Gems of the African American Section

At first glance it may appear that the average African American section of a library or bookstore offers two types of books – the Terri McMillan-esque romantic rope-a-dope at one end and gritty thug lit at the other. In reality the range of work that actually appears in these sections is actually far vaster.

This isn’t true simply because institutions typically thrust books of any genre in this section so long as the author is a black American (though it doesn’t hurt). If we took out all of the books that have stand-alone sections in our collection now - mysteries, romance, science fiction, westerns, horror and fantasy – there would still be a lot of books left on the shelves.

The African-American sections located in our libraries typically contain some remarkable jewels that don’t fall easily into genres or, thankfully, stereotypes. My highest recommendations include:

Faraday’s Popcorn Factory by Sandra Lee Gould
If like love stories but want a twist now and then, this one may be for you. A woman working in a popcorn factory catches the eye of an otherworldly being who begins to woo her. There is some down-to-earth courting, some dramatic swells and some danger involved, and in the end the book is sweet and heady. Multiple narrators keeps it spinning a little more than it should, but it’s forgivable stuff. A truly unique story for the intellectual in you.

Dreamer by Charles Johnson
Written by multiple-award winning author Charles Johnson, this book is a tight, accessible story about Chaym Smith, a man who, thanks to his stunning resemblance to Martin Luther King, Jr., is asked to act as a stand-in for the icon during periods of the Civil Rights Era. Smith is almost everything that King is not, and the image of seeing King as a drunk, loud, boorish ex-veteran was an irresistible drama of the book. A great idea executed by a master storyteller.

Song Yet Sung by James McBride
An ensemble cast of characters set during the era of slavery participate in an epic adventure about the hunt for a young slave girl who has visions of the future. A sly commentary on contemporary culture and where it comes from, this book is adventurous and full of close-calls and wonderfully drawn characters on both sides of the issue. A must read!

Erasure by Percival Everett
Everett is one of the most prolific authors around, yet no one has heard of him. Erasure is as close as he’s ever come to a bonafide bestseller, and considering its premise, that’s no small feat. The book centers on Thelonius Ellison, a professor who, in a fit of frustration at being thought of as writing “too white” and suffering in the publishing industry for years, composes a parody of commercial street lit under a pseudonym, which subsequently becomes a bestselling book, lauded by critics and audiences alike. The book is something of a rollercoaster ride from there as his alter ego is asked to be on television, is offered millions for movie rights and more (or worse!). This is one of my favorite books, period, and is a stunning criticism of mainstream publishing today.

Books about books

Right now I'm reading the latest collection of Nick Hornby's articles originally published in The Believer, a magazine with contributors such as Amy Sedaris and Dave Eggers. In Shakespeare Wrote for Money, Nick Hornby, author of About a Boy and Fever Pitch, tells about the books he's bought and read.

Here's Hornby's praise of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel:

Fun Home has had an enormous amount of praise ladled on it already, and those of us who love graphic novels will regret slightly the overt literariness of Bechdel's lovely book (there are riffs on Wilde, and The Portrait of a Lady, and Joyce)-not because it's unenjoyable or pretentious or unjustified, but because it is likely to encourage those who were previously dismissive of the form to decide that it is, after all, capable of intelligence. Never mind. We'll ignore them.

I've never gotten into Hornby's novels, but I read his two previous collections of articles-The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping vs. the Dirt. They're funny books and they've have given me some good suggestions for reading. Since Hornby is British, he reviews some books that don't get as much press in America.