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Homo Thug
Book by Kahari, Asante
Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 21, 2013
Okay this is my first book review on good reads! Thank you for welcoming me with open arms to your friendly Internet community.
So, I have been in this book club for a couple of years now, and we read unusual romance and other genre fiction. We've had some trouble defining any kind of strict criteria for books that belong in this club. We know it when we see it, I think. A basic thing is that it should be sort of embarrassing to read in public, though honestly I've had some fun conversations with random people who were curious about why I was reading, e.g.,The Billionaire Baby Dilemma. We always have excellent discussions about gender, race, and such. Some of the books are kinda hard to get through, but a lot of them are absolute page turners.
This book is more in the page turner category. It's got jaw dropping moments on virtually every page. There are some interesting structural things about it, too. It shares a legacy with earlier gay pulp fiction from the '50s and '60s, in that it is clearly intended to be erotic but is couched in a framework of disapproval and shock, to give the reader and possibly the author the flimsiest bit of cover. It's a prison narrative, and it has some caper elements, and there's even sort of a coming-of-age element, and some gay erotic elements, and some real stuff about racial politics and gay issues. It's impossibly ambitious and at the same time a determined crowd pleaser.
By a lot of traditional metrics, it's not very well written. There are a lot of hackneyed metaphors and some unusual technical characteristics, and the story has some fairly silly elements, and the characters are pretty thin. On the other hand, the use of language is unusual and fresh, the setting and milieu are typically ignored by more serious literature, and the pace is thrilling.
My book group has discovered that there's an entire parallel publishing system that produces popular fiction for a black audience, for sale at supermarket checkouts and gas stations. I'm a white dude, and I've never seen them for sale on the shelves before I went looking for them. They have their own genre conventions and even some unique narrative techniques and they're generally fun to read. Interestingly, the modern black popular fiction shares a lot of similarities with the classic black pulp of Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines. They're totally refreshing and interesting. Okay thanks.
So, I have been in this book club for a couple of years now, and we read unusual romance and other genre fiction. We've had some trouble defining any kind of strict criteria for books that belong in this club. We know it when we see it, I think. A basic thing is that it should be sort of embarrassing to read in public, though honestly I've had some fun conversations with random people who were curious about why I was reading, e.g.,The Billionaire Baby Dilemma. We always have excellent discussions about gender, race, and such. Some of the books are kinda hard to get through, but a lot of them are absolute page turners.
This book is more in the page turner category. It's got jaw dropping moments on virtually every page. There are some interesting structural things about it, too. It shares a legacy with earlier gay pulp fiction from the '50s and '60s, in that it is clearly intended to be erotic but is couched in a framework of disapproval and shock, to give the reader and possibly the author the flimsiest bit of cover. It's a prison narrative, and it has some caper elements, and there's even sort of a coming-of-age element, and some gay erotic elements, and some real stuff about racial politics and gay issues. It's impossibly ambitious and at the same time a determined crowd pleaser.
By a lot of traditional metrics, it's not very well written. There are a lot of hackneyed metaphors and some unusual technical characteristics, and the story has some fairly silly elements, and the characters are pretty thin. On the other hand, the use of language is unusual and fresh, the setting and milieu are typically ignored by more serious literature, and the pace is thrilling.
My book group has discovered that there's an entire parallel publishing system that produces popular fiction for a black audience, for sale at supermarket checkouts and gas stations. I'm a white dude, and I've never seen them for sale on the shelves before I went looking for them. They have their own genre conventions and even some unique narrative techniques and they're generally fun to read. Interestingly, the modern black popular fiction shares a lot of similarities with the classic black pulp of Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines. They're totally refreshing and interesting. Okay thanks.
April 30, 2010
I read this book in hours. I was so drawn and very "skerd" of where this book took me.
June 22, 2007
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. -- Song of Solomon
November 23, 2007
this book is so very true and awkward one of the best reads i ever read
March 27, 2008
the main character is hardly homo!
August 6, 2008
this was all good..
kinda sad at the end but interesting..
kinda sad at the end but interesting..
Read
October 12, 2013An excellent book about what goes on behind the scenes of certain music conglomerates. Certainly one I would recommend to my sons.
August 16, 2015
Ahhh!!! Love really does not come when any of us plans.
August 22, 2015
good as all hell
March 27, 2017
this is a page turning could have been a bit longer but still a very good read
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews