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The Portable Promised Land
This inspired collection of stories is cause for celebration. In dazzling language and startling images, Touré invents a place called Soul City, America’s most miraculous metropolis. In an astonishing array of voices and styles, The Portable Promised Land celebrates the most soulful corners of America while questioning the very nature of Blackness.
Among Touré’s unforgettable characters are the Right Revren Daddy Love, Brooklyn’s favorite sexually wayward preacher (“A Hot Time at the Church of Kentucky Fried Souls and the Spectacular Final Sunday Sermon of the Right Revren Daddy Love”), a boy with magic Air Jordans that let him fly above the ball court (“Falcon Malone Can Fly No Mo”), a child who can disappear into Romare Bearden paintings (“Solomon’s Big Day: A Children’s Story”), mystified parents who discover their beloved little boy has somehow turned into a little Black Sambo (“The Sambomorphosis”), and Huggy Bear Jackson, whose 1983 Cadillac Cutlass Supreme custom convertible’s supernatural stereo plays only Stevie Wonder songs (“The Steviewondermobile”).
With a fearlessness and style that recall the work of Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison, Touré captures, through lyrical rhythms and relentless inventiveness, an America where magic can happen and Black is beautiful. The Portable Promised Land marks the entrance of a new and wildly compelling voice to American fiction.
Among Touré’s unforgettable characters are the Right Revren Daddy Love, Brooklyn’s favorite sexually wayward preacher (“A Hot Time at the Church of Kentucky Fried Souls and the Spectacular Final Sunday Sermon of the Right Revren Daddy Love”), a boy with magic Air Jordans that let him fly above the ball court (“Falcon Malone Can Fly No Mo”), a child who can disappear into Romare Bearden paintings (“Solomon’s Big Day: A Children’s Story”), mystified parents who discover their beloved little boy has somehow turned into a little Black Sambo (“The Sambomorphosis”), and Huggy Bear Jackson, whose 1983 Cadillac Cutlass Supreme custom convertible’s supernatural stereo plays only Stevie Wonder songs (“The Steviewondermobile”).
With a fearlessness and style that recall the work of Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison, Touré captures, through lyrical rhythms and relentless inventiveness, an America where magic can happen and Black is beautiful. The Portable Promised Land marks the entrance of a new and wildly compelling voice to American fiction.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2002
8 people are currently reading
294 people want to read
About the author
Touré
22 books97 followersTouré Neblett is an American novelist, essayist, music journalist, cultural critic, and television personality.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 26, 2016
Toure is a cultural critic first and a storyteller second, but he’s still a damned fine storyteller. He makes black lives matter in the most organic way possible, by showing how they are lived and what is important to the individuals who are living them, from moment to moment. His fictional Soul City makes the perfect backdrop for characters who feel both larger than life and grounded in the real world. I am confident that The Right Revren Daddy Love walks Toure’s pages and the streets of Harrisburg, where I live, both. The Breakup Ceremony ought to be a genuine ritual, and in some places undoubtedly is. The Black Widow trilogy is a high mark in the book’s strong and deeply satisfying series of modern-day parables on race, with other honorable mentions going to “Falcon Malone Can Fly No Mo” and “The Sambomorphosis.”
Besides race, Toure’s other favorite subject is the corruption caused by or rooted in capitalism. The fact that I agree with his observations about its many shortcomings did nothing to prevent my loving Toure’s many parables and satires of it. “Solomon’s Big Day: A Children’s Story” and “The Playground of the Ecstatically Blasé” are particularly strong, transcending economics in the same act as critiquing it. Both stories manage to dramatize the issues so persuasively, with such fully realized characters, that they descend into neither dogma nor propaganda.
I was least interested in the list stories, like “My History” and “The African-American Aesthetics Hall of Fame, or 101 Elements of Blackness (Things That’ll Make You Say: Yes! That There’s Some Really Black Shit!),” with the best thing about the latter being its title. Toure’s list stories are always clever, but they end up being too numerous and lengthy. A possible exception, “Afrolexicology Today’s Biannual List of the Top Fifty Words in African-America,” displays such an infectious love of language that it seduced me and even helped me understand my students.
I’ve overlooked Toure until now, but the man has chops. If he gets a handle on his addiction to experimental forms for their own sake, I’m on board for the next book.
Besides race, Toure’s other favorite subject is the corruption caused by or rooted in capitalism. The fact that I agree with his observations about its many shortcomings did nothing to prevent my loving Toure’s many parables and satires of it. “Solomon’s Big Day: A Children’s Story” and “The Playground of the Ecstatically Blasé” are particularly strong, transcending economics in the same act as critiquing it. Both stories manage to dramatize the issues so persuasively, with such fully realized characters, that they descend into neither dogma nor propaganda.
I was least interested in the list stories, like “My History” and “The African-American Aesthetics Hall of Fame, or 101 Elements of Blackness (Things That’ll Make You Say: Yes! That There’s Some Really Black Shit!),” with the best thing about the latter being its title. Toure’s list stories are always clever, but they end up being too numerous and lengthy. A possible exception, “Afrolexicology Today’s Biannual List of the Top Fifty Words in African-America,” displays such an infectious love of language that it seduced me and even helped me understand my students.
I’ve overlooked Toure until now, but the man has chops. If he gets a handle on his addiction to experimental forms for their own sake, I’m on board for the next book.
March 6, 2008
Hilarious! This collection of short stories was a nice change to the sad and extensive fantasy novels i've been reading lately. You should pick this one up if you would like a literary change of pace.
January 7, 2010
Twitter has sort of changed my view of Toure but this book fantastic. Fresh, delightful. I bought it three times...you don't know me but usually when I lose a book that I've already read, I cut my losses because I'm cheap.
April 17, 2013
This was an absolute pleasure. Irreverent. Full of formidable originality and creativity. Endlessly fascinating and provocative. This guy is sortof a genius and these are some of the best short stories I've ever read. Highly recommend this one.
February 4, 2008
Hood and intellegent; the stories will CRACK YOU UP!
May 12, 2010
critically funny; classic black gen X shit
September 8, 2012
amazing! touré is a truth-teller and a wonderful storyteller.
June 20, 2022
I had read Toure's essays in Essence over the years and found them distinctive and provocative. I'll read more of his work. Pro-black but in many stories I see magic realism and loaded with social commentary. Original.
April 20, 2017
Such an incredible and beautifully written collection of short stories - Touré's magical storytelling had me laughing, crying, and hanging on every single word. So excited I picked up this book, and can't wait to read some more of his works!
October 1, 2010
so...does my *** rating make me less of a boho chic geek??
i read tppl after hearing how dope, fresh, witty, weird, and engaging it was for the 25th time in seven years. i dug it, but it didn't resonate with me in the way most of my friends(who share similar tastes in tomes) had mentioned. yes, books can transcend time, but i believe that this work is located in a specific moment, experience, and clique--one that if i had read it c. 2003-05, i'd be evangelizing its greatness along with the crew. but i didn't. i had a markedly different response. after reading code, the source, baldwin, octavia butler, and dick gregory, listening to mooney, sv, martin, stokely, nina, amp and flora, and seeing the sky turn electric blue as the sun rises in NYC after leaving anything dope, fresh, weird, or curious, i replied with a chuckle, grin, and "umm mmm." been there, saw that, know him, am her. thanks for the walk down memory lane, toure.
i read tppl after hearing how dope, fresh, witty, weird, and engaging it was for the 25th time in seven years. i dug it, but it didn't resonate with me in the way most of my friends(who share similar tastes in tomes) had mentioned. yes, books can transcend time, but i believe that this work is located in a specific moment, experience, and clique--one that if i had read it c. 2003-05, i'd be evangelizing its greatness along with the crew. but i didn't. i had a markedly different response. after reading code, the source, baldwin, octavia butler, and dick gregory, listening to mooney, sv, martin, stokely, nina, amp and flora, and seeing the sky turn electric blue as the sun rises in NYC after leaving anything dope, fresh, weird, or curious, i replied with a chuckle, grin, and "umm mmm." been there, saw that, know him, am her. thanks for the walk down memory lane, toure.
March 2, 2020
I am rereading this hysterically funny, intellectually stimulating and over the top truth buster with a new eye.
I pulled this book off my book shelf after nearly two decades because I was rearranging the books. So when I opened up The Portable Promised Land to THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN AESTHETICS HALL OF FAME, OR 101 ELEMENTS OF BLACKNESS (THINGS THAT'LL MAKE YOU SAY: Yes! That There's Some Really Black Shit!), I stopped, literally stopped what I was doing and sat down in the middle of the piles of books and started re-reading the list. OMG! I hollered and then flipped back to some of the stories , like one of my favorites THE BREAKUP CEREMONY, which ironically had an asterisk on the page. I settled in rereading several of the other stories, reflecting back to why I loved Toure's work twenty years ago.
I pulled this book off my book shelf after nearly two decades because I was rearranging the books. So when I opened up The Portable Promised Land to THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN AESTHETICS HALL OF FAME, OR 101 ELEMENTS OF BLACKNESS (THINGS THAT'LL MAKE YOU SAY: Yes! That There's Some Really Black Shit!), I stopped, literally stopped what I was doing and sat down in the middle of the piles of books and started re-reading the list. OMG! I hollered and then flipped back to some of the stories , like one of my favorites THE BREAKUP CEREMONY, which ironically had an asterisk on the page. I settled in rereading several of the other stories, reflecting back to why I loved Toure's work twenty years ago.
January 6, 2016
A collection of short stories that ranged from very good to too unstory-like for my taste. Lists of what one wishes was true is too similar to what every emo 90's teen plopped into their LJ's back in the day; I will never see it as an experimental way to tell a story. There is also a very broad theme with jarring changes of style here; I generally prefer a book-length collection of short stories to not whip my head from side to side with contrasting styles of writing.
Note that I am only discussing my preferences, however, not whether or not the collection is worth reading. It is. Those stories that I enjoyed I *really* enjoyed, and if you are like me and prefer consistency in style and a more narrow theme in your story collections, there is still much for you here.
Note that I am only discussing my preferences, however, not whether or not the collection is worth reading. It is. Those stories that I enjoyed I *really* enjoyed, and if you are like me and prefer consistency in style and a more narrow theme in your story collections, there is still much for you here.
January 4, 2017
I was introduced to Toure through his fiction, prior to being aware of his music journalism and cultural critic background. Truth be told these short stories although fictional-- with a dash of magical realism--serve as cultural critics on the black experience in all its brightly colored and patterned diversity.
These stories are super funny. Chapter titles whet the appetite for what's to come, here's one to dig into: “A Hot Time at the Church of Kentucky Fried Souls and the Spectacular Final Sunday Sermon of the Right Revren Daddy Love”
Reading this book will have you laughing loudly in public places, shaking your head, and wanting to read passages aloud.
These stories are super funny. Chapter titles whet the appetite for what's to come, here's one to dig into: “A Hot Time at the Church of Kentucky Fried Souls and the Spectacular Final Sunday Sermon of the Right Revren Daddy Love”
Reading this book will have you laughing loudly in public places, shaking your head, and wanting to read passages aloud.
July 18, 2016
This is a fabulous collection of stories, inventive, witty, wild. The title track tells of a man who bargains with the devil to achieve his ends: he never wants to see white folks again. Blindness, salvation, and flight. Toure attempts new flights of fancy as he writes of magic sneakers. He distills the world of african american imagery and possiblity into a truly hip and passionate vision of a wild and mystical world. Laugh out loud funny, filled to the brim with absurdities and truths too absurd to not be, this delightful book of stories made my month when it came out.
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April 5, 20172004...Read for school. Now I'm not really a fan of magic realism. In fact, every other book I've tried to read in the genre I've never finished. This collection was actually not so bad. The stories take place in Soul City, a urban black utopia of sorts. Some of the stories left me a bit bored, but others were good. I got the chance to meet Toure and he read some of the stories that will be in his next book which centers around more residents of Soul City. I'll be sure to pick it up because it seems like he is only maturing as a writer.
December 6, 2011
I enjoyed the larger-than-life stories at the beginning of the book...the first three tales, perhaps? Then skipped about and read a few others but some seemed familiar---as though I had read somethign similar beforedidn't have enough interest to read them all. Well written satirical fiction...at times bombastic, but some storylines may appeal to you more than others...
March 24, 2015
31- It's cheaper to keep her
32- If I'm lyin' I'm flyin' and I ain't seen a feather all day.
113- make something you would like if you hadn't painted it.
209- You're here for a reason, but who knows why until history has come around and sorted it out?
209- You know what they say about Sunday babies? They lazy.
32- If I'm lyin' I'm flyin' and I ain't seen a feather all day.
113- make something you would like if you hadn't painted it.
209- You're here for a reason, but who knows why until history has come around and sorted it out?
209- You know what they say about Sunday babies? They lazy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2015
I found this book mesmerizing, poignant, cheeky, irreverent, important, imaginative, fantastical and above all thoroughly entertaining. If you're a fan of sociology, race relations, blackness, or just a creative writing enthusiast this book is for you.
March 12, 2007
This book is hilarious. A great, great great subway book that is indeed quite funny.
May 4, 2007
this is one of my favorite books. toure makes magical realism hilarious and touching.
January 30, 2008
top 5 fiction books, will bring you home
June 24, 2008
One of my favorite books. I enjoy his humor and his writing style. Anything with magical realism has my vote.
June 21, 2013
I so dislike this book.
July 26, 2011
SIX WORD REVIEW: Magical realism meets the Black neighborhood.
April 17, 2011
a literary In Living Color, Saturday Night Live, Mad Tv, South Park and The Twilight Zone”
June 21, 2011
I loved this book!!! It's like reading an urban, adult fairytale. The short stories are so original. This is just such a fun read. We read this for our book club and everyone enjoyed it.
October 9, 2011
Some standout stories. I especially enjoyed the "top 50 words in Black America"
July 22, 2012
Great book of short stories.
April 18, 2014
magical realism. inventive, imaginative, irreverent to the point of making me feel uncomfortable at times.
April 4, 2015
Loved it! I can't put into words how much I enjoyed this book. Totally original. Imaginative and downright funny at times. One of the best books I've read in awhile.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews