#BookReview: ONLY THE STRONG by Jabari Asim

Set in the early 1970s in the fictional Gateway City he created in A Taste of Honey, Only the Strong reads like Jabari Asim’s love letter to his hometown of St. Louis. Gateway City is changing. The decay of the north side of town has already begun. Mill Creek Valley had been demolished and the promises of new housing and business developments in that area have been broken. The revolutionaries that once fought for civil rights have moved within the establishment and are now politicians. The segregated businesses of previous years have gone by the wayside and there’s even a black woman working at the lingerie counter at the local department store.

Only the Strong is centered around Guts Tolliver, former enforcer for local kingpin, Ananias Goode. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Guts finds that he no longer has the heart for breaking legs and killing his fellow man at the bequest of his boss. With Goode’s blessing, Guts instead spends his time running a taxi service and thinking about Pearl Jordan and banana pudding. Still, he keeps his ear to the ground, always aware of what’s going on around him, and always on the lookout for things or people that might bring harm to Goode.

Tolliver’s days start with feeding the ducks at Fairgrounds Park and catching up with the locals, like the two women that tend a memorial garden daily, and observing the quiet fisherwoman that never seems to move from her spot. Guts has just been hired to babysit Rip Crenshaw, a star player for the local baseball team, which would be easier if Rip wasn’t such a wild card. A missing ring causes more trouble than Guts is sure Rip is worth, but he promises him that it will turn up eventually and he’s a man of his word.

Guts’ interactions are often entertaining but never more so than when he’s visited by Playfair, a local booster. Playfair is a lighthearted hustle man who peddles his wares out of his car. He immediately brings to mind a charismatic Huggy Bear-like character. In addition to Playfair, there’s the cast of characters that always seems to hang around local businesses: the three gentlemen that hold court in front daily, including a man that works across the street but always seems to be at the cab stand; Nifty, a petty thief whose life Guts once spared and now uses an informant; and others in the neighborhood that stop by to chew the fat.

Dr. Artinces Noel is a model citizen. Once a quiet girl from Honey Springs, Kentucky, she’s now a respected pediatrician in Gateway City. During her tenure in the city, she’s worked her way up to the head of pediatrics at Abram Higgins Hospital. While no one bats an eye at the doctor taking in Charlotte Divine, a sullen teenage, the city would be scandalized to learn of who’s company the good doctor is keeping behind closed doors.

Most of the main characters are struggling with insecurities. As strong as he is physically, Guts can’t seem to find the wherewithal to meet the demands Pearl has placed on him. Charlotte’s abandonment as a baby has left her doubting whether or not anyone can truly care for her and she protects herself by rejecting people before they can reject her. Even Rip has problems believing that people like him and not his money or fame. Their insecurities don’t serve to make them weak characters; they’re more humanized because of them.

I could go into comparisons between Guts and other male protagonists like Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins or Brawley Brown or Attica Locke’s Jay Porter, but I won’t. Guts is a great character in his own right and there are really no comparisons to be made. As I read about him cruising down Natural Bridge or Delmar, crossing over Vandeventer or venturing across the bridge, while listening to the Man in the Red Vest, I couldn’t stop thinking about his next adventure in the Gateway City streets. Asim has created all of these great characters that have stories to tell and stories I want to hear.  Yes, I have a deep affection for stories set in St. Louis, but I would venture to say that Only the Strong is one of those books that resonates with you regardless of whether or not you have a connection to the area.

288 p.
Published: May 2015

A Reader & Her Favorite Librarian...A Love Story

Okay, I was a little extra with that title, but if you've been reading this blog for a few years, you know that I love the library.  St. Louis has an amazing public library system and I actually feel sorry for people that live in places where libraries cut hours and close branches.  We have 17 branches here that are open year-round and seven of them are even open on Sundays.

A few years ago I wrote a post about why I'd never quit the library for ebooks.  Well, the St. Louis library offers the option to download ebooks, audio books and mp3s at home, but I still like to drop by my neighborhood branch and the main library to peruse the shelves and find hidden gems that are easy to overlook when browsing online.  The main library closed two years ago, not because there wasn't enough funding or interest for it.  It closed for a $ 70 million renovation!

With the closure of Central Library, I lost Sterling.  Who is Sterling you ask? He's only my favorite librarian.  In a previous post, I broke down my librarians based on their characteristics, but Sterling is the only one whose name I actually knew.

I'd miss Sterling, the gay librarian, who keeps track of everything I've read in the past 9 years and will not hesitate to say, "Oh no Ms. B, you've already read that! Child, I've saved something else for you to read." I'll admit that sometimes I read so much that I don't remember titles, authors or covers. Without Sterling I'd end up with a stack of already reads.

I'd miss Intense Librarian who always makes a big show of adding up my fines and asking if I'm ready to pay them. No, Ms. Ma'am. I happen to know that I can rack up $ 15 in fines before you cut me off and make me pay. If I was going to pay them right now, I'd have my wallet out, now wouldn't I? And yes, I know how to renew my books online since I requested them online. Yes, I know I could renew them online and save myself fines. Just give me the books already!

I'd miss Sympathetic Librarian who constantly apologizes for the long line at the counter, not knowing where to find the book I'm asking about, and the loud outbursts from the homeless men that hang out at the library.

And I'd even miss Nonchalant Librarian who pretends that he doesn't care what I'm reading, but always asks me about such and such book when I return my latest stack.

Who wouldn't love a cast of characters like that?  When the library closed for renovations, Sterling decided to retire and I've missed him desperately.  Nonchalant Librarian relocated to another branch and I run across him occasionally, but no one could take Sterling's place.  And then today, I was walking into the grocery store and I heard somebody say, "It IS you!"  I turned around and there was Sterling.  I squealed and hollered, "Oh my God! Where have you been? I've missed you!"  The old men sitting in front of the store were looking at us like what in the hell is going on here, but I didn't even care.  I was so happy to see him.  And in true Sterling style, he waved me off and said even though he retired, he has "a little piece of a job" now, and that he ran in the store to tell me how cute I looked in my dress.  Ahhh yes, Sterling...good for book recommendations and making me feel good.  I floated on cloud nine the rest of the afternoon.

32 Candles Reading & Signing with Ernessa T. Carter

Ernessa T. Carter speaking at Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO on July 8, 2010

The audio is difficult to hear because the air conditioning was going.

#BookReview: A Taste of Honey: Stories - Jabari Asim

When Jabari Asim rolled through St. Louis earlier this year, I didn't attend the book signing because I hadn't yet read the book.  Now I really wish I had gone just to hear him read.  Billed as a set of sixteen short stories, A Taste of Honey is so much more than that.  It would be impossible to tell just one story and not wonder where it leads to or how the characters in that particular story affect characters in other stories.

Set in 1967 Gateway City, residents and those familiar with St. Louis will immediately recognize street names and neighborhood distinctions sprinkled throughout.  With a healthy cast of characters who could all be the main character, it is young Crispus that grabs my attention.  Though all stories are told in third person, when reading this I felt as if they were being told through the eyes of this young man.

There is the story of Rose, a young woman with the voice of an angel who lives to sing at church on Sundays, but spends the rest of the week pretending that her husband isn't as bad as he seems.  There's the friendship between the Reverend Washington and the notorious gangster, Ananais Goode, that no one can figure out. The neighborhood is rounded out with Guts Tolliver, the hit man with a sense of humor; Ray Mortimer, a white cop patrolling the beat; and several others that make this an absolutely delightful read.

What did you like about this book?
The author is a master of language and uses it to set the backdrop for an absolutely fascinating take on what life in St. Louis must have been like for African Americans, especially a nine year old boy.

What did you dislike about this book?
At just a little over 200 pages, I could have used a bit more.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Nothing.  If J. California Cooper were to decide to stop writing tomorrow, Jabari Asims could easily step into her role as the master of the short story.

205pp
Published March 2010




Theme: People Make the World Go Round by The Stylistics

#BookReview: Visions: The Story of a Black Girl Determined to Make It Despite the Odds - Williette D. Dotson

For the life of me, I couldn't tell you why I picked this book up. Oh wait, yes I can. I forgot to request books ahead of time from the library so I was left to wander the shelves trying to find something good to read. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Self-published in 1993, Visions is the story of Verna (no last name given), a poor black woman from a small Arkansas town who moves to St. Louis in the 1960s for a better life.

Arriving in St. Louis with her young child from a previous marriage and little more, Verna soon marries the father of the child she's currently carrying, Paul. The collapse of her second marriage leaves Verna alone to raise Waymon and Paula. When the handsome A.D. moves in with the family of three, life begins to changes in ways Paula and Waymon can't imagine. Waymon escapes by leaving for college, leaving Paula to fend for herself. At this point in the book, the story really becomes Paula's, while the others become secondary characters.

Determined to make a better life for herself, Paula sets off for college. The roadblocks she encountered while growing up are nothing compared to what lies in store for her in the coming years.

What did you like about this book?
It was a very quick read.

What did you dislike about this book?
It was extremely predictable for the most part. Occasionally I was surprised, but not very often.

What could the author do to improve this book?
More insight into the lives of Paula's mother and brother after she left home would have provided a more well rounded story. Instead the reader is left to guess why they act as they do.

190pp
Published March 1993

#BookReview: At the Elbows of My Elders: One Family's Journey Toward Civil Rights - Gail M. Grant

I suspect that this memoir held my attention only because it was written about St. Louis, a city that was segregated during the time period covered in this book, and still is to this day. At the Elbows of My Elders is the author's tribute to her parents, in particular her father, David Grant.

A prominent attorney and civil rights activist in segregated St. Louis, David Grant seems to have had a hand in tearing down several walls of institutional racism. Without intending to, he made his family one of the first to integrated the south side of the city. For those not familiar with St. Louis, whites tend to live on the south side and blacks on the north side. While this is a current condition, I was surprised to find that it existed as far back as the 1930s. Also surprising is the fact that white flight began as early as the '30s with white families fleeing for south county to avoid the handful of black families that moved into south city. The knowledge that the city is divided is often played up by the local media who reports any crime as occurring on the north side, even if it's midtown or downtown. In the minds of most St. Louisans, "the north side" is nothing more than code for black.

In a heavily Republican St. Louis, David Grant became one of the first to recognize that the black vote was being taken for granted by the party, without getting little in return. He was instrumental in persuading black voters to switch to the Democratic party. For this, blacks were rewarded with a new "colored" hospital, which would prove to be the third largest teaching hospital for black doctors and nurses.

Working as part of the original March on Washington (MOW) in 1941 with A. Phillip Randolph, their group was responsible for President Roosevelt's Executive Order No. 8802, also known as the Fair Employment Act, which integrated defense plants. By signing the order, the president avoided the embarrassing march planned for July 1, but he could not avoid the national movement that grew out of it. MOW units were formed throughout the United States and the St. Louis unit, headed up by David Grant, organized protests against several plants within the St. Louis area, forcing integration.

Though the author touches on her family's connection to several entertainers of the time such as Lena Horne, Leontyne Price, Cab Calloway, etc., I was most impressed with her father's mentoring of young attorneys. Those attorneys included Billy Jones, a young East St. Louis attorney who would go on to try and win the case for integration in the public schools and later become a judge. His mentees also included Frankie Freeman, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Margaret Bush Wilson, the first woman of color to chair the national board of directors of the NAACP.

What did you like about the book?

I love learning new things about places or topics that I think I'm already well versed on. The author touches on quite a few events that occurred of which I was unaware.

What did you dislike about the book?

The book moved slowly at times.

How can the author improve this book?

I would have liked to hear just a little bit more about her mother. The author touches on both of her maternal and paternal grandparents, but seems to gloss over her mother.

272 pp

Published September 2008

#BookReview: Uncle Otto - Winfred Cook

An absolute, can't put down page turner is the best way to describe Winfred Cook's Uncle Otto. Set in 1920s/1930s Arkansas and St. Louis, the narrator introduces us to his disabled Uncle Otto, for whom he's named. A stroke that left Otto incapable of speaking clearly has caused him to be a shell of the man he used to be, but the birth of his namesake brings a spark that the rest of the family hasn't seen in years. The younger Otto becomes fascinated with his uncle and persuades his grandparents to tell his story.

Through this story the reader is introduced to Beaumont, Arkansas and the great migration of several African American families from the South to northern industrial cities, such as St. Louis. As a resident of St. Louis, I'm always fascinated by the history of this city. The author does a wonderful job of describing St. Louis as it was then. It's even more meaningful to me because I reside in the general area in which the families live so I'm familiar with the streets mentioned. It's also interesting to note that families migrating north found a city as segregated as St. Louis was, and still is, to be a hot bed of integration in comparison to Arkansas and other southern cities.

I love that the author subtly touches upon the difference real fathering can make in a man's life. Though raised in a two parent home, the title character quickly falls prey to the streets because his father doesn't know how to communicate with him and properly teach him how to be a man. There's also the misconception that parenting is strictly the mother's job. In the eyes of his father he has provided a home, food and clothing and since that's more than his father did for him, he's gone over and above what's expected of him. It's not touched upon by the author but I suspect that the daughters suffered the lack of fatherly attention also and as a result, two of the three sisters have children out of wedlock.

The only disturbing thing that I found about this story is that there's no hero at the end of the day. I suppose that's only human though and as true to life as one can get.