War, it proves largely illusory. The blacks may be free, but they're hardly secure - and never "equal" with those who fought to end slavery. If for no other reason, this situation is a strong motivation for Sadie's daughter to marry a man who seizes opportunities for betterment.

In one sense, this book is a tease. Jim's infrequent appearances depict him as a man of intense feelings. Twain's picture of Jim pointed out that he was as human as the next man - a significant departure in US literature at a time when segregation was coming into its own as a legal fiction. Rawles' sketches project him fully as a man - an individual with hopes, fears, successes and failures - just like the rest of us. Rawles' created character Sadie, strong and enduring as she is, remains locked in a narrow perspective. She doesn't see the world as Jim had. While she endures with a strength he might lack - after all, he ran away and left her behind - her wants are limited to family. What is needed is a companion to this volume. It's time some skilled author, who understands Twain, the era and the people, tackle the job of producing "Jim's" biography or "autobiography"? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

What an amazing novel! Rawles' portrayal is of Jim the man, seen through the eyes of the woman who loved him, the woman who was left behind when he escaped and who was tortured and punished for years because of it. I don't think I have ever read anything that speaks more poignantly about the power of love, or the misery that was wrought by it at a time when people (black people, that is) did not control their own bodies. I was so moved, inspired, and devastated by My Jim that I cried for a full 15 minutes after I finished it.

On behalf of all of the people whose anscestors have been the Jims and Tontos and Prissies in HISstory, thank you, Nancy Rawles, for adding this remarkable work to the body of American literature. I can't wait to read what's next.

In MY JIM, as Sadie, a former slave, and her granddaughter, Marianne, piece together a quilt, Sadie pieces together her own story, gradually revealing the history of the items she has kept for years in a canning jar: a small knife, a piece of felt, the bottom of a clay bowl, a child's tooth, a shiny gold button, and a corn pipe thick with tar. The contents of the jar represent a lifetime of misery, pain, heartache, and survival.

"I gives you my first heart Marianne. The heart I gots for my mama. And the heart I gots for my Jim." In those few words, Rawles lets the main character, Sadie, tell us her stark truth: To survive a brutal life that would drive some to suicide or madness, Sadie has allowed few people into her "first heart." Living as a slave, Sadie learns quickly that friends, family, even your own children, can be wrenched from you with no warning. But Jim enters a young Sadie's "first heart" on the day he is born and lives in it always; his love for her, her love for him, and the hope of his return carry Sadie through years of soul-deadening losses.

Rawles writes simply, relating the most gut-wrenching scenes with control and reserve, with a matter-of-factness that serves to underscore the fact that Sadie's losses were not uncommon but rather a fact of life for a person in bondage. As I read MY JIM, I wondered about the other Sadies and Jims that walked this earth, knowing that this story isn't the story of one but of many.

I finished the book with tears forming, a weight on my chest, and admiration for the writing of Nancy Rawles. She has produced a work of art.