Get Down

by Asali Solomon

Asali Solomon's characters are vivid misfits--a heathen at Jesus camp, a scheming prep-school student, a middle-aged mom pining for her salsa-dancing salad days, a scheming twentysomething virgin, a college stud in love with his weight-lifting partner, a lonely girl in love with a yellow dress. The kids in "Get Down "are trapped between their own good breeding and their burning desire to join the house party of sex, romance, and bad behavior that seems to be happening on some other block, down some other more dangerous street. The adults in "Get Down "are just trying to hold it together.
Here is a debut that will make you laugh and cringe in equal measure. Set mostly in middle-class black Philadelphia during the crack and Reagan years, the stories in "Get Down "are antic, poignant, and utterly universal--they'll bring back memories for anyone who has ever stood in the corner of a darkened school gym wondering whether to dance . . . or duck for cover. They announce a sparkling new talent, a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop whose work has been featured in "Vibe," "Essence," and the anthology "Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 2006

About the author

Asali Solomon was born and raised in West Philadelphia. Her first book, a collection of stories entitled Get Down, is set mostly in Philadelphia. Solomon's work has been featured in Vibe, Essence, and the anthology Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Lips and Other Parts. She has a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley and an MFA form the Iowa's Writer Workshop in fiction. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and is on the short list for this year's Hurston/Wright Literary Award for best new fiction.

The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award 2007 nominees include ASALI SOLOMON for her collection of short stories, Get Down published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2006.

She also was named one of the National Book foundation's '5 Under 35 in 2007.

(from http://aalbc.com/authors/asali_solomo...)

Reviews

[KB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read "Disgruntled" before I read "Get Down". Since I liked "Disgruntled" so much, it was only natural. This book was OK, for the most part. I had some struggles staying interested, and readjusting to new characters, but once I was into it, I couldn't put it down. I hadn't complete the first story but I finished all the rest. Some of the themes felt a little repetitive: a corky outsider from the Barrett School for Girls, with girl problems and boy problems. Some black teens kids who party a lot at clubs. All during the 1980's in Philly. For two - three stories it felt like I was reading pieces of the same character's life. The other stories, the characters were much more defined individuals with their own unique struggles. Like the ladies' man with a boy crush, or the overweight black boy who has a crush on his cousin. Or the nonbeliever going to a bible camp. Or the young confused man who likes another girl, despite having a girlfriend and a baby by her. All interesting carefully crafted perspectives

[Katie M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one... the prose is awkward in some places but fabulous in others, and the stories are full of adolescent agony, snarky observations, clear-eyed actions, matter-of-fact nostalgia, and equal parts humor and loneliness. (Also, who doesn't love a quick and easy read? All the smug, self-satisfied sense of accomplishment that comes from reading a whole book in a fraction of the time!)

[mariam · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful and so full of charm!! instantly one of my favorite collections and one i'll return to as a writing guide (and for the joy of falling back in with these characters). i go back and forth between liking and being ambivalent to short stories bc a bad story can feel like an unsatisfying glimpse into an unfulfilled novel idea (🤕) but each of these stories have such a confident understanding of the form's limitations of time and scale.

from my favorite story 'Twelve Takes Thea':

"It had to be a white boy, not one of the token black ones, that would get me to the part of the fantasy I lingered in before I went to sleep. That was when I took the boy's hand and glanced to my right, where Beth was sitting. We would lock eyes, and I would understand that she was filled with jealousy. She was jealous of me for being chosen and jealous of him for being close to me. I lay in bed one night and actually did, I punched myself in the other arm."

[k-os]

Excited to grow my library with Philly writers!

[Tamara Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw the book jacket for "Get Down," I was instantly taken back to my childhood in the '80 and days of watching Yo MTV raps and break-dancing. What Asali Solomon manages to do in "Get Down" is not only capture the 1980's perfectly,she also creates stories that drawn in the reader and makes you care about the characters and the situations they are going through.


"Get Down" consists of seven stories and although each story is special in its own right, there are some factors that are similar in several of the stories. First, in all but two of the stories, the main character is usually a black girl who attends private school. Secondly,most of the stories take place in Philadelphia or surrounding areas. Lastly, all of the stories have some sort of element of surprise.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories in "Get Down," my two favorites stories were "Twelve takes Thea" and "Save me." In "Twelve take Thea," we are introduced to Thea Brown, a girl who is trying to fit in at her private school which is proving to be hard since she is one of two black girls at the school. The title itself is a play on the title "Tracie Marie Takes Twelve." In the course of the story, Thea and her best friend Nadja go to the same private school then Nadja mother sends her to another school. Nadja leaving Thea alone forces her to make new friends but Thea is torn between her loyalty to her and Nadja friendship and her new friends. I enjoyed "Twelve takes Thea" because it was a great coming of age story and it also was a deeper story about acceptance and loyalty as well.

My second favorite story in "Get Down" was "Save Me." I was intrigued by this story mainly because of the technique Solomon used with this story. "Save Me" use a type of narration in which the narrator makes the reader the main character of the story by saying what is happening to you and how you felt about it. This type of narration is especially interesting since "Save Me" is about a trip to Christian summer camp and in the story the point is made the the campers have to experience God for themselves. As with the other stories in "Get Down," the experience shared by the character is one the mostly anyone can relate to and again, this story deals with acceptance and loyalty.

I also like that Solomon let the reader draw their own conclusions in reference to how the story would end. It is refreshing to now have a story end in a predictable way or have a chance to use your own mind to determine how the character's fate will play out.

Overall, this was a wonderful debut by Asali Solomon. The stories in "Get Down" were funny, sad, rich, and realistic. Although this book dealt with different characters in different way, the two theme I gathered from this book was how important acceptance and loyalty can be. Although we may feel it is not that important or may even say that it it is not important, at the end of the day,we still want to feel like we belong to something.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories had strong characters but sometimes I think the actual thread of what was going on got lost in the personalities. However the feelings of being a misfit and of loneliness and the desire to fit in somewhere anywhere are so strong in these stories that my heart ached and it touched a universal chord.

[Keight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Link to booklog

[Sam Rapkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories in here were really great while other fell kind of short. Like others were saying, they were all kind of similar in content and even in prose. I wish she would have switched up point of views a little cause it was all in third person except for the second to last story, "Save Me," which was actually in second person! Was very fun to read. My favorite stories were The Star of the Story and Save me. As I saw in other reviews here, I too foud the prose clunky and awkward at times, mostly in the first story. Nevertheless, was a quick read that held my attention the entire time.

[Kurt Kemmerer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's every reader's duty, even if out of necessity, to sit down with the work of authors never explored before. In this case, I traveled through Solomon's earliest work, where the ridiculously good writing overcomes the sometimes repetitive geography of a writer finding her way.

In short, the reader will immediately shout for joy at Solomon's writing, and the worlds she opens up with it. The worlds may be related, but they are varied, and filled with incredible elevation changes usually found in the work of only the most experienced short story writers. This is five-star stuff, so easily and happily traversed, but I'm leaving it at four because I can't wait to read her newer output, and because of a couple of youthful miscues at the end of a couple of the latter stories, though even those miscues remain of interest.

Asali Solomon's voice should be heard be far and wide in this era of US authors. She is just too good. That is all, for now.

[M R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the short stories within this book. I saw characters and situations that I could relate to in a lot of ways. Also, I think that the short stories were well-written and succinct. I didn't feel as though I was thrown into a story or left from a story feeling unsatisfied - which is quite important to me in regards to short stories. I really liked that all the characters weren't the same or some version of the same person because it speaks to breadth of blackness and humanity in general. And I think with having so many wholly unique characters it allowed me to see myself in them even if our situations weren't the same because we as people are multifaceted. I don't think there was a story I didn't like, but I really liked Save Me, That Golden Summer and William is Telling a Story. Also, there was a lot recognition of myself and some adolescent interactions in Party on Vorhees! Overall, a great book of short stories and I look forward to reading more by Ms. Solomon.

[Matthew Budman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read Asali Solomon's first book before diving into her debut novel, Disgruntled, and am glad I did. Get Down is an incredibly readable collection of stories, pointed and poignant, exploring adolescence and race in West Philadelphia, very particular yet universal enough to draw in any reader. Solomon’s language is gorgeous but completely natural—these stories don’t feel written so much as lived, and each left me feeling privileged to be allowed a glimpse into the protagonist’s thoughts. (Full disclosure: I know Asali—she’s delightful!—but I know a lot of novelists, and Get Down is my single favorite work of fiction written by a friend. I’m a pretty tough grader, even of friends’ work.)

[elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories about growing up, being the black girl at an all-white school, living in Philly & your rich suburban friends aren't allowed to come to your birthday party because the city is dangerous...school friends & neighborhood friends...parents who aren't like other kids' parents, kind of like how you're not like other kids...good stories, so of my era--references to El Debarge played at the school dance, and also "stairway to heaven" and all the couples try to slow dance even though they know it speeds up. Worth reading, a fast, fun, read. So good and real, you wouldn't even know she was an MFA grad!

[nw · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one, but started it this weekend and am having lots of trouble getting through even the first story. The pacing feels off to me, and the writing isn't really interesting. The subject matter also feels very familiar. It doesn't feel inspired at all. Oh, well. I'll keep at it--at least another story or two. There are seven in this collection. Maybe inspiration will strike, and I'll find myself lulled by it eventually.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a fair amount of repetition of theme and moments in these stories, which is a little problematic in a book that's less than 200 pages. But, what isn't problematic is Solomon's writing. She does a wonderful job of quickly drawing the reader into her characters and their lives. Solomon is a smart, stylish, empathetic writer, and I'm really looking forward to the novel that she has coming out later in 2015.

[Bobbi Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book of short stories after hearing Danielle Evans rave about it on NPR. Being the older book, it must have served as partial inspiration for Evans's wonderful BEFORE YOU SUFFOCATE YOUR OWN FOOL SELF. Although GET DOWN is full of talent, the last two stories drag. Still, there is the lovely "Save Me," about a young girl struggling (kind of, sort of, well, maybe not so much) with religion.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this 7 or 8 years ago. Probably the first time I encountered LGBT people of color in a fiction (don't quote me, though). Every story snapped into place for me. I thought Solomon's new novel Disgruntled was fine, but not mesmerizing. It was the rare novel that was too lean for me. I didn't feel I had enough time with it, needed to walk around inside it a bit more. Waiting for it was for me a little like waiting for the new Frank Ocean record to drop. I look forward to her next one!

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After awhile, the stories all had a certain sameness to them. There were subtle surprises, a parenthetical remark or an ending sentence that made me stop. Wow. And think. But I felt no passion for or interest in any of the characters.

[Breana]

This book is a bunch of short stories in one. Some stories are better than others

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this short story collection before her novel because I wanted to see if she exhibited growth (and mostly because the collection was cheaper). I'm so glad that I did as this was terrific.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was okay. The story had a good overall plot but it was very slow pase. I like the purpose of the book and the fact that it was a true story.