Black Is The New White, A Memoir by Paul Mooney

I don’t remember where I first heard Paul Mooney, but I was intrigued from the on-set. His humor is racially charged and he tells it like he sees it which is mostly “like it is” but he - pardon my expression - “has the balls” to say what we won’t.  Born in Louisiana in 1941, he has witnessed some racially motivated stirrings in his life. Some of them first hand like when he was pulled over and asked was he on probation and does the owner know that he has their car. He was also pulled over (not driving) while in a car with two white women and he is the only person the cops ask for ID.  I really do believe that only black are subject to this kind of harassment.

This story is his memoir about trying to make it in Hollywood while keeping his sense of who he is, a black man, and not be watered-down or censured because he is black.

At first, he talks about Richard Pryor which I found interesting because I read a story by Rain Pryor – Richard’s daughter and for a second, I was wondering was this story about Richard Pryor?  Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney were close friends and you would have thought they were brothers.

Both men are striving for something.

Laced with a few “linguistically challenged” jokes, Paul gives you an idea of how hard it was for blacks in the entertainment industry back in the 60s.  

Some of his comments that stick out for me are:

1.     White people judge black people by how articulate we are

2.     To be racist is like sticking a knife into a person’s soul.

Throughout the book, the author quips “Racism trumps capitalism”.

You will have to read the story to find out what he means.   

 

Gone For Good by Harlan Coben

This story is filled with people not being the person they say they are. 

Ken is accused of killing his brother’s ex-girlfriend Julie Miller.  He is also missing and presumed dead, so he was never actually arrested of convicted of the crime.

Will, Ken’s brother gets dragged into finding out what really happened after his newest girlfriend is found murdered.  

A good murder mystery where you hope the person who is suspected of killing someone was not the person who did it.  

FOXY by Pam Grier

 

1.     I did not know that Pam dated Richard Pryor

2.     Rosey Grier is not her relative.

I thought her memoir was inspiring and she deserves all the best in her life.  She is a great actress and I never knew all what she went through growing up.  You really don’t know what people are dealing with or have dealt with in their lives until they tell you.

As a teen, Pam always kept her goals in front of her and she did what she had to do to make them happen.  She is free-spirited, but not in a way where she is reckless or in sensitive to what is right and what is wrong.  Even the roles that she played had a point that she could clearly see and envision.

I enjoyed reading her story and I have always admired her as an actress. 

 

Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter

I have never heard of the author, but this book was given to me in a parcel of books that someone was getting rid of.  It is an old paperback, with brittle pages.  As I was reading it, the binder cracked and one page came loose.  I think I will try to find a proper resting place as opposed to just throwing it in the trash. Oops, sorry, I meant to say recycle bin!

This book consists of 3 short stories. They are written from the late 1800s – early 1900s. 

Miranda is the main character in the first and last story and Mr. Thompson is in the middle.  His story is unrelated to Miranda’s story.

 “Old Mortality”, “Noon Wine” and “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” are the names of the three vignettes.   They are about living, dying and barely maintaining life in between.

In “Old Mortality”, the living cherish the dead. They are forever sealed in portraits and faded notions left by the deceased.  Miranda is the main character as she retells stories from her childhood.  They mostly center around her deceased Aunt Amy who tried to lead a wild life, but her parents did what they could to keep her stable. 

“High Noon” tells the story of a man who defends another man and another man gets killed.  He is found not guilty because it was done in “self-defense”, however, said man believes the neighbors think murder is murder regardless of why and they condemn him silently.   Then he does the unthinkable and the story ends. 

“Pale horse, Pale Rider” is about Miranda as an adult.

The authors stories are about humanity at its best and worst.

The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin

Set in Ireland, Eamon Redmond lives a quiet life as a judge.  We follow him as he flashbacks to his childhood, his father dying, and his wife dying. He was always a somber, quiet man and dealing with those two deaths, made him more somber.

The story flashes between past and present of his live as a child living with his father and as an adult living with his wife. After his wife dies, he talks about how he sleeps in the car until he can feel comfortable sleeping in their bed without her. He doesn’t want to ask a lot of questions, do he doesn’t go out as much.  He has two grown children who have their own lives apart from their parents.  The story ends with his daughter wanting to spend more time with him now that he is alone.  He has reservations, but he allows her to visit with his grandson and this is how the story ends. 

It is a slow-paced novel, but the depth of the character is rich. The story deals with life – having a family, rearing children and death.  The main characters reminiscence is not only filled with the family that was around him, but with Ireland’s geographical presence that was a part of his life. 

I thought this was a great story for the author’s second novel.