Them: A Novel

by Nathan McCall

From the “mesmerizing storyteller” ( The New Yorker ) and author of the bestselling memoir Makes Me Wanna Holler presents a profound novel—in the tradition of Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities and Zadie Smith’s White Teeth— that captures the dynamics of class and race in today's urban integrated communities.

Barlowe Reed is a single, forty-something Black American who rents a ramshackle house on Randolph Street in Atlanta, just a stone’s throw from the historic birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Barlowe, who works as a printer, otherwise passes the time reading and hanging out with other men at the corner store. He shares his home and loner existence with a streetwise, twentysomething nephew who is struggling to get his troubled life back on track.

When Sean and Sandy Gilmore, a young white couple, move in next door, Barlowe and Sandy develop a reluctant, complex friendship as they hold probing—often frustrating—conversations over the backyard fence.

Members of both households, and their neighbors as well, try to go about their business, tending to their homes and jobs. However, fear and suspicion build—and clashes ensue—with each passing day, as more and more new whites move in and make changes and once familiar people and places disappear.

Using a blend of superbly developed characters in a story that captures the essence of this country’s struggles with the unsettling realities of gentrification, Nathan McCall has produced a truly great American novel.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, African American, Book Club, Contemporary, Race, American

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Wilhelmina Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halfway through this book, I would have given it 2 stars. Most of the characters are mere stereotypes and I felt that the interactions between the African American residents and the incoming white gentrifiers were way over the top. I am very familiar with the area about which McCall is writing - it's only a few miles from my home and I pass through it several times a week. Very little in McCall's description rang true to me. A pet peeve of mine as an African American is the unnecessary and inaccurate use of dialect, and McCall's usage was very poor. (We Atlantans really can pronounce "Martin Luther King" without any difficulty.)

Two points brought the book up to the 3 star level for me. The "circling of the wagons" of the white residents was, unfortunately, very accurate. The neighborhood parties to which only whites were invited, the coded conversations about safety and improving the neighborhood, the importance of reaching a critical mass of whites within a neighborhood - these were depicted accurately and well. In addition, I developed a fondness for the protagonist who turned out to be a far more complex and likable character than he appeared to be at the beginning. This is McCall's first novel; I hope that he builds on his strengths and eliminates his weaknesses in the next one.

[Christia · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a word - fantastic! McCall has hit the nail right on the head with his incredibly accurate portrayal of the gentrification of the Old Fourth Ward, an historic neighborhood (birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr and location of the King Center) in Atlanta. If he did not experience this transition personally, he certainly spent a great deal of time interviewing and observing those who did.

Barlowe is a middle aged, hardworking black man who watches his neighborhood change as whites begin to trickle in, attracted by affordable housing in the prime location of a predominantly African American neighborhood. A white couple moves next door to him and over time he develops a somewhat strained but cordial relationship with the well intentioned wife Sandy despite (or possibly because of) the growing tension in the neighborhood.

Having (somewhat reluctantly) been one of "them" myself, I can relate in some ways to the developments in the book. My former metro Atlanta neighborhood (actually named in the book at one point) also had a corner mini mart that eventually turned into a coffee shop, and having lived in the first home on the block to be renovated (thankfully to a much lesser extent) I witnessed similar responses from long time residents. My neighborhood also had a Ricky like character, who was more or less a community fixture. Fortunately my relationship with my next door neighbor (long time resident / property owner) was much better and friendlier than Barlowe's is with Sandy, but the similarities are most definitely there.

I particularly appreciated McCall's efforts to present both sides as objectively as possible, avoiding labelling one side good and one bad. If the opinions of some of the long term residents are in fact accurate (and I'm sure they must be) that is discouraging yet understandable. This book really makes you think about stereotypical first impressions from both sides (will we in the South particularly ever be able to move beyond our racial history?) and provides an excellent opportunity to begin a dialogue with others who have experienced similar transitions in their neighborhoods.

This is a great choice for a book club read. Highly recommended!

[Emily Guendelsberger]

So I'm almost but not quite done with this, but I can't see it getting any better so: I picked it up cause I saw it on some top books of the year list and was interested in the topic. It's a novel about the gentrification of an old black neighborhood in Atlanta, telling a story from both the black and white sides.

Being a white girl from a privileged background living in a neighborhood that worries my coworkers, I thought maybe this could, I don't know, better educate me about the issues and why I keep feeling vaguely guilty or being told I should feel vaguely guilty about gentrification.

I was really surprised to find that McCall, who clearly wrote the book to take on Big Racial Issues, doesn't seem to have a good grasp of either side of this business, or at least portrays all his characters as completely unbelievable cartoons. Because what we need more of in this country is clearly more cariactures yelling.

The dude's a black professor at Emory who used to work at the Washington Post and has had a really lucrative speaking career after a couple of books also about racial issues. What it really feels like is that he's been well-off for way too long to write believable poor inner-city black characters anymore and then based all the white gentrifiers off the douchiest, most clueless freshmen in Emory's journalism program, which is annoying in multiple ways.

Or maybe he just isn't a very good writer of fiction, I don't know. What I do know is that Them doesn't have a single character who doesn't feel like the literary equivalent of clip art.

EDIT: I am now finished, and it did not get better. Also, the ending was stupid.

[Jasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant look at gentrification. In focusing on gentrification of Atlanta from the fictional perspective of black and white residents in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s old neighborhood in novel form. McCall's use of language, analysis of present-day realities and reasons for their existence allowed this book to be able to shift how I look at gentrification of homes, neighborhoods and lives. I highly recommend for folks to read this book.

[Rickig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathan McCall raised my consciousness in the 90s with Makes Me Wanna Holler; but I did not know of this novel till a few months ago. I enjoyed it. It is a good old-fashioned novel. I say old-fashioned not because it's stale or irrelevant, but because it has a plot, and themes, and attempts to make you think about events going on today, in an earnest way. It's not the type of book that is in vogue right now - it doesn't depend on unreliable narrators, or multiple voices, or fractured timelines, or plot twists that wait until the very end, or various other writing-program or bestseller gimmicks. Rather, in the vein of Steinbeck, it expresses ideas through characters and their choices. It was a satisfying read. For the most part, McCall does a great job of creating characters. Self-contained, reserved middle-aged Barlowe Reed, able to handle himself in a fight but always aiming for good, his hustling young-20s nephew Tyrone, the ragtag trash-scavenging Ricky, the crisply enunciating, upwardly aspiring Lula Simmons, were all real to me. McCall has a terrific ear for dialogue. As Hubert Selby Jr. did in Requiem for a Dream, he uses phonetic spelling to capture the way people sound (for example, "Is time" or "Wha she buy?"), and it works. I liked how McCall was able to show the perspectives of different characters, even in a single paragraph, and express his themes through their actions. For example, in the episode in which Barlowe accepts Ricky's offer to do yardwork for him for money:
"Now Ricky, if I let you do the work, how much you gonna charge me?"
Ricky peered towards the sky, as if consulting some heavenly pricing chart. Then he glanced down at Barlowe's work shoes. The shoes looked pretty sporty; had a nice shine, too.
"Gimme thurty-five"
He glanced at Barlowe over he top of his sunshades and quickly looked away.
"Ricky. I know you can do better."
"I do a good job!" He smiled, flashing his dirty teeth.
"Yeah," said Barlowe. I got somethin that might help us out. Wait right here."
He hurried around to the back of the house and returned carrying a leaf blower and a red gas can. He handed them to Ricky.
"You can use this blower on the light stuff in front,. You won't have to do much rakin at all...Now how much you gonna charge?"
Ricky concentrated hard, making mental computations for a price adjustment -- allowing for use of the man's leaf blower, of course.
"How about les do thurty!"
"Ricky. Is MY blower."
"I'ma do a good job! You gon love my work!"
Barlowe weighed the counteroffer. For him, such negotiations amounted to a kind of charitable game. The goal was to donate and inspire, without giving handouts. The intent was to be tough but fair, to avoid being taken advantage of and, at the same time, taking care not to wound the recipient's pride.
The recipient - in this case, Ricky Brown - had his own simple goal: to maximize profit. That required a certain rough-hewn shrewdness, the ability to spot the angle on a negotiating edge Ricky was very experienced a this, ever watchful for signs of fear, a bleeding heart or, best of all, profound guilt. On a good day, any one of those factors could bring a full ten dollars more than the asking price. "
Barlowe gives Ricky $5 for gas for the blower and Ricky disappears, supposedly headed for the gas station. Barlowe's nephew Tyrone chastises Barlowe for paying Ricky in advance ("You won't see him no mo till he spend it up. Then he gonna come back wit a long story...You watch") Three weeks later Ricky reappears and does the work. Barlowe feels a surge of pride, "He had given a man a chance to make an honest dollar, and after all that time the man had been moved to come back and prove himself." What Barlowe does not know is that Tyrone had found Ricky and roughed him up, threatening him with more violence if he does not do the work. In some simple paragraphs, we see so much about these characters - Barlowe's proud, almost 60s-70s era idealism, Tyrone's pragmatism, Ricky's combination of village buffoon and savviness. I understand how some reviewers took offense to the fact that some characters are portrayed in a negative light, but it did not seem to me stereotypical. McCall has compassion for his characters. There is a lot of wry humor in the book. I took off a star because, as other reviewers pointed out, the two main white characters are pretty cardboard, and a couple of the plot twists are strain credulity. But this book seemed prescient in showing race relations - including a scene in which police officers, arresting a man, are confronted by an angry crowd in a scene that could escalate into brutality - and even the police are portrayed with compassion. I applaud McCall for not ending the book with some feel-good, we can all get along ending. The ultimate point seems to be that some divides are too huge to cross. And yet there is sympathy for those who keep trying. I think this book does an excellent job of portraying the way things are and making you think.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise (gentrification/ reverse white flight, and the irritation it causes in the black community.) Except the author beats you over the head with the irony. Terrible writing. The author conveys the story through stereotypes and unpersuasive character voices. Think John Grisham but without the suspense. The author hasn't a clue of how yuppie whites act, think and talk. Same with urban, working poor blacks-- I don't think the author effectively captures their voices either. The book's saving grace is the specific references to the city where I live, work and love, and more particularly, a great area of town, The Old Fourth Ward. I smiled about the book yesterday while driving to my funky, fringe-but-not-too-fringe hair salon, located in an 1910s bungalow off of North/ Ralph McGill-- I'm personifying the white yuppie described in the book.

Soooo, if you like seeing references to Glen Iris Drive and Sweet Auburn Avenue in a novel, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, skip it.

Coda: The dialog in this book made me want to jump off a cliff- looooooong tedious and whiney conversations dancing about the issue of race and class. I did think the author did an admirable job of presenting both sides of the issue so that the reader could see (with a mixture of objectivity and own personal bias) the valid concerns of both sides in the racial clash.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off strong but kind of crashed midway through.

This book, written by a former Washington Post reporter, covers the very sticky subject of gentrification in a poor Atlanta neighborhood. McCall gets into the heads of characters on both sides--both the poor blacks and the slightly-less-poor whites buying up the cheap property.

The problem, I thought, was while Barlowe seemed like a decently well-rounded character, the white characters were all so stupid. Sandy and Sean didn't seem like real people--nobody's that dumb! Early on in the book (not a spoiler), one of them says to the other something to the effect of "Don't worry, I'm sure our new neighbors will be over to share a glass of Chardonnay any minute." Puh-LEEZE. Nobody, I mean nobody, is that dumb. The references to the whites listening to jazz were clever at first, then became annoyingly transparent.

As an interesting look at how unintentionally racist we all are, a fascinating read. McCall is very good at subtly pointing out all the little mannerisms and ways of thinking that bely our xenophobia. But as a story, the book was less successful.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book of buffoonery. I can not believe a Black man would write such garbage. That goes to show you that just because you're a college professor does not mean you're enlightened.

Up until this point in my life, I could not fathom why people would burn books. Now, I see why. This is a piece of garbage that no one should waste their time reading. It's a load of stereotypes, ignorance, and absolutely NO originality.

Mind you, I didn't pick this book. This is the Roswell Reads 2009 selection. Yes people, that means the whole city of Roswell, GA is supposed to be reading this book. I commend the majority Caucasian town for picking a local Black author, but you know what this means? I have to go to the book club and defend Black people all over the country. We aren't all like these idiots in this book. Nathan McCall should not be allowed to write anything else EVER again. This is d*mn ridiculous.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Gentrification is a very touchy subject and it seems when one cultural group moves into an already established neighborhood of another culture, things can get very nasty! It ought not to be so, but that is life in America! This book touched me very much and I always enjoy Nathan McCall. I hope he writes more books!

[Toshana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel should be read by every American for empathy and understanding of where we are in America today, particularly since our president is black. Blacks need to understand them and whites need to understand us. "Them" is a perfect springboard for this conversation to begin.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Atlanta. I love being from here, I love living here now, I love the people, and I love the history. I enjoyed Nathan McCall's attempts to influence the current dialogue on race and found myself and my egotism, obliviousness, entitlement, affluence, and several other more annoying characteristics displayed painfully accurately in the book. I loved that I was uncomfortable when I couldn't figure out what people looked like because the author was only noting their race when they weren't black. I loved the rich descriptions of the black community and the depth of life amongst urban working class blacks. I loved the undertones and tensions alluded to within the black community of those who flee to the suburbs to better themselves versus those who stay and fight. I loved the poke in the eye to whites who are 'Pioneers' in 'urban wastelands'. I appreciated his sympathetic eye to the plight of the very poor, the homeless, and the hopeless. Given his background, I would have thought there would be more from the angry young black man's perspective, but I think he deliberately depicted that attitude as hurtful to the cause of the community (right up there with the pimp Henny Penny). At book group we discussed the different women in Barlowe's life and how they represent the different roles that black women can assume. I'm choosing to take it further and assume that all characters were representative of ideologies and roles (they were definitely stereotypical).
I liked what McCall had to say and I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about it. His approach is heavy-handed and it is not the most elegant of writing, but it is singular, memorable, and pointed. As for Martin Luther King, Jr's legacy (a major theme throughout the book), I don't think I'll grant McCall the crown, but I appreciated that he incorporated some of the lesser known aspects of King's endeavors. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, King began speaking out against the Vietnam War, calling the United States Gov't 'the single greatest purveyor of violence in the world' a sentiment that is echoed often today, but was radical at the time. He also campaigned extensively for the rights of the homeless and the impoverished (which is what he was doing when he was assassinated).
In the end, whether you view the problems of gentrification and racial tensions as problems of prejudice, race, class, or education there is food for thought in this book about how we create artificial groups of people which we imbibe with uniformity and label 'Them'.

[Deon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barlowe Reed is a good man, albeit a bit touchy about the postal service. He lives in a rundown rental house he would dearly love to make his own, but saving the funds for a down-payment and getting a mortgage are gargantuan challenges for Barlowe. He likes his neighborhood, a stone’s throw from the grave of Martin Luther King, near downtown and his job. He likes hanging out with the guys in the neighborhood, he feels at home here. Barlowe has taken his troubled nephew under his wing, helping the young man get his life back on track. Sean and Sandy Gilmore are eager to buy their first home but appalled at what their dollar will purchase in close in trendy neighborhoods. Reluctantly they expand their search criteria to include neighborhoods that might be on the cusp of a re-birth. The house next door to Barlowe seems to fit the bill. They can fix it up, wait for the neighborhood to turn around then make a killing. The young couple has their rose colored glasses on too tightly. They are shocked and disappointed the neighborhood is not more welcoming. The neighbors should be delighted with the improvements being made by the eager young couples moving into the area. And there can be no doubt the improvements are real. Dilapidated houses are given new life. Coffee shops and stores start to flourish. Prices start to rise and the goal of achieving the American dream, of owning your home slips rapidly out of the grasp of folk like Barlowe Reed. The people who have lived in the neighborhood see the Gilmores not as new neighbors who will be a part of the community, but as the end of their homes. Soon they will not be able to afford to live in their neighborhood; all the glitzy new change will not include them. As tensions mount Barlowe and Sandy become reluctant friends, crossing boundaries of color and class. McCall’s book is written with razor sharp wit, likable characters, and a sensitively told story of a community in transition.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Them: A Novel By Nathan McCall

I reviewed it earlier this year for the Sexy Ebony Book Club Review Group.

A good read for book clubs. Good discussion starter…

Nathan McCall's novel, Them, depicts the gentrification of Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, where Martin Luther King Jr’s home is located. The story gives some history the Old Fourth Ward to help you get a better idea of how things were before the changes.

The story focuses on a middle aged man who is suspicious of all forms of government, which he refers to as “Caesar”. He starts to feel that it’s time to get some roots, so he decides to purchase the home he and his young nephew Tyrone are renting and this is where the story takes off.

As white couples begin to move into the neighborhood, one couple purchase the home next door to Barlowe and Tyrone, and the racial tensions begin to show though out the neighborhood. The couple, Sean and Sandy attempt to fit in and meet neighbors, but they come up against nothing but resistance and cutting eyes from their neighbors. Then you see that their own fears and assumptions begin to take hold the longer they live in a neighborhood that is clearly not welcoming.

McCall does an excellent job of giving you an up-close look at racism and change (or lack there of). The story continued to develop which keeps the story from becoming too predictable. The character development was strong enough to keep you focused on what will happen with the residents of the Old Fourth Ward instead of focusing only on all the negativity occurring in the book.

This book is an eye opener and the story seems believable, although some of the situations that occur are very stereotypical.

Over all, it’s entertaining and you will see how this book parallels to real life and will defiantly result in some good discussion.

[Jerry Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathan McCall treats fear and prejudice with humor in Them, his first piece of fiction that appears to be about gentrification but is really about how fear drives prejudice and misconduct. While many characters lend to the telling of this story, it is "Barlowe Reed" that McCall uses to encourage readers to consider the merits of racial loyalty and those merits for upholding principles that transcend race.

"Barlowe" is a middle-aged black man longing to own a home but encounters his internal conflict just as his neighborhood becomes integrated, beginning with "Sean and Sandy Gilmore," a white couple who move next door to him. Soon other white homeowners follow, which makes the black residents grow suspicious and become resistant to them and their suggestions for neighborhood "improvements." Both blacks and whites hold separate meetings, which is not only a problem for Barlowe but for his neighbor Sandy with whom is neighborly begrudingly.

Before its end, the novel will have every reader wondering how its racial conflict will be resolved, and maybe every reader will walk away satisfied with ending, just as I did.

[Debbie Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I️ loved this book !

[Manly Manster · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my live review while I read the book.

Chapter 1
The book starts at a specific date and time.

The main character Barlow, doesn't think highly of accountants, but he wanted a "white man" to do his taxes. He dislikes flags too.

The man at the post office thinks about his Homeland Security training when dealing with Barlow. I guess because Barlow was a threat to the country for tying to buy a stamp.

This book is wrong. It refers to someone as looking like "Uncle Remus," and then starts calling that person Remus, as if that is his name. This book is not written from the point of view of one of the characters, so it's not a sassy character calling the man Remus. It's the author doing it inside his book. I suppose the author being black makes it less racist.

The way the dialogue is spelled out is showing black people taking in a way that I don't want to read. Maybe if this was the Jerry Springer show and they tried to find the most uneducated black people they could find it would be ok, or maybe if it was the 1800's.

Seems to me the author has gone out of his way to manufacture details and make this scene volatile for his book. It's just a black man buying a stamp, but every detail of it is one that doesn't need to be the way it is. In a movie, they over exaggerate things and ignore the details of reality to create conflict. However, those are cheap and bad action movies. You just expect more from a book.

This is like one of those low budget black movies that I am too good of a person to watch. Therefore, I will not read it in book form.

The End

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but this novel is just awful. I lived in the exact neighborhood which is the subject of this novel, and was one of the first white people to move in during the mid-1990s. While I understand that this is a work of fiction, and that it is not intended to portray the attitudes and actions of real characters, I think the author took a very lazy approach to his research and his writing. In fact, many black residents of this neighborhood (Mtamanika Youngblood among them) worked tirelessly to bring in people of ALL ethnic backgrounds who would work and volunteer to build a sense of community among its residents, and they succeeded in those efforts. What was once a neighborhood strewn with smashed liquor bottles and used syringes is now a thriving neighborhood filled with working families. Instead of focusing on the fascinating stories which grew out of that history, the author chose to rely on the most one-dimensional stereotypes imaginable, focusing literally on an "Us versus THEM" idea which simply did not exist at the time. Good storytelling almost always starts with an underlying measure of truth, and I'm afraid this is where the author simply missed the mark. SKIP this one, and instead read "Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family" if you want a true slice of Atlanta history and race relations.

[J.L. Whitehead · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slow moving story but I enjoyed it. Nathan McCall deals with the issue of race cleverly. In this story, a white couple moves into a black neighborhood, and it is the white couple who find themselves unwelcome.

Barlowe Reed is the main character who at times strives to be the good guy, yet at times falls into the role of passive. At times, you want him to stand up and take a side...any side. The couple that move in next door to him (Sean and Sandy Gilmore) wonder what is it that they've done wrong that makes them such an unwelcome entity in this once prosperous neighborhood.

McCall uses the blight of urban life as an excellent back drop to paint a dim picture of humanity in one of it's darker hours. It explores raw emotions of the intruders and the people being intruded upon.

It's a sad story that reflects how far we still have to go in race relations. But McCall tackles the topic very well. Maybe the sad part about all of this is that it really is too close to reality.

[David Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read Makes Me Want To Holler by this author when I was eighteen. At first, I was surprise he wrote a novel being that he hadn't released a book in almost a decade. Like many, at first I wasn't sure where he was going with things and his protagonist Barlowe Reed at first anyway, seemed kinda bitter and angry. As the story went on though, I actually found a lot more entertaining and a lot more in depth than I first thought that I might have. Nathan McCall did a really good job with these characters and it's pretty amazing how we dichotomized the way that white people and black people socialize with one another in Atlanta.
This is the first review I'm writing on a book. I don't want to spoil anything for the readers being this is such a great story so I won't. Personally, I'm very impressed with Nathan Mccall's ability to make the jump from writing about journalistic type editorials to fiction I feel he did a very great job with this book, and I look forward to him writing another one

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good book that left me with so many things to think about. It's a "there goes the neighborhood" story told mostly from the point of view of a Black man living in the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, not far from Ebeneezer Baptist Church. White people are moving into the neighborhood and there are so many changes. I viewed it as more than just a racial struggle; it's also a class and culture struggle. I liked the main character a lot. Barlowe Reed, a Black man of about 40 is trying to deal with problems in his personal life as well as the problems of the gentrification of his neighborhood, starting with the white couple who move in next door. The reader gets to see just what kind of man Reed is and I came away from the book admiring him a lot. I think that any white person who is considering moving into an inner-city neighborhood for the purpose of "improving" it, should read this. Although a work of fiction, it seems very realistic.

[Nilaja · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to learn what gentrification does to an existing community, read this book. If you want to know the difference in thought processes between black and white people in a community read this book. Defining who "Them" is will be an indepth study for the reader of who you really are and what you would call "Them". Nathan McCall's tale, while a good story and read, is not just a good story and read. It is about America at its most basic level. It is about the things we all aspire to have. A good home, a good community and good neighbors. It is a tale for the thoughtful. Here's a peek for you to think about. If you lived next door to an empty house and saw a white couple walking around looking in the windows what would you do? If you lived next door to an empty house and saw a black couple looking in the windows what would you do? Really?

[Eclectic Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barlowe Reed is a single, African American man living in a home with his nephew in the old Fourth Ward of Atlanta. He is fed up with Caeser (his name for white authority) and continues to work as a printer and hang out with the local black men at the Minimart. Then one day a white couple buys the house next door to Barlowe. Before you know it more white people start moving into the neighborhood and the locals of the old Fourth Ward aren’t pleased.

This is a story full of racial tension throughout and the climax is predictable, but very thought provoking. The characters are very simple, but complex and Mr. McCall brings us into the realms of racial prejudice from both sides of the fence. I listened to the audio book which was read superbly by Mr. McCall. This is a well written novel that holds your attention to the end.

[Andrew Duncan]

A frustrating book but in an eye opening way. Though it's a reflection of actual reality it still upsetting all the same. The book takes the viewpoint from the other, or how they refer to each other "Them". Their interactions are frustrating because often McCall takes you in the head of some of his characters, and mostly the character react out of fear or suspicion of "them". The main black character and main white character, Barlowe and Sandy respectively, have serious character flaws. Barlowe's resistant nature, and Sandy naive fight the cause attitude in which she is a hypocrite of. In the end the books reveals the separate world Americans live in which often I related with but at the same time was angry with.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Them" is a fictionalized story of gentrification set in the historic old Fourth Ward where MLK Jr grew up and was buried. There are times when I felt like a ping -pong ball, at first sympathizing with "them" and then going back to understanding the reasoning for "us". This is a “them/us “ book as it is the author's intent and he carries this theme out brilliantly. There are seeds of hope in this book however deeply buried they may be. I also learned that it seems that racial relations are much more strained still in the south than the north. If at all possible listen to this book in audio, the reader alone should win an award.

[Abe Weill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book popped out to me off the shelf at my school library. I read the inside cover and was immediately drawn to the storyline. Admittedly I don't know much on the subject, being caucasian in California, so I don't know the accuracy of the novel. As far as I can tell this novel seemed to be a tone-setting book, meaning that this book is showing exactly what's wrong in the U.S.A. today. The book really opened my eyes to what's going on still in Atlanta and other cities. This book had drama, romance, and just enough comedy to keep it interesting for me. It also had a mysterious man by the name of Caesar, who we still don't know who is at the end of the year.

[Continualknowledge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm where to start with this book. I'm definitely glad I read it or listened to it but the story line seemed to get lost in so many other story lines. It's like the author wanted to talk about everything he could possibly talk about in this one book and while he did a decent job of connecting the dots there was some information that should've been deleted to make a cleaner more concise and moving story. It does offer a moving view of gentrification and the after effects on those who can no longer afford to live in their neighborhoods.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exposition through about the first 200 pages rug. But as the relationship between the main white and black character developed, the intensity of their dialogue, internal and external, made this book worth the wait. I thought the author was evenhanded in looking at the perspectives of the black and the white races, and I could very often relate well to the protagonist of a different race, maybe even more so than the character who shared mine.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written piece of fiction based on a very real issue: gentrification. This fictional story is based on the real gentrification shift that took place in Atlanta's 4th ward. For anyone moving into an urban area, especially one that has historically had a minority population, this book is a must read!

[BiblioGeek · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing was simplistic and stereotypical. In several places, McCall builds up suspense only to have absolutely NOTHING happen. I have a sneaky suspicion that the author doesn't know any yuppies, gangsters, crackheads or pigeons personally. But... one star for actually completing a manuscript and getting it published. Good for you.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't love this book but I didn't hate it either. It was actually kind of boring to me. Sandy drove me crazy. If the author was trying to write her as a kind empathetic characther working to bind racial ties he failed miserably b/c to me she came across as pathetic.