Black Issues Book Review back issues from January 2004:
5th anniversary reflections.(from the editor-in-chief)
Jan 01, 2004; ... BIBR readers, it has been a delightful challenge to be your link to the world of black books for five years. Taken together, BIBR's issues during our first five years present a capsule view of African American authors, reading tastes and publishing trends. On our Web site, ...
Going forward.(executive editor's view)
Jan 01, 2004; ... With this issue, Black Issues Book Review proudly celebrates five years of publishing. As you read through this edition, you will also notice other anniversaries. We revisit Kindred, Octavia Butler's breakthrough speculative fiction work, reissued in time for its 25th anniversary. Butler's ...
Thanks for getting us together.(letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Just a brief note to let you know how fabulous the dialogue article turned out. ["This Property Is Not Condemned," September/October 2003] I think it's intellectual, sophisticated and engaging. Consulting editor Susan McHenry worked hard to pull this all together, and she deserves a lot of ...
More author fan mail.(letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
Jan 01, 2004; ... I received my first copy of Black Issues Book Review a few days ago. It's visually arresting. Loved the interview with Bebe Moore Campbell and Valerie Martin. I was also interested in your article on Madam C. J. Walker because my great-aunt had a beauty ...
Thanks for the boost.(letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
Jan 01, 2004; ... DAPHNE MUSE'S ARTICLE "BOOK'EM!" REALLY gave my courtroom a boost (see BIBR, September-October 2003). I will be speaking to kids who are incarcerated in our county camp facility. They ...
Schomburg gets Ashe papers.(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004; ... The widow of athlete, activist and author Arthur Ashe, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, has donated his letters, speeches and other writings to the Schomburg Center for Research In Black Culture. Ashe, who died 10 years ago from AIDS contracted in a blood transfusion during heart surgery, was the ...
Hip-hop lit.(literature)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Carl Weber, author of the best-selling novel Baby Momma Drama (Kensington. Janaury 2003), rolled out a new publishing enterprise for "hip-hop fiction" aimed at young, urban audiences. He is publisher and editorial director for the imprint, Urban Books, which issued its first titles this ...
Return to romance.(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Kensington announced in October that it would once again publish books in the African-American romance genre. Its new line of romancew will be published under the Dafina imprint. The move comes a decade after it started the original Arabesque imprint to publish black romance. Arabesque was ...
The Sistah Circle Book Club[R]: an African American women's book club.(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... For the fifth year, the Sistah Circle Book Club, Inc. will recognize self-published authors and their independent presses with an annual award. Eligible books must be published between December 2002 and November ...
Gerald Boyd.(Deals)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Gerald Boyd, the former managing editor of The New York Times, who stepped aside last summer after the newspaper disclosed serious journalistic lapses, has signed with the ...
FYOS Entertainment, LLC, recently struck a royalty-inclusive deal with Writer's Digest Book Club.(Deals)(for Literary Law Guide for Authors: Copyright, Trademark, and Contracts in Plain Language)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... FYOS Entertainment, LLC, recently struck a royalty-inclusive deal with Writer's Digest Book Club to offer Literary Law Guide for Authors: Copyright, ...
The Harlem cookbook: Recipes and Reflections from the Abyssinian Baptist Church.(Deals)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... The Harlem Cookbook: Recipes and Reflections From the Abyssinian Baptist Church, where the Reverend Calvin O. Butts III serves, and My Testimony: Stories of ...
Kimberla Lawson Roby.(Deals)(sells book to Morrow)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... A sequel to Kimberla Lawson Roby's novel about a philandering minister was sold by ...
Huey: Spirit of the Panther, by David Hilliard with Kent and Keith Zimmerman.(Deals)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Huey: Spirit of the Panther, by David Hilliard with Kent and Keith Zimmerman's, a portrait of Black ...
Martha Southgate.(Deals)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Dreamland, a new novel by Martha Southgate, about the lives of three generations of African ...
Cornel West.(Deals)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Cornel West's follow up to Race Matters, to be called ...
Jacqueline Thomas.(Deals)(book sold to Steeple Hill)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Legacy of Forgiveness, by Jacquelin Thomas, about a young widow, has been ...
Tia Williams.(Deals)(auctions book to Putnam)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... A first novel ForLove or Beauty by Tia Williams, Teen People magazine's beauty director, to Jennifer Hershey at ...
Awards.(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... The Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards for 2003 were announced on October 11, 2003. Debut Fiction: Tayari Jones (Leaving Atlanta), winner; Zelda Lockhart (Fifth Born), finalist; Nicole Bailey Williams (A Little Piece of Sky), finalist. Fiction: ...
Signings & sightings.(Calendar)
Jan 01, 2004 ... NATIONWlDE The Fifteenth National African American Read-In Sunday, February 1, and Monday, February 2, 2004, sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and by the NCTE. For more information, call 217-278-3635 or log on to ...
Classics revisited.(as the word turns ...)(Cry, the Beloved Country)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Oprah's Book Club Pick: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton "Mr. Jarvis, I can handle my sister becoming a Johannesburg prostitute, my brother turning into a cynical politician, my son killing yours and being executed for it. But what I can't handle, I swear, is ...
Black America's popular historian: Lerone Bennett Jr. almost retired after 50 years at Ebony. Now his next five books, like his first 10 works, will have to be written after hours, too.(spotlight)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Lerone Bennett Jr.'s plan was to retire from 50 years of magazine journalism so he could finish writing five books before he reaches age 80. The executive editor of Ebony magazine and author of Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America (Johnson Publishing Co., Inc., April 2003), ...
Reassembling Africa: a leading anthropologist proposes an essential library for understanding the Black Diaspora in the Americas.
Jan 01, 2004; ... It is estimated that 12 million to 15 million people taken from Africa were shipped to the Americas over an almost 400-year period beginning in the 16th century. We are most familiar with those who came to the North American colonies, but more went elsewhere in this hemisphere. At Spelman ...
Shhh! And cover your computer screen: librarians take on unwanted roles as Internet censors after Supreme Court ruling.
Jan 01, 2004; ... You believe the stereotype perhaps: Librarians are somber souls who stand up from behind their desks only long enough to hush chatty patrons or to dole out whispered words of advice. The reality, of course, is that today's librarians are often pressed into service as baby-sitters, teachers ...
Bounty by the sea: the distinctive cuisine and culture of the Dafauskie's Gullah people.(Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way: Smokin' Joe Butter Beans, Ol' 'Fuskie Fried Crab Rice, Sticky-Bush Blackberry Dumpling, and Other Sea Island Favorites)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way: Smokin' Joe Butter Beans, Ol' 'Fuskie Fried Crab Rice, Sticky-Bush Blackberry Dumpling, and Other Sea Island Favorites by Sallie Ann Robinson, with Gregory Wrenn Smith, Foreword by Pat Conroy University of North Carolina Press, April 2003, ...
It's all in the cards! Learn how the greeting card industry can employ your writing talents.(bookbytes)
Jan 01, 2004; ... The start of a new year means upcoming holidays, such as Easter, Mother's Day and the Fourth of July, not to mention anniversaries, birthdays and weddings, All of these are huge occasions in the greeting card industry. And there's no reason why you cannot become a part of it. By using the ...
Make your life extraordinary!(Advertorial)
Jan 01, 2004; ... It's time to assert your right to an extraordinary life! Thrive! 7 Strategies for Extraordinary Living will equip and empower you with seven strategies that will help you push beyond surviving and step into a life of thriving! Join The Extraordinary Makeover [TM] Tour in a city ...
Guess who's coming to a theater near you? Only a few movies adapted from books by black authors make their way to the silver screen. A handful of intriguing projects now in development are poised to beat new and diversified paths through Hollywood.
Jan 01, 2004; ... It's always been something of a mystery how books are chosen in the first place for Hollywood's magical conversion from page to screen, and then ultimately make their way through the development process, as it is known in Hollywood. But consider this: With today's explosive proliferation ...
Blair Underwood goes for the greenlight: a six-year journey to develop and star in a film based on Tananarive Due's My Soul to Keep catches fire in a partnership with an enthusiastic studio. Here's the story so far in bringing one popular black novel to the screen.(Cover Story)
Jan 01, 2004; ... "Ever since I was a kid, I used to cut out pictures from catalogs to represent characters in my stories," explains novelist Tananarive Due about how she visualizes the people who inhabit her fictional worlds. "I have to feel that I'm surrounded by a three-dimensional environment--that it's ...
Behind Black Music: Two Intriguing Critical Overviews.(Boogaloo: The Quintessence of American Popular Music)(Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004 ... Boogaloo: The Quintessence of American Popular Music by Arthur Kempton Pantheon, June 2003 $27.50, ISBN 0-375-40612-3 Race Music: Black Cultures From Bebop to Hip-Hop by Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr. University of California Press, June 2003 $29.95, ISBN 0-520-21048-4 As ...
Return of Kindred spirits: an anniversary for Octavia E. Butler is a time for reflection and rejoicing for fans of speculative fiction.
Jan 01, 2004; ... When Black Issues Book Review published its first edition for January/February 1999, it was with Octavia E. Butler's face staring out at us with the coverline "Bestselling Futuristic Storyteller." We said then that she was, as she remains, a master of the genre. As we celebrates an ...
Hirschfeld uptown.(Hirschfeld's Harlem)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... When the renowned illustrator and portraitist Al Hirschfeld died in January 2003, he left, as part of his legacy, more than seven decades worth of spirited artwork to be admired and appreciated. Though he was mostly known for his caricatures of thespians and the goings-on about the theater ...
Decoding Betye Saar.(Betye Saar, David C. Driskell Series of African American Art)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... For more than 50 years, Betye Saar has sought to achieve mastery in her artwork and the maturity to address the African American condition. Her assemblages, collages and installations yield a body of work delicious in color, design and meaning. Hers is a fascinating personal exploration ...
The all-seeing lens.(The End of Polio: A Global Effort to End a Disease)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Whether disaster strikes in Ethiopia, Croatia, Indonesia, Somalia, Vietnam, or on the shores of what many people consider solid ground, images of the survivors and victims of tragic events can bring the heart to a mesmerizing halt, triggering the mind to wonder what happened? Why does such ...
Our kind of style.(Style and Grace: African Americans at Home)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS lives in an old kitchen, but you'd never know it. The architectural historian has transformed the space with antique mirrors, a Chinese carpet, artfully stacked books, a low-hanging chandelier, imported textiles, Bayard Rustin's walking sticks and stone fragments from ...
Thinking Harlem.(Spirit of Harlem: Portrait of America's Most Exciting Neighborhood)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Harlem--from its rural beginnings to its illustrious, modern-day status--has always held a mysterious allure for the prideful shopkeepers, the humble residents and the gawking passers-by. A somewhat magical energy flows through the streets of Harlem and reverberates through the ...
To each, his or her own genre: five hot African American writers who are creating novels for every kind of popular taste.
Jan 01, 2004; ... In the early '90s, to some people at least, African American fiction referred only to novels about sisters looking for brothers. Fortunately, the boom in black fiction has propelled authors, publishers and readers beyond the popular relationship novel and further diversified the world of ...
Haiti's bicentennial.
Jan 01, 2004; ... Haiti celebrates its bicentennial in 2004, dated from the hard-won independence secured by self-emancipated ancestors under the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture. Their effort resulted in the only successful mass revolt of enslaved Africans recorded in the Americas, and Haiti emerged as ...
Great men, great minds, great food.(Pierre Toussaint: A Biography; C.L.R. James: Letters From London; A Taste of Haiti)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Pierre Toussaint: A Biography by Arthur Jones Doubleday, September 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-385-49994-9 For many Americans, the Catholic Church has had little or no connection with the black experience. Arthur Jones's biography of Pierre Toussaint underscores the ...
Destinations to fuel love's fires: authors of the romance genre offer their favorite spots.(sojourn)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Planning a romantic getaway? Want an ideal place for a romantic interlude? The writers who create the steamy scenes readers enjoy often place their characters in exotic locales throughout the world. Black Issues Book Review asked a dozen writers for recommendations. Some cities that made ...
Sweet hour of prayer: four new books highlight African-descended spiritual traditions of prayer, ritual, study--and laughter.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Celebration of Black Prayer by The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/The New York Public Library Free Press, November 2003 $27.50, ISBN 0-743-23466-9 This superb collection of profound prayers and poignant photographs is ...
Hottentot Venus.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Hottentot Venus by Barbara Chase-Riboud Doubleday, November 2003 $24.00, ISBN 0-385-50856-5 These are the facts as we know them: In 1810, a woman from Southern African's Khoisan tribe was brought to England by two white men and put on display in a freak show at 225 Piccadilly, ...
Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do by Pearl Cleage One World/Ballantine Books September 2003 $23.95, ISBN 0-345-45606-8 Regina Burns, an ambitious woman sidelined by drug addiction and rehab, is desperately trying to get her life back on track. When the bank attempts ...
Baggage Claim.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Baggage Claim by David E. Talbert Simon & Schuster, October 2003 $22.00, ISBN 0-743-24718-3 In a society in which weddings are a billion-dollar industry, little girls often grow up to become women who dream about getting married. And if you're not Mrs. Somebody by ...
Night Journey.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Night Journey by Murad Kalam Simon and Schuster, October 2003 $23.00, ISBN 0-743-24418-4 Murad Kalam's gripping and compassionate first novel, Night Journey, resembles Boyz in the Hood, in its depiction of hell amidst what should be a paradise. The slum inhabited by ...
The Honey Well.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... The Honey Well by Gloria Mallette Dafina Books, November 2003 $24.00, ISBN 0-758-20468-X In her new novel, The Honey Well, Gloria Mallette weaves a complex tale full of unexpected plot twists and turns. The two main characters are Esther, known as "Queen Esther" in ...
A Family Affair.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... A Family Affair by Marcus Major Dutton, January 2004 $24.95, ISBN 0-525-94768-X In his third relationship novel, Marcus Major returns to his signature portrayal of the modern black family in this fast-paced, humorous, insightful read. The story opens with Leonard Moore enjoying ...
One Day I Saw a Black King.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... One Day I Saw a Black King by J.D. Mason St. Martin's Press, September 2003 $23.95, ISBN 0-312-30154-5 The new novel by author J.D. Mason is an unhurried, moving story about a man named John King, who is saddled with so much baggage that his attempts to live a normal life and ...
Posthumous jewels: Gwendolyn Brooks left us many rich words.(In Montgomery and Other Poems)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... In Montgomery and Other Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks Third World Press, October 2003 $22.95, ISBN 0-883-78232-4 When a beloved artist dies I always fantasize that there is something wonderful yet to come: a manuscript that was in progress, lost or hidden letters uncovered, secreted ...
America's glass house: essays on Cold War global politics and the Civil Rights Movement.(Window on Freedom: Race, Civil Rights, and Foreign Affairs, 1945-1988)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Window on Freedom: Race, Civil Rights, and Foreign Affairs, 1945-1988 Edited by Brenda Gayle Plummer, The University of North Carolina Press, February 2003 $18.95, ISBN 0-807-85428-X It is difficult to understand why black protest, as old as the United States itself, ...
BIBR recommends.(Bibliography)
Jan 01, 2004 ... FICTION Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, by Sheree R. Thomas, Warner Books A Distant Shore, by Caryl Phillips, Knopf Some Things I Thought I Would Never Do, by Pearl Cleage, Ballantine/OneWorld Hottentot Venus by Barbara Chase Riboud, Doubleday ...
The Colossus of New York: a City in Thirteen Parts.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... The Colossus of New York: A City in Thirteen Parts by Colson Whitehead Doubleday, October 2003 $19.95, ISBN 0-385-50794-1 Considering the title of the book, there is an expectation of something grand and towering. But what you get with The Colossus of New York is a minimalist ...
America Behind the Color Line: Dialogue with African Americans.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... America Behind the Color Line: Dialogue with African Americans by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Warner Books, January 2004 $25.95, ISBN 0-446-53273-8 Having made an exceptional mark in several literary genres--anthology autobiography, biography, encyclopedia, and essay--the intrepid ...
Uncloseting a leader: a biography and an anthology of Bayard Rustin's writings round out our view of his humanity.(Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin & Time on Two Crosses; The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D' Emilio The Free Press, August 2003 $35.00, ISBN 0-684-82780-8 Time on Two Crosses; The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin Edited by Devon W. Carbado and Donald Weise Cleis Press, August 2003 ...
Black Greek 101: the Culture, Customs, and Challenges of Black Fraternities and Sororities.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Black Greek 101: The Culture, Customs, And Challenges Of Black Fraternities And Sororities by. Walter M. Kimbrough Fairleigh Dickinson University Press August 2003, $49.50, ISBN 0-838-63977-1 In Black Greek 101, Dr. Walter Kimbrough accomplishes a feat that few have dared: ...
Beyond the "Moses" myths: two new biographies examine who Harriet Tubman really was.(Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories & Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories by Jean M. Humez University of Wisconsin Press November 2003 $45.00, ISBN 0-299-19120-6 Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom by Catherine Clinton Little, Brown and Company, February 2004 $25.95, ISBN ...
Passing: When People Can't Be Who They Are.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Passing: When People Can't Be Who They Are by Brooke Kroeger PublicAffairs Books, September 2003 $25.00, ISBN 1-891-62099-1 Say the word "passing" and it's like pushing a "play" button in the mind that flashes that heart-wrenching scene in the 1959 movie Imitation of Life: ...
Ready for Revolution: the Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture).(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) by Stokely Carmichael with Ekwueme Michael Thelwell Scribner, November 2003 $35.00, ISBN 0-684-85003-6 In the autobiography of Kwame Ture, ne Stokely Carmichael, there are triumphs but no happy ...
Souls of My Brothers: Black Men Break Their Silence, Tell Their Truths, and Heal Our Spirits.(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Souls of My Brothers: Black Men Break Their Silence, Tell Their Truths, and Heal Our Spirits Edited and written by Dawn Marie Daniels and Candace Sandy Plume, August 2003 $16.00, ISBN 0-452-28460-0 "Black Men Break Their Silence, Tell Their Truths, and Heal Our Spirits" reads ...
Who's Gonna Take the Weight? Manhood, Race and Power in America.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Who's Gonna Take the Weight? Manhood, Race and Power In America by Kevin Powell Three Rivers Press, August 2003 $12.95, ISBN 0-609-81044-8 Kevin Powell, former cast member of MTV's first season of The Real World, compiled three previously printed essays for this book. Powell's ...
Precocious kid authors: three youthful writers make their own successful way into print.(self-publishing)
Jan 01, 2004; ... Imagine writing a novel, having 700 attendees at your release party, and selling 500 books at the signing. A dream for any writer, but this is a reality tot 17-year-old J.L Woodson, when his novel The Things I Could Tell You! (Macro Publishing Group, $12.95, ISBN 0-970-26996-X) was ...
Readers & writers, ink: contributors to an anthology create an alliance.(books & clubs)
Jan 01, 2004; ... In 1993, the African-American Heritage Society of Pensacola, Florida, published the first volume of When Black Folks Was Colored, a collection of memoirs, poems and essays by area women writers. Contributors to the anthology were inundated with requests for public speaking engagements and ...
Nubian Heritage: a flagship in Harlem.(market buzz)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004; ... The December 2003 holiday grand opening of a 22,000 square-foot flagship store makes the 100 percent black-owned Nubian Heritage retailer, with two other locations in Brooklyn and Queens, the largest distributors and sellers of books for African Americans and Latinos in New York state. The ...
Black history for the young: books recommended for every age that teach about our heritage.(Bibliography)
Jan 01, 2004 ... The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Volume 11: Works for Children and Young Adults: Poetry, Fiction and Other Writing Edited with an Introduction by Dianne Johnson University of Missouri Press, September 2003 $44.95, ISBN 0-826-21498-3 Ages 10 and up Hughes's ...
Just Us Books 15th anniversary.(children's bookshelf)(Brief Article)
Jan 01, 2004 ... When Wade and Cheryl Hudson (at right) were unable to find books for their children that reflected the diversity of black experience, covering history, heritage and culture, they set out to fill the gap. Their first title was Afro-Bets ABC Book, followed by Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, From a ...