58 ratings | 23 reviews | avg rating:4.71

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Antonio Michael Downing

Goodreads Author

Born

Caracas, Venezuela

Website

https://www.antoniomichaeldowning.com/

Twitter

john_orpheus

Genre

Fiction, Memoir, Children's

Member Since

February 2018

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Writer and musician Antonio Michael Downing was raised in Trinidad, Toronto and Kitchener. He is the author of the acclaimed memoir Saga Boy, the novella Molasses, children’s book Stars In My Crown, and the novel Black Cherokee. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in English Literature and has been a recording artist for two decades including three albums as his alter ego John Orpheus. He is also the host of CBC Radio's book program and podcast The Next Chapter. ...more

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Combine Editions
Antonio Michael Downing’s books

Average rating: 3.97 · 914 ratings · 194 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming 4.08 avg rating — 504 ratings — published 2021 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Black Cherokee 3.83 avg rating — 373 ratings — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stars in My Crown by Antonio Michael Downing (Goodreads Author), Richy Sánchez Ayala (Illustrator) 3.79 avg rating — 29 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Molasses 4.25 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Antonio is Currently Reading

Antonio Downing is currently reading

Pimp: The Story of My Life

by Iceberg Slim

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Oct 12, 2021 01:14PM

Antonio Downing is currently reading

Extreme Economies: What Life at the World's Margins Can Teach Us About Our Own Future

by Richard Davies

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Dec 08, 2021 08:26AM

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Antonio Downing rated a book really liked it Shadow Price: Poems by Farah Ghafoor	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 29, 2025 02:33PM · 3 likes · like
Antonio Downing wants to read The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 20, 2025 07:27AM · like
Antonio Downing rated a book really liked it Shadow Price: Poems by Farah Ghafoor	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 18, 2025 11:09AM · 3 likes · like
Antonio Downing rated a book it was amazing Black Cherokee by Antonio Michael Downing (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Quotes by Antonio Michael Downing (?)

“It's not the substance that hooks you, it's the emotions," he explained. "There is a crack somewhere in our spirits, and we have to heal that before anything.”
― Antonio Michael Downing, Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming

tags: addiction, addiction-and-recovery, substance-abuse

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“What was it like?" I asked him. "Did it make you feel better?"

"At first it was peaceful, but then the peace would fly away faster and faster, until there wasn't no peace, just doing it to do it.”
― Antonio Michael Downing, Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming

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“Has anybody ever died from a kiss?”
― Antonio Michael Downing, Black Cherokee

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Book Riot's Read ...: 2026 Read Harder plans	52	429	Apr 21, 2026 07:46PM

Antonio’s Quotes

“I Go Down To The Shore

I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.”
― Mary Oliver, A Thousand Mornings: Poems

tags: nature, poetry

638 likes