The Color Midnight Made

by Andrew Winer

Hiding the truth about his color blindness from his dysfunctional parents and others, Conrad Clay, a white fifth-grader attending a predominantly black school, seeks to overcome his troubles by finding a new family in the black community. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Coming Of Age, Literary Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Andrew Winer is the author of the novels, The Marriage Artist and The Color Midnight Made. He also writes and speaks about art, religion, literature, and philosophy, and conducts conversations with fellow authors, most recently with Colm Toibin and Geoff Dyer. He is Chair of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction. He is completing a new novel about American religion and politics, and co-authoring a book on what Nietzsche has to say to contemporary people.

Reviews

[Lisa Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because this author actually teaches at UCR. Another teacher thought that it would be beneficial for us to read it, then have him guest lecture. That would have been fine if it weren't an Intro to American Lit class. Somehow I doubt this will find its way into the canon...

[Dj Alberti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Color Midnight Made by Andrew Winer Book Review

I did enjoy the novel The Color Midnight Made by Andrew Winer because the beginning was with the main character who is Conrad Clay and he was just beginning life and he is passionate and caring for everyone around him. His dignity for himself and his family that soon fades away as he and his life goes on is devastating. Conrad has a family also and it goes him, his mother, his Pops, his gramma, and his friends loop and midnight and they were black but he didn’t mind about that. It all started in a black community in the San Francisco Bay Area. He thought saw colors for each of his surroundings like yellow for moms, camouflage for Pops, tan like a weed for his teacher Mr. Garabedian and more.

One reason why I am recommending this book because this book might give you some life lessons about how to live in a neighborhood with low self-esteemed people as they find out what goes on after this beginning life. Conrad was my favorite character too because he knew himself some but not with the color of himself since he didn’t have a color he saw in himself. He had friends like us and his friends were skin colored and theses days some or most people don’t have friends who are colored. His friends were Midnight and Loop, they were the colored friends. Conrad appreciated his friends too and them wanting to be around Conrad and at least they did too appreciate his presence. At least Midnight and Loop have Conrad! Conrad has been very well within the beginning throughout the novel. This shows how I like this novel so far because of reading and listening to other people's perspectives are on younghood to adulthood.

Here’s another reason why this novel caught my attention with my thoughts, first the rest of the characters were great, except for pops’s alcoholic problem, which he’s the father and I can relate to that also because we may have had parents mom or dad with alcoholic concerns or issues. He, Conrad’s Father who goes to bars and drinks with his pals. Conrads family gave up on being a family, more like separating from being a whole family. I wonder if he really got bothered by pops’s drinking… It did bother his mom although it didn’t ruin important things in the family. I can relate to this because I have been around people who have abused alcohol. Conrad knew how to promote himself out there when it was time to be on his own. He conrad wanted to know what it was like to be in a family that wasn’t falling apart. Conrads parents were slowly shifting away from being together. Conrad was gonna find out eventually and it was gonna impact him for some time. Because he would not have expected to have to deal with such a difficult situation. I wonder if he’s gonna be able to accept that he’s going have to be strong and go through this. Who knew that some of the unexpected in a family could go downhill. In the family it sounded like a lot of unaware conformities leading to unsolved problems or just plain issues in the family. I thought that the main character was gonna be the hero or be the mentor for the issues that were coming and getting led to. Conrad and the rest of the people just will leave with themselves and go off and start a new life.

Possibly, maybe, probably someone would have a different perspective on this book because it does have things in it that might offend or affront people. People will not like the idea of including alcohol or colored people in the book, basically racism but in this world there's gonna be things we all don't enjoy or find comfort in. People who probably went through something that involves alcohol really bad probably don't want to be there again or have flashbacks or a sad relation to the memories that were included with alcohol. People would probably not like the purpose of having colored people in this book because they don't accept black people. Some readers that read this probably don’t accept the fact that the mental scenery in the book is in a primarily black community with a white boy growing up there…

All and all, the novel The Color Midnight Made by Andrew Winer was a very good book and novel because of everything you feel in it with all the different ages of perspectives including a drunk one, a mother, a kid, a grandma, the kids friends, the mother and father friends. This novel will probably get to you in a personal level with all the experience the characters had and the situations that were being conflicted with. This book stands among all the other books by the whole interested look into the novel.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. It reminded me of The Road with the style and simple writing but it packed a punch. I was so emotionally invested and could not stop. It didn’t leave me gut-wrenched the way The Road did but I wish there was more even if it wrapped up convincingly and felt complete.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book and it was a quick read, I found it difficult to believe that a fifth grade boy growing up in poverty with his grandmother, mother and alcoholic father would be so incredibly naive about life. Overall the story was quite depressing.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and not-too-traumatic (as they go) coming-of-age story set in modern-day East Bay. Tons of reviewers describe it as a modern Huck Finn story, which is pretty accurate. Enjoyed the dry humor, and the charismatic lead character.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I start reading these books where kids have lousy folks or situations and mistake my sympathy for the kid with enjoying the book. That happened here.

[Melani · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a tought book for me to get through. it just didnt capture me the way other books have. it took me almost 8 months to read it. i wasnt overly impressed.

[Karineh]

wow. it was amaizing