Standing at the Scratch Line : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Wild Wild West
Review: Back in 2000 or 2001 I let the number of pages in this book intimidate me from reading it. When one of my local book club members nominated it for our January read I thought wow, can I do it. I must admit I am very glad I did, it is obvious the book is long, that goes without saying. What lines between the front and back jacket is an African American look at feuds, mob like family saga and a look at a mis-understood man.
The story opens with Leroi Tremain and his uncle Jake trying to raid the Dumont family terrain. In doing so Jake gets killed and Leroi kills two white deputies. At the advice of the family elder he if forced to leave everything he knows and love until "things cool down" as his family says. His departure takes him on a wild Wild West ride from Louisiana, Oklahoma, New York and San Francisco.
Standing at the Scratch Line tracks Leroi's life and revelations from being Leroi to King, from his early teens to his 40's. It forces the reader to examine the justice system then and now. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to its sequel.
Missy

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: This book is GREAT, always keeps you on edge....I truly enjoyed reading this book...we need more characters like this. All the characters were well developed...

Rating:
Summary: Amazing - what else can I say!
Review: This book was well worth the time, as it is a long novel. I, too, am in a book club, and we all loved it. Yes the first couple of chapters were a little difficult to get through, just because I'm not into war stories, but even that part grew to be very interesting. By the middle of the book, I felt like I knew King Tremain and if Serena hadn't married him, I would have. It was a very well written story where you actually felt like you were there with the characters. I laughed and cried through this book and have recommended it to everyone. I also just finished the sequel, Echoes of a Distant Summer - another outstanding novel. You must read it, because the story of King and his family is amazing and exciting!

Rating:
Summary: Long but worth it....
Review: This book was very long, did I say it was long?? I kept reading this book because of the great reviews I read on this website about the book. I wasn't interested at all but I kept reading. I was like maybe something is wrong with me because the story and the main character bored me. That is until King marries Serena. Once she was introduced into the book I couldn't put it down! All the storylines came together and Guy Johnson really put his foot up in this story! Oftentimes authors start plots really well, but by the middle and to the end tthey get really dull and boring. Not this one. I was bored to death in the beginning. The scenes and inaccuracies of the war tired me out completely. I chose this book for my book club and the few other member who finished the book really enjoyed it like I did. Unfortunately, many of the members stopped reading the book because it bored them as well in the beginning and became disinterested. Ultimately, not finishing the book. One person wanted to read the sequel but she was out-voted.

Rating:
Summary: An unknown book/writer...surprisingly Very good
Review: This isn't a book I would have picked up to read. It was a book that we read for our book club. I have to admit, when I read the synopsis, I wasn't interested. But I started reading it and couldn't put it down. This is one of the best books I've read in a LONG time. Despite the historical timeline mistakes..and some vernacular that was used that I'm sure people weren't using in those times...The book was good. I highly recommend it. It is a good book club choice that sparks good discussion. The characters are interesting...and the plot is very captivating.

Rating:
Summary: A jumbled miss-mash
Review: After reading all of the glowing reviews by other readers, it feels somewhat embarrassing to write a review with such an opposing opinion. First, let me say that I had started reading the book over a year ago. I stopped reading it because I thought it was boring, and it really wasn't well written enough to hold my interest. But I made a promise to myself years ago to always finish a book - even if I don't like it - and boy - I didn't like this book. I majored in African-American Studies in college. As I was reading this book, I could tell that Mr. Johnson didn't do very much research into black history before writing it. Many of the incidences he writes about in the book are years off historically. He writes about using the telephone at a time when very few whites, not to mention probably no blacks, had telephones. The book is just not historically accurate. I also think he tried too hard to put everything in the book, the historical all-black mid-western towns, the New York Mob in New Orleans, (I thought this was completely ridiculous), the Klan, everything but the kitchen sink. His liberal use of terms and phrases including hip-hop slang) that were not even spoken in the 1920's was really stupid. Mistakes like those definitely took away from the magic of reading a book that's supposed to be somewhat of a historical novel. I don't think black folks called Los Angeles "LA," San Francisco "Frisco" or Oakland "Oaktown" in the 1920's or 1930's. His characters constant use of phrases that were out of line with the time was really disgusting and showed a lack of effort in his writing. After a while and couldn't wait to finish the book so that I could throw it in the trash. Moreover, It seems that as the book got further along, Mr. Johnson was just trying to hurry the story along and just threw the words on the page without any thought as to story development. You can see the characters words getting shorter and quicker as if Mr. Johnson is attempting to get the book over with. I know that he has written another book that relates to this one - if it's anything like this one, I think I'll pass on it. Finally, I thought the story was supposed to be about King Tremain. Mr. Johnson spends way too much time and ink on King's idiot wife Selena's side of the story. I must say that I really didn't like the book, and I feel bad because I really wanted to - I love reading the works of black male writers - Walter Moseley, Chester Himes, Langston Hughes, Colin Channer - heck - I even like Eric Jerome Dickey. But in my opinion this book was a sorry miss-mash of junk.

Rating:
Summary: Standing at the Scratch Line
Review: I am usually not much of a fiction reader. I enjoy a whole lot of real life stories. This book was a real joy to read because it didn't seem like fiction. We have been reading about the struggle with Black Americans for years now and always end up feeling like history has tried to rob us at every turn. After seeing the Black Holocost exhibit, in a strange twist of emotions I find this book to be an uplifting vision from that same past. I know in my heart that there are more stories that tell the couragious and true stories of men and women that didn't always necessarily wait for triumph to make its way past racism. We'd like to hear them all.. fiction and non-fiction. Guy Johnson says that the books are loosely based on his grandfather. All I can say is .... I wish I knew him. Wonderful book... I really hope it turns out to be a movie with a really really good director and some brave new actor as King Tremain. Bravo Guy Johnson, Bravo!