Honky

Rating:
Summary: Less memoir than "morality"--or sociology--tale
Review: I picked up this book after reading Conley's sociology book, "Being Black, Living in the Red." The latter is first rate--I found it very, very helpful. I was curious about the formative experiences of the author of THAT book. Except for that, I don't know that I would have finished this one. Conley gives sketchy details of all characters except himself--for instance, we get no idea why his father forsook his "artist" identity to take on steady work, though this seems an important event, with which Conley deals in half a page. Even of himself, he is less forthcoming than it initially seems--for instance, he tells us of his various misdeeds and psychopatholgies, but he does little more than report them. ("Show, don't tell," someone should have instructed him.) I found myself frustrating with a pile of, "But what about . . . " questions I wanted the author to have addressed. ("So what about your Mom's short-lived writing career? How did that affect her and your family?" "How did your OCD affect your place in your various neighborhoods? Did whites/middle class folk deal with it differently than blacks/lower class?")

I think this book is more a set of object lessons in the author's (very insightful) understanding of race and class than a compelling or convincing memoir. We get the details relevant to the lessons, not those that would make a full-fledged story.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I thought that this book was greate and i dont even like to read as a matter of fact when the teacher said we where going to read this book all that went thrugh my head was boring but when i started reading it it was pretty good well at least i liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Live Up to Its Promise
Review: I was prepared for a fascinating read about the life of a young boy growing up in racially-mixed neighborhoods, with the author emerging wise enough to find some major themes or concepts to bind his story together, but Honky comes off as a pastiche of different vignettes that don't leave a deep impression. The author's parents seem to me to have been eccentric and self-involved and the other characters in Conley's life just come and go, leaving no real lasting impact. The autobiography that this should have been has not yet, to my knowledge, been written.

Rating:
Summary: White Man Aint Talking Trash
Review: I would like to shake Mr. Conley's hand because that guy got it right for a change--not all is fair and equal.

Rating:
Summary: It will suck you in and force you to learn something
Review: I would ordinarily give this book 4 stars, since I really like to reserve a 5 for something truely exceptional, but I feel that this book became all it really could have become. Essentially, that is an interesting (if not gripping) tale of white guilt linked to the oppression of minorities and the lower classes. I have to admit- the subject is trite and it loses something because of it. We live in a world that delights in reminding us of these differences so often that a heartfelt story like this one can really suffer. But it shouldn't have to. What we have here is a genuine, relativly sober account of just what it feels like to grow up white, poor, and, strangely, a minority. This book is NOT written for those who have suffered under racial prejudice or financial difficulty. This book is for the upper and middle class white people who have not experienced anything like this before. It is an eye-opener to the generally sheltered and privilaged. This is where it can do some serious good. I would not recommend this book to those who harbor the "they did it to themselves" additude about the lower class. If you come from this mindset, put on your thinking cap and come in with an OPEN MIND. Everything in this story comes together beautifully, and Conley does an admirable job at crushing the countless events of his childhood into a handfull of poignant and important experiences that serve to entertain and teach all at once. You will walk away from this book with a deeper appreciation and understanding for those individuals so often scoffed at and deemed worthless, stupid, lazy, if not all three. From an asthetic standpoint, this book is short and fast enough to pack a punch and take little enough time to churn-out more than enough in return for your services. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO THE WHITE, WEALTHY AND SHELTERED YOUTH OF OUR AMERICAN SUBURBS. If you are one of these, you know it well, and should really give this book a try. I would know: I am one.

Rating:
Summary: Dispelling the Myth...
Review: I'm glad that this book finally puts to rest the myth so common in America that people can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Maybe it happens once in a million times. But most people are greatly affected by their surroundings and what kinds of resources they have. Conley shows that race is a resource (for whites) and that middle class advantages persist over generations. I hope that lots of white people read this book so that they realize how much is stacked in their favor.

required reading for white people who live anywhere in America...

Rating:
Summary: Better than sociology
Review: If you want to read a book about the real issues of race and class most people don't talk about (but you don't want a lot of sociology jargon), this book is for you. The stories are both funny and sad. Conley is hard on everyone, but especially himself. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Keeping It Real
Review: This is an honest account of being young and poor but having an advatage because of skin color. The author has both the perception and a great writing style that takes the reader effortlessly on a journey to the mean streets of Alphabet City. All the characters we meet stand out but my favorite is the mother. Both city and country folks would love this book. A ninety year old woman picked up this book and would not give it back until she finished it two days later. Both white and black, young or old, city or country would love Honky!

Rating:
Summary: Honky is phat!
Review: Tierd of the feel sorry for me memoir circuit, Honky was a welcome change. His portrayal of his childhood was always, touching and vulnerable, but nonetheless he knew he had advantages over the children around him because of his skin color.

Rating:
Summary: Great memoir yet too mathematical.
Review: While HONKY served as a great memoir of one persons experience growing up in the inner city it was riddled with near childish questions regarding race and class. While some questions were thought provoking and revealing about the sociological order of things, they all were presented in a near mathematical form.

The author seems to want to be able to present the travails of life as a mathematical problem. BLACK + NO MONEY = GHETTO DESTINED whereas BLACK + NO MONEY / RICH UNCLE = MIT DESTINED. It's just too far fetched a concept.

The reality of pverty is largely the responsibility of the impoverished. While there exists racism and class definition in this society there also exists those who defy such distinctions. Thus sociological "mathematizing" of urban civilization is defeated by human nature and desire. DESIRE = SUCCESS. Whether a persons surroundings preach desire or not, it is a choice we all make.

I would much rather had read more experiences and less analysis of them.