Rating: 
Summary: Supah Dupah
Review: after several references to Mumbo Jumbo in the anthology of African American speculative fiction "Dark Matter" edited by Sherree Thomas, i began seeking this book out. reading it seemed to be almost a literary corollary to listening to jazz's sonic dissonance. you either get it or you don't. there is basically no middle ground. if this was a movie it would have a soundtrack that would overpower the senses. imagine the soundtrack if you will. one scene would be filled with voodoo drums, the next Chicago Jazz, followed by P-funk, then Fela. at least a third of the flick would be a visual version of "Dancing in the Streets" by Martha and the Vandellas. if you get the picture then you probably liked the book.
i personally found it fascinating reading. in my opnion the 'collage' style of writing made it that much more interesting. what impressed me is the fact that Reed keeps the plot and storyline intact amidst all the 'Mumbo Jumbo'. it was really intriguing thinking to myself as I read the book "this is just an alternate reality". when I read this book I considered its literary style comparative to the musical style of Sun Ra (i'll build a world of abstract dreams...and wait for u). so in all fairness it is a bit hard to follow for the average reader. so mote it be.
at first, i was totally surprised to read reviews distressingly proclaiming Mumbo Jumbo a confusing read. then, after looking a little deeper and reading some of their other reviews it all became clear. it appears that the distressed few are quite comfortable with linear writing. they seem to be a younger group and probably haven't been exposed to this type of creative writing before. since Mumbo Jumbo is not written linearly, those who are unaccustomed to it might be turned off. also, it was interesting to read their satisfaction with "Ceremony" by Leslie Marmon Silko eventhough, it is merely a different take on a parallel theme, ie. the clash of cultures. Their different responses to Silko and Reed sparked the question, "Are they thinking like Atonists?"
i found the book a pleasant relief from the bizarro world we live in today. it reminded me of the Marvel Comics series "What If?" But then again, who's to say that this can't really happen? after all there WERE those who referred to jazz as "the devil's music". and wasn't legendary Blues musician Robert johnson supposed to have sold his soul to the devil (or Jes Grew). imagine conquering one's enemies by making them dance..."Dance! Dance! DANCE!", I said.
lastly, it seems that Reed creates quite a bit of grist for the mill of the conspiracy theorists out there with the Atonist monotheists trying to impose their one world monoculture on everybody else.
Rating:
Summary: Mumbo Jumbo is "da bomb"
Review: If you have read Mumbo Jumbo, then you would understand why I wrote "da bomb" in the title for this review. Ishmael Reed gives us a playful story full of slang and silliness. Yet the reader can easily strip away the outter layers to reveal a core that challenges us to rethink how we perceive history, religion and other very serious subjects.Mumbo Jumbo is a novel that moved me so powerfully that I want to make grandiose statements like "one of the best American novels of the 20th century" and others like it. But I don't like those statements because they don't tell you much about the book. Personally, I feel that authors who can make the reader dance on a tight rope between complete and utter silliness while subconciously tackling some of the troubling issues of the novels time - well, authors like Ishmael Reed, for example - are rare and should be respected. Mumbo Jumbo is the crown jewel novel from such an author.
Rating:
Summary: For Shame
Review: It is a crime that this book has an average rating of three stars. I submit that those who have given poor reviews are simply ill equipped to handle the complexity of this brilliant work.
Rating:
Summary: For Shame
Review: It is a crime that this book has an average rating of three stars. I submit that those who have given poor reviews are simply ill equipped to handle the complexity of this brilliant work.
Rating: 
Summary: Strange....
Review: Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed is a very interesting story. The only reason why I would read a book like this is because I have to read it for English class. The book I thought was sometimes hard to follow but I was able to make my way through it. At times I found myself nodding off a little bit but there were still parts of the novel that I found very interesting. I particularly liked how they were they integrated the African American side of the story. They show how a Jes Grew and how they started and how they eventually grew to be a wide spread culture. It was kind of like bringing back the African culture to make people in the United States understand where these people were coming from. The only parts of the book that I didn't like were when it would skip around several times and I would start to get lost. Most of the time when someone died I would be wondering why, then I would have to go back a couple of pages and I finally understand where and what happened. I still believe though that this was a very interesting book and I would refer it to many people.
Rating:
Summary: Mumbo Jumbo
Review: Mumbo Jumbo is a book about a Jes Grew and about the African American culture coming to life. This Jes Grew was an anti-plague that enlightened the African Americans to spread there culture around. The white people were not thrilled with this idea. It gave the people engery. This Jes Grew started in New Orleans and is spreading rapidly. I thought the storyline was decent. The way the book was presented in a weird way. The writing style was very different from what I'm used to reading. It took a long time to understand what was even happening in the book. The author would jump from one person to the other. It was difficult at times to figure out who the author was talking about and what specifically the author was talking about. The book deals with a big issue of the African American culture and the way it should come about. White people should want to learn about the African American culture. It's something interesting to learn about even though at the time that was not the issue. It was wrong to think about having African American cultue in a white society. Overall the book brought an interesting issue about and how people in society dealth with the issue of African American culture.
Rating: 
Summary: So much confusion
Review: Mumbo Jumbo is book that can be explained in one word...confusing! The intent was good, trying to show how African American culture came to the United States, and how different cultures reacted to it. If you are lucky, you will take much away from reading this. If not, you will be overwhelmed with a wide variety of characters with strage names. Much of this novel is lacking punctuation, which is confusing in itself. If you can read the book and understand it, it may not be all that bad, but for the rest of us, I think we would all agree we could do without torturing ourselves trying to figure it out. However, if you're up for a challenge, this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: There Could Not Have been a More Perfect Title for this Nove
Review: The title of this book describes it perfectly. For me Mumbo Jumbo was a difficult read. I did enjoy it however. It is not like any other book I have ever read. I like to read new things and to experience different styles of reading and writing. The story itself was interesting. Many important issues in our history are addressed. This book reflects the Harlem Renaissance, the Jazz Age by tracing the rebirth of African American culture. Many of the passages are an accurate portrayal of what Western culture is all about for instance the concerns with religions, guns, and advertising. The novel as a whole can be seen as a critique of American/Western culture. This novel has a mystical aspect to it. It talks about all of these weird dances such as the Turkey Trot, the Grizzly Bear, and the Bunny Hug. Maybe they equate to our Chicken Dance and Bunny Hop, who knows? The Atonists saw these dances as ugly and out of fashion. The Atonists were anti Jes Grew. I still cannot decide if I would be anti Jes Grew or not. The thought of a plague always gets people down and worried. Jes Grew however is an anti-plague. It causes one to be lively and to actually have more energy. It would be good to feel energized when "sick" but this novel shows the consequences of this anti-plague. The novel takes us to different American states by following the anti-plague. The novel does get a bit confusing. Trying to read it out loud was difficult due to the lack of punctuation, but the extra challenge made it more interesting. We all need a bit of change in our everyday reading. This novel is definitely one to read if you want to experience something new
Rating:
Summary: delightful. irreverent. engrossing. /or/ IT'S ALIVE!
Review: This book is getting a bad rap from editorial reviews on this page--all seemingly from the same college English class who were apparently required to write reviews whether they had anything to say or made an earnest attempt at reading. (Thanks for the sharing your tantrums with us, Teach.) It's great. There's a story there, but it doesn't read like Aesop or Mother Goose. There are themes and messages aplenty, but not if you focus on your frustration with the look and feel of the book. As other reviews have indicated, there is a collage effect here. The juxtaposition of historical and fictional characters and situations is a tongue-in-cheek way of understanding how the dead white men of yore responded to the presence of an African cultural presence in the US despite myriad safeguards against it. In Reed's nothing-short-of-brilliant book, the Wallflower Order (guess which of the two previously described groups they are) get all bent out of shape because there's this "mumbo jumbo" "voodoo" dancing breaking out even in society's most prudish circles. Where did it come from? It "Jes Grew". And so it becomes--an epidemic! Anyone who has ever considered the question of "soul" will enjoy this book. Anyone who enjoys detective novels would really like this book as that is the basic style--but if you're coming straight from Agatha Christie, maybe do some decompression someplace before you dive in, 'cause it won't be as rigidly predetermined. If you go to an airport bookshop and see plenty formulaic bestsellers you'd rather read, stick with your conscience and do that. If you're ready to read a book that invites you to take part in the construction of the plot, this book is for you. If you want to have a good time as an *active* reader of a somewhat living text (consider, for example, how different printings of this book change), and if you can recognize a few simple conventions to give you guidance when the next page doesn't drag you by the hand to the next paragraph, get this book. Despite all the "postmodern" and "deconstruction" accolades for this book, one need not know what those words mean in order to thoroughly enjoy this book. The plot develops in a linear way, but rather than "this happened, then this happened," you get "this happened. This is happening. [a picture of something happening.] a headline: SOMETHING HAPPENED." There is still a chronological series of events, but you have to connect the dots as you go along--a skill apparently not best honed whenever the students who reviewed this book get around to their reading assignments. Characters are likewise reliable as in other books one might read. It's like trying anything new, though: the style of this book will require of you that you have enough confidence and perseverance as a reader to see what is there--if you'd rather gripe about how you'd prefer not to be actively involved in the reading, get Bush's catarpillar book instead.
Rating:
Summary: Unable to stop dancing
Review: this is the first book by ishmael reed i have read and it was great. a tour-de-force of language and sound, this book makes obvious the absurdity of the current and past state of race relations in this country. although the narrative structure is unorthodox, this is really not a difficult book to follow in terms of storyline, at least for anyone who has an open mind and isn't expecting to be spoon fed a plot. the basic battle here is between the new religions of sterile GOD and the old ones of animism, gods and demons, but really this is about holding on to that unmeasurable quality that we call SOUL. read this book with an open mind and i promise you will laugh or at least smirk to yourself on several occasions, and it may just make you want to thrust your hips and twist and shake your bootie in defiance of all those who wish to suppress that primal urge that lives within us all.
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