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God's Gym: African American Short Story Collections on Family, Fate, and Racism from National Book Award Winner
In God's Gym, the celebrated author John Edgar Wideman offers stories that pulse with emotional electricity. The ten pieces here explore strength, both physical and spiritual. The collection opens with a man paying tribute to the quiet fortitude of his mother, a woman who "should wear a T-shirt: God's Gym." In the stories that follow, Wideman delivers powerful riffs on family and fate, basketball and belief. His mesmerizing prose features guest appearances by cultural luminaries as diverse as the Harlem Globetrotters, Frantz Fanon, Thelonious Monk, and Marilyn Monroe. As always, Wideman astounds with writing that moves from the intimate to the political, from shock to transcendence.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
13 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
John Edgar Wideman
95 books408 followersA widely-celebrated writer and the winner of many literary awards, he is the first to win the International PEN/Faulkner Award twice: in 1984 for Sent for You Yesterday and in 1990 for Philadelphia Fire. In 2000 he won the O. Henry Award for his short story "Weight", published in The Callaloo Journal.
In March, 2010, he self-published "Briefs," a new collection of microstories, on Lulu.com. Stories from the book have already been selected for the O Henry Prize for 2010 and the Best African-American Fiction 2010 award.
His nonfiction book Brothers and Keepers received a National Book Award. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and much of his writing is set there, especially in the Homewood neighborhood of the East End. He graduated from Pittsburgh's Peabody High School, then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he became an All-Ivy League forward on the basketball team. He was the second African-American to win a Rhodes Scholarship (New College, Oxford University, England), graduating in 1966. He also graduated from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Critics Circle nomination, and his memoir Fatheralong was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur genius grant. Wideman was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story in 1998, for outstanding achievement in that genre. In 1997, his novel The Cattle Killing won the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction.
He has taught at the University of Wyoming, University of Pennsylvania, where he founded and chaired the African American Studies Department, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers. He currently teaches at Brown University, and he sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.
In March, 2010, he self-published "Briefs," a new collection of microstories, on Lulu.com. Stories from the book have already been selected for the O Henry Prize for 2010 and the Best African-American Fiction 2010 award.
His nonfiction book Brothers and Keepers received a National Book Award. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and much of his writing is set there, especially in the Homewood neighborhood of the East End. He graduated from Pittsburgh's Peabody High School, then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he became an All-Ivy League forward on the basketball team. He was the second African-American to win a Rhodes Scholarship (New College, Oxford University, England), graduating in 1966. He also graduated from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Critics Circle nomination, and his memoir Fatheralong was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur genius grant. Wideman was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story in 1998, for outstanding achievement in that genre. In 1997, his novel The Cattle Killing won the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction.
He has taught at the University of Wyoming, University of Pennsylvania, where he founded and chaired the African American Studies Department, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers. He currently teaches at Brown University, and he sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 24, 2018
This collection is incandescent. It may be one of Wideman's best collections and he seems to become more of a master over time. Check out "Are Dreams Faster Than The Speed of Light," if you want a taste of his incredible use of language, his intricacy and ability to rip narrative from its conventions and give us something more akin to an ouroboros than a rocket ascending its exotelic destination. Some of these stories are painful too: "Hunters" for instance starts with a grim and terrifying premise and doesn't lead the reader off the hook. There are great pieces cast in the milieu of historical fiction, though straying far from biography as possible ("The Silence of Thelonious Monk," "Who invented the Jump Shot," "Fanon"). And there are autobiographical wounds apparent in confessionals like "What We Cannot Speak About We Must Pass Over In Silence," which begins with the line, "I have a friend with a son in prison."
I've long thought Wideman is overlooked and I don't know why. Given his brilliance, breadth and scope, he should be nominated for a Nobel.
I've long thought Wideman is overlooked and I don't know why. Given his brilliance, breadth and scope, he should be nominated for a Nobel.
April 24, 2017
I'll be honest, I had a really great review typed up, and when I hit save my computer froze. I was so frustrated that I almost didn't rewrite a review...but I'll do my best to summarize my thoughts on Wideman's offering. God's Gym is a collection of stories centering around the experience of African American men in 1940's-modern day America. Many of the stories start as a re-telling of a (presumably) true event, and then segue into a stream-of-consciousness, alternate reality telling. Wideman is skilled at his craft, and writes complex prose. It's lyrical at times. This is not the best book to read on a beach, while watching children, or before falling asleep at night...any of the above situations will result in re-reading paragraphs several times to figure out what exactly is going on. As some of the paragraphs are almost 2 pages long, that is quite an undertaking :P These short stories are worth the effort though. Wideman gives many readers a glimpse into a world they would otherwise not know. For those of us who read to expand our world (and our understanding of it), it's a welcome point of view. Given 3 stars or a rating of "Good". Below are a few of my favorite quotes.
"My mother believes in a god whose goodness would not permit him to inflict more troubles than a person can handle. A god of mercy and salvation. A sweaty, bleeding god presiding over a fitness class in which his chosen few punish their muscles. She should wear a T-shirt: God's Gym ."
"Once I asked Monk what is this thing called love. Bebop, hip-hop, whatever's good till the last drop and you never get enough of it even when you get as much as you can handle, more than you can handle, he said, just as you'd expect from somebody who's been around such things and appreciates them connoisseurly but also with a passionate innocence so it's always the first time, the only time love's ever happened and Monk can't help but grunt uh-huh, uh-huh while he's playing even though he's been loved before and it ain't no big thing, just the only thing, the music, love, lifting me."
"Forgotten things are really, really gone. Gone even if memories of them flicker, ghosts with more life than the living...Things forgotten in the gritty bottom of a drawer and you realize you've not been living the kind of life you could have lived if you hadn't forgotten, and now, remembering, it's too late."
"My mother believes in a god whose goodness would not permit him to inflict more troubles than a person can handle. A god of mercy and salvation. A sweaty, bleeding god presiding over a fitness class in which his chosen few punish their muscles. She should wear a T-shirt: God's Gym ."
"Once I asked Monk what is this thing called love. Bebop, hip-hop, whatever's good till the last drop and you never get enough of it even when you get as much as you can handle, more than you can handle, he said, just as you'd expect from somebody who's been around such things and appreciates them connoisseurly but also with a passionate innocence so it's always the first time, the only time love's ever happened and Monk can't help but grunt uh-huh, uh-huh while he's playing even though he's been loved before and it ain't no big thing, just the only thing, the music, love, lifting me."
"Forgotten things are really, really gone. Gone even if memories of them flicker, ghosts with more life than the living...Things forgotten in the gritty bottom of a drawer and you realize you've not been living the kind of life you could have lived if you hadn't forgotten, and now, remembering, it's too late."
April 18, 2012
Two of these stories, "Weight" and "The Silence of Thelonious Monk" are among the best I've ever read. The others left me a bit cold. I was surprised that I could have such different reactions to stories from the same author.
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February 5, 2009Nearly every review of God's Gym draws the parallel between jazz and Wideman's writing. Just as our American music encompasses melody and dissonance, ballads and funk, so there are dualities aplenty at work here. Wideman continues to disdain the border between fiction and reality as he draws from well-known biographical facts for his stories. Characters commit violent acts, but only in their imaginations. His imposition as a narrator annoys some critics, yet none can claim that Wideman, the only two-time winner of the PEN/Faulkner award, isn't in complete control of his skills. And while he doesn't shy away from being a "difficult" writer, he gilds his challenges with resonant emotional truths.
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
June 2, 2015
God's Gym is a book of short stories by John Edgar Wideman. The stories are told from the perspective of a variety of African American men in different circumstances. All the stories were told in the stream of consciousness style. While they were well done and made the reader think, I am not of fan of stream of consciousness. I enjoy short stories in general, but prefer those that tell a story rather than just the thoughts of a character in a situation. While this anthology was not a good fit for my tastes, it was interesting to get inside the heads of some of the characters. If you enjoy reading stream of consciousness style stories, I would definitely recommend you give God's Gym a try.
September 27, 2010
Although I'd read some of Wideman's stories in magazines before this was the first time I powered through a collection and this dude can flat-out write. His command of language and voice just completely blows a bunch of those "language writers" completely off the shelves and out of the kindles, all whole ripping out your heart. Makes me want to read everything he's written.
April 25, 2009
"About not gripping tight enough for fear my fingers would close on air."
"Love, is we get it, is as close to music as most of us get..." - The Silence of Thelonious Monk p. 50
"Love, is we get it, is as close to music as most of us get..." - The Silence of Thelonious Monk p. 50
February 19, 2008
About to start this...I've read "Weight" before and loved it. I mean really, it's John Wideman...
August 16, 2010
A cool language experiment, we're inside the consciousness of the deep suffering black men of America. It gives the concept of Dad a new meaning.
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April 29, 2011BOOK: SS: Characters don't shy away from explorations but grab you by heart COULDN'T FINISH Zuhl - : PS3573.I26 G29
January 10, 2014
Carrying the burden fortifying the mind building the neurons
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews