Rating: 
Summary: I have read the book and applaud Mr. Graham for his courage.
Review: I have just finished reading "Our Kind of People" and applaud Mr. Graham for writing about a not too well understood sector of the black population in this country. As an "Alpha",a Ph.D. scientist at a leading research institute, and a medical school professor, I have had much contact with the so-called "black elite" on a professional and social basis. However, after reading Mr. Graham's book, I have a much better understanding of the lives of a unique group of successful people who happen to be black. As for the critics of this book who have spewed forth vitriolic comments and unwarranted personal attacks on the author, I say "shame on you." Do you attack white authors who write condescendingly about blacks? - I think not. Yes, I agree that the subject matter in this book is uncomfortable to some extent (no one likes snobs), but it is also inspiring to read about blacks who have a legacy of success. I look forward to Mr. Graham's book tour to my city so that he can autograph my book and I can personally congratulate him on the courage to write a book that he knew would be controversial. Let us all encourage this brother to write more books.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Hurts
Review: As I read this book, I couldn't help comparing so many of the people I know with the individuals interviewed for this book. Graham truly serves as a voice for those of us who have grown up with the best and the brightest of our race. He truly gives voice to what so many upper class black children experience. This should be required reading for all non-blacks who assume that based on the color of your skin, you live without dignity, education, abition or self-respect. The only thing he misses is the "Southern Experience".
Rating: 
Summary: Tabloid History
Review: I agree that the attacks on Mrs. Otis-Graham are harsh considering her only crime is loving an unrepentent snob but, when the author himself mentions (time and again) that she too is a Harvard grad--she becomes fair play for ridicule. If she had nothing to contribute to the book, why does her mention her and her education like they are the only black people to ever graduate from Harvard? I read this book. It was okay. It's not worth this much cyber-ink.
Rating:
Summary: Dated,inaccurate,sloppily written "slam" book
Review: I rated this book as a "1" because "0" was not an option. I have lived in Atlanta for 34 years and can speak with some authority. There are many, many errors in this account. An immediate example that comes to mind is the listing of Mrs. H.Nash Chisholm as Mrs. H. Chisholm Nash. The hackneyed writing was tiring with phrases repeatedly begining with "such as" and overuse of "like." This writer will never have to answer the call offering a literary prize. Now to content: E.Franklin Frazier offers the classic treatment on this subject. This book hasn't come close to changing that. The insecure, pitiful people who need this kind of crutch,(the clubs, color, hair) I feel do no harm to others, they just harm themselves.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Yet Unfulfilling!
Review: The work leaves a lot to be desired yet it does have its moments of interest. Although these interesting moments tend to become questionable when one considers the obvious discrepancies and errors that have been so carelessly overlooked by the author. I sincerely hope that these oversights is in no way reflective upon the "Ivy League" education and training of the author, because if so, I am quite sure that that the author's former educators along with those individuals that covet these sterling credentials should be sorely displeased. For the most part, the book tends to almost assume the flavor of a gossip column. I understand that Mr. Graham is neither a historian nor a sociologist by training, but I can't help but feel that he didn't put his best foot forward on this one. The book exhibits no real critical analysis or historical depth, and I guess that it is no small irony that the book appears to be in many ways the "antithesis" of E. Franklin Frazier's great work "Black Bourgeoisie". I think that it is plausible believe that Mr. Graham's motivation for writing this book was to hopefully impress and garner the favor of this "elite" class, to revel in his own fond recollections of being perceived as belonging to this class, and to of course make some money in the process. I have read the reviews of other readers and I am certainly shocked by their personal attacks on the author, but to be honest I am not really surprised. This is a subject that is still a sore spot for most of us, I suppose that's why it's not discussed that much. However, the attacks on the author and his wife (what does she have to do with this) seems to indicate to me that people that would say such things and feel so strongly about it, must have some deeply rooted insecurities and hurt within themselves. Growing up in rural Northern Florida, I must admit my upbringing was a lot like the author's. Although my family surely didn't have the money and connections that the author's family did, the values that he espoused were very similar to those that I came to know and live by and still live by today. I'm not saying that it's right, that's debatable, but it is apart of a culture that has allowed many to succeed in this country against great odds. My family is apart of the middle class that consists of teachers, judges, lawyers, doctors, and morticians. And while we do belong to the fraternities and sororities that he mentions, our geographic region has its own distinct social groups and groups for children. My point is simply this, there will always be an "elite". Regardless of where you go or which groups of people that you study, you will always find one. Every culture has them, and the masses usually relish disliking them, whether it's the Irish vilifying the WASPs of Boston or the Yoruba discounting the Hausa in Nigeria. In every society, in just about any situation, there will always be an elite, and they will have their faults as well as their merits. If civilization as we know it today suddenly ended, and a completely new civilization with absolutely no ties to the old one rose up in it's place, there would emerge an elite, complete with its own foibles and triumphs. I just hope that whoever decides to write its story does just a wee bit better job of telling it.
Rating:
Summary: Black Trash.
Review: Having worked with Mr. Graham in a pretigious NY lawfirm, I can attest to the fact that he himself is every bit as pretentious and mean spirited as the upper class families he chronicles in this garbage. This is a man who tried (and failed) tirelessly to get into the white "in-circle". When this failed, he wrote a trashy expose . Now, it appears the L.O.G tried to pull the same fete with the darker "in-club" Once again, in spite of his whiter than thou wife, disfiguring plastic surgery,andIvy League degree, he was unable to get in. Mr. Graham desperately wants all of us to know who is he--an thankfully this time his dream has come true...he is a top notch as*hole and will be until the day he dies. I pray that he has a good and virtuous nanny to care for his son.
Rating:
Summary: Tiring, shallow, sad vignettes with no substance!
Review: It is interesting that Mr. Graham has written a book ("Members of the Club") that exposes and eschews the racist and elitist behaviors of whites toward blacks, and now, in his blissful ignorance, has exposed the same nasty habits and behaviors among a group of blacks in "Our Kind of People." But now, he seems to condone this behavior! It's no more acceptable from blacks than from whites, Lawrence! He gives new meaning to "Black on Black crime!" Further, he unwittingly exposes the deep self-hatred that seems so apparent among this group, who, on one hand embraces the "light, bright, and almost white" attitude, but yet disdains any and all who may marry white...the very credential (his word) which they value and use when employing the "brown paper bag and ruler" test to those who may foolishly seek acceptance and membership! I guess they forgot how they got to be "light, bright, and almost white! His own pitiful attempts at trying to establish his connections to this group demonstrate that even with all his education, and PRESUMED intellect and confidence, he is still trying to live up to someone else's standard. Lawrence, be YOUR OWN measure of a man!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book.
Review: What a relief from hip-hop garbage and the media's twisted, bigoted exploitation of blacks. I grew up in the era covered by this book and am glad to see coverage of the refined, educated people whose existence is still ignored. There's far more to our race than athletes, entertainers, radical politicians and other puppets of the white majority.
Rating:
Summary: The Black Elite 101
Review: I will not resort an ad-hominem attack on Mr. Graham. That would be far too easy. Further, I will not take aim on the people that Mr. Graham quoted so affectionately and uncritically in "Our Kind." We are all God's children. What I will do is reccommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who is interested in the peculiar habits and customs of the "black elite". While reading it, I was reminded of a number of socio-cultural studies of various primitive societies that I read for Anthropology 101. Like those brief studies, "Our Kind" is short on analysis or contextualization but long on redundant observations and unironic description. Imagine, if you would, an anthropologist enthusiastically jotting down notes and peering through his binoculars at the natives as they engage one another in a way peculiar to their own isolated culture. This is how I perceive "Our Kind"; as a breezy, uncritical introduction to the "black elite" for the beginning student. Except, unlike the anthropologist who is trained to observe from a distance and minimize contact with the subjects of his study, Mr. Graham is all too happy to insert himself right into the center of things. I hope that, in the future, Mr. Graham can use his considerable education and intellectual acumen that I can only assume he possesses to write more substantively about contemporary African-American culture.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting topic, poor execution.
Review: There aren't many books entirely devoted to this subject. "Black Society" by Geraldine Majors, the former society editor for Ebony comes to mind as does "Certain People" by Stephen Birmingham. Considering that the subject is not widely written about, the outcome of Graham's book is unfortunate. A relatively objective view of upper class black life could have been interesting and informative. Instead we get a book length society column-no objectivity, just covetous drooling over the gentility, wealth and wonderful times of these people. After a few chapters it read a little like Jackie Collins/Terry McMillan minus the sex-the names of fashionble locations, clothes, cars, etc. became wearying. The author appears so stunned by the "fine" manners, old money, houses, parties, etc. that he was unable to think critically about the subject. Graham seems confused over what he wanted to write. The introduction implied it was to be a study of this group, but the book itself was a cross between personal memoir/coffee table book. In fact, it would have been better as a coffee table book; with lots of glossy full page pictures and less text the light treatment would have been excusable. I still give it two stars because I'm thankful he wrote it. I needed a reminder of what I'd gotten away from. Speaking as a former member of Jack and Jill, daughter of an AKA, granddaugter of a Boule member and a Delta, I shuddered when I read this book-I could have been caught up in that. So I suppose the book has a moral, the same one read in the Merchant of Venice: all that glistens is not gold.
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