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Rating: 
Summary: Skin deep, but relevant
Review: I agree with a vast majority of reviewers that this book does have a tendency to not back up any sweeping statements with statestics or data (surprising coming from a sports writer!)HOWEVER, this book is not packaged or advertised as a tightly researched, sociological and theortical academic study of blacks and whites. It is an anecdotal book that has an unfortunate title of speaking for all blacks. It is a simply written book that does feel unfinished, but does touch on situations, scenerios, language, and "vibes" that are a touchy areas between blacks and whites. It may seem petty at times and bitter, but to see it as a primarily angry book seems to belittle the author, and makes me wary with such prejudice we all hold for women and for people of color to be unjustified or not thoroughly thought persons. She has justifiable reasons to be angry-and more importantly, she admits her shortcomings. I do not see anything worong her "token" chapter on white people and how they feel about the situation with black people because it is supposed to be a learning tool for white people to understand their actions and inactions do indeed matter with black people.My main distaste with this book,(and moreover with her editor) is a point that another reviewer touched upon regarding that there are other races besides black and white that need to touched upon. Asian and Latino/Chicano/Hispanic and Native and South-Asian and non-european whites and Caribbean and so forth are totally ignored and dismissed in this book. At one point she states that HIspanics and Asains have it better because Blacks came as Slaves and therefore will always be the bottom of the heap-totally dismissing their lives, troubles, race experiences and so forth-now that is racist! Dismissing a race because they are not considred relevant, their voice nothing new, that they didn't come as slaves so therefore must have it just as good as white folks is ignorant and soured the message of this book. Perhaps there should be a book regarding how whites and blacks ignorance and dismissal of other races gets under their skin!
Rating: 
Summary: This is Just Bad
Review: I bought this book about a year ago and have yet to finish it to this day. I'm not an offended White person, I am an African American male who deals with issues of race everyday. I really wanted to like this book but it is just plain horrible. I can't believe that she writes for a newspaper. Her ideas are scattered and she doesn't really back up any of her claims. Some of the things in this book are true but they were just placed in the wrong chapter and just rambled off. She reminded me of a bad comedian who just jumps from subject to subject without ever finishing a joke.
Rating: 
Summary: So that's what I did!
Review: I can't recommend this book highly enough. When an author really wants to make a point stick, it sometimes needs to be put in plain language. But that doesn' mean that the thinking can't be just as sophisticated as if no one could understand it, which would have been self-defeating. I told a good friend I was reading this great book about black/white situations and he asked me if I recognized myself in it. I hadn't yet, specifically. But then three fourths of the way through I saw myself out loud. And it WAS just a little thing, even in Williams' book. But this little thing had caused a maelstrom. and deservedly. I was very glad to learn something about why what I had done was hurtful. And of course among new lessons, there are also more general things that may be known by some whites, but which could use some re-thinking and reminding.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre writing, but worthwhile topic
Review: I can't improve on BG from MA's excellant review, so I'll just say that this book is not about all the races, as the subtitle would have you believe. It is exclusively about black versus white. The author shows the whites' point of view briefly and begrudgingly. This could have been a much better book in the hands of another writer. As it is, it is still very interesting and enlightening -- I find myself watching my actions more closely. If someone wrote similar books about Hispanics, Asians, and so on, I would like to read them.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre writing, but worthwhile topic
Review: I can't improve on BG from MA's excellant review, so I'll just say that this book is not about all the races, as the subtitle would have you believe. It is exclusively about black versus white. The author shows the whites' point of view briefly and begrudgingly. This could have been a much better book in the hands of another writer. As it is, it is still very interesting and enlightening -- I find myself watching my actions more closely. If someone wrote similar books about Hispanics, Asians, and so on, I would like to read them.
Rating:
Summary: Little things, no, a mountain, yes!
Review: I can't understand a low rating that was given by other reviewers. I can only say they can not be African American. This book is right on target. Lena Williams's experiences are my experiences (as a Black woman) They seem like little things that happen to you, but they build until you have a mountain. And you live your life carrying this mountain on your back..I wish readers don't spend energy trying to say the realism of the book is untrue. Expend that energy not engaging in "the little things" mentioned in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book To Start A Dialogue Flowing About Race.
Review: It's The Little Things is a book about the daily interactions that "get under the skin of blacks and whites". But in reality, it doesn't really examine those things too closely. A Black person over the age of 12 will find nothing in this book they haven't experienced. There's nothing to teach a Black person how to deal with these "interactions". And certainly nothing in this book could be found that I don't already have written in my own diary. HOWEVER, if you are a white person, of any age, I DO recommend this book. While I don't like to make racial distinctions, this is most definitely a book every white person should read. Why? Because the majority of white people don't seem to realize the "little things" they do that annoy and yes HURT Black people on a daily basis. And this book will go a long way in helping you see yourself and possibly change, thereby assisting in creating racial harmony. For example, if 10 white people in an office are standing in the hallway (blocking it!!) having a discussion, no one says anything or bothers them. They can go to lunch together and there's no problem. But if TWO Black people are chatting in the office and a THIRD comes up, we automatically know we MUST dispurse. Why? Because, as sure as I take breath and type, some white person will come along and say "So what's this all about?". Now this may seem like a harmless statement to you. But to Black people, it is a solid reminder that back in slavery days, Black people were not allowed to gather in large groups for fear they would be planning something. Any more than two people was cause for alarm. So, if you are Black and want a refresher course or conversation piece, then get this book. And if you are white, and are ready to REALLY look at yourself, your actions and deeds in a mirror, then you NEED this book. The writing is simplistic and easy to follow.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked it
Review: Ms William writes about how black and white people see different situations such as things on the job, and just everyday situations. I throught the book was good, but would have liked to have read more from the white perspective.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disturbing
Review: Ms. Williams conducted "focus groups" around the country, which she purports form the basis of this book. The book presents no formal data on the groups; we are not given the information needed to assess whether the groups were well formed and well run, whether participants chosen provide a reliable sample, or whether the methods for summarizing the participants' views insure that the book portrays them accurately. Thus, this book fails the most elementary tests of credibility. A great many of the books' contentions are supported only by anecdotes from Ms. Williams friends and families. One is left to wonder what evidentiary base, in fact, informs the book. That the book tells more about the author's agenda than her findings is suggested, for instance, by her repeated criticism of young black Americans for "forgetting they are black." As she tells it, young black Americans who do not believe their experiences justify dichotomous racial thinking are woefully naive and, in her view, will eventually find that racism pervades America in ways that these black people do not recognize. This, obviously, is not a finding but a prediction, in which the evidence presented by the subjects--young blacks--is discounted because it does not accord with the author's thesis. That is, the book contends that young black persons who believe their experiences reveal no pervasive racism are simply wrong. Why do the experiences of such young black people not constitute probative evidence? Whatever one thinks of the views espoused in the text--whether one finds them an outrage or a courageous revelation of uncomfortable truths--the fact is that this book provides little reason for any careful-thinking person to believe what is said here.
Rating:
Summary: Really should be "The Little Things White People Do that Get
Review: No, this book was not what it was marketed to be. But then, since I am a "white" (mostly) person, I was actually really buying the book more to get different Black perspectives on things, anyway. Actually, it's kind of funny how whites get only a "token" chapter. But I digress. What wasn't so funny was how uniform the Black perspectives quoted in this book turned out to be. It seems like everyone was just intent on criticizing white people in a really juvenile way. Particularly offensive were the comments about how white people supposedly look and raise their children. These ideas sounded extremely racist to me. I know there are people out there who think like this, but it was depressing to realize how many there are, and how such behavior is apparently condoned by many. This is the kind of ignorant, sadistic stuff I would normally expect to encounter at a KKK meeting. However, people are just people, aren't they, no matter their color.... But, to be fair, I did learn a lot from the book. It is ALWAYS helpful to hear a different perspective, however dispiriting it may be. I found myself both sympathizing with and being kind of bemusedly horrified at several of the various ideas presented here. The book is not so much about the real mistreatment of blacks and/or other minority groups (which I think is one of the most crucial issues facing America today) as a bunch of trumped-up misperceptions of whites by blacks presented in a fatuous, self-righteous manner. Er... educational, yes. But I'm not sure it taught me all the things the author wanted me to get.
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