Remember a few months back when I did a rebuttal post (In The Company of Misery) to the Washington Post article on author Helena Andrews and her (then) soon to be released freshman project Bitch Is The New Black? Well, it is time to offer Ms Andrews our congratulations because her book hit the shelves this month. :-)
Now that we have taken care to be both courteous and gracious, I'll admit that I am skeptical of Ms Andrews offerings, the basis of which I outlined in my original post. Due to these misgivings I have not yet purchased her book. Luckily you don't have to wait for me to decide whether supporting Black authors is more important than supporting positive Black social imagery before you get a taste BITNB. Danielle Belton over at the Black Snob Blog has done a wonderfully objective review of it. Find snippets of Belton's review below and head over to the Black Snob Blog to read the post in its entirety.
Yet the first four chapters don’t fit the cavalier, trendy title. They are heartfelt, raw, emotional essays about love and loss. They’re about men you love hard who let you down. They’re about racism and intolerance...
But the energy that makes the first chapters so strong does not remain for the rest of the book. Only showing up in spurts in certain stand-out chapters. Something odd happens as Andrews crosses over from child to adult and suddenly the bitch title seems a bit more apropos – albeit perhaps not in a way she intended...
As Andrews gets stuck the weeds of adulthood, the stories lose emotional heft and details are relayed with little introspection, sometimes devoid of empathy. Attempts at humor sometimes turn from charming to mean as Andrews makes gross generalizations about the individuals she encounters, usually offering little evidence or character development to back up her claims... (read the entire post)
Peace out.
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