Randall, Alice

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If You Know Your GWTW, You Will Love This Book
Could Have Done Without This One!
I'm glad I read it.
Insight from an outside observer
Clever & Realistic

The Wind Done Gone: A Novel
Alice Randall
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0618219064

Book Description

In this daring and provocative literary parody which has captured the interest and imagination of a nation, Alice Randall explodes the world created in GONE WITH THE WIND, a work that more than any other has defined our image of the antebellum South. Taking sharp aim at the romanticized, whitewashed mythology perpetrated by this southern classic, Randall has ingeniously conceived a multilayered, emotionally complex tale of her own - that of Cynara, the mulatto half-sister, who, beautiful and brown and born into slavery, manages to break away from the damaging world of the Old South to emerge into full life as a daughter, a lover, a mother, a victor. THE WIND DONE GONE is a passionate love story, a wrenching portrait of a tangled mother-daughter relationship, and a book that "celebrates a people's emancipation not only from bondage but also from history and myth, custom and stereotype" (San Antonio Express-News).

Customer Reviews:

If You Know Your GWTW, You Will Love This Book.......2007-04-29

When I was a teenager, I read GWTW at least 50 times. For one whole year (sophmore, junior?) I read this novel continuously. The moment I finished it, I'd start over again at the beginning.

I got to know those characters like they were my family, and pictured each in my mind fully formed. Years later I saw the movie and of course now I can't get the actors' images out of my mind, but for years I lived my own fantasy of Tara, Atlanta, and the lost world of the South.

Alice Randall has brought all of these characters back to life in a powerful way. She has created new aspects to characters I loved, and wholely new characters that fit into the pantheon of GWTW perfectly. I couldn't put this book down and read it in one weekend. If you like GWTW, you will love this book.

Could Have Done Without This One!.......2007-04-19

Being a huge fan of Gone With the Wind, I had to read this alternative account of the story. And let me tell you, it is a completely alternative account! Only a small percentage of the story seemed consistent with the characters developed in Margaret Mitchell's novel. Some parts were downright bawdy and indecent--unnecessarily, I thought. The book redeems itself a bit by shedding some light on some curious situations in GWTW...for instance, why all three of Gerald's sons died in infancy. It also explores, seemingly authentically, the psychological effects of servants raising the children born into an aristrocratic life. Other than that--skip it. I think the concept behind the book is wonderful, but could have been done MUCH better.

I'm glad I read it........2007-03-27

I actually read this book a few years ago, but only now did I finally get around to reading the autorized GWTW sequel, 1979's "Scarlett," and I thought it important to know all three before commenting. I think all three must be considered together, because together all three have powerful and important things to say about the America I live in.

That "GWTW" was an artifact of its time is a valid statement, and its inherent racism would also be easy to dismiss as an artifact of the 1930's were the not the book so enduringly popular, and so hotly defended by its white readers. Its authorized sequel, "Scarlett," attempts to address this problem, mostly by simply writing out the black characters.

I am glad this book exists. I am glad it was written and glad that the courts allowed it to be published. It has its faults--it's far less successful when it deviates from being a GWTW mirror and goes off on its own--but I am glad that the mirror does exist. TWDG opened my eyes to things I'd never thought of before (Oh. You mean, Mammy had a NAME?)and I am glad I read it.

Insight from an outside observer.......2007-02-16

I am a law school student and looked this book up online after reading about the legal battle for this book from the U.S. Court of Appeals. Let me begin by saying I have not yet read this book. It seems to me, however, many of the readers did not take this book for what it was supposed to be. It is designed to be a parody (not necessarily a humorous one even though that's what parodies are typically associated with) of the incredibly one-sided depiction of the south that occurred in GWTW.

I am not arguing that GWTW is not one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written. That does not speak to the racist overtones in the piece. From what I read in this case, it seems as though the author was attempting to show the erroneous depictions through parody by using the same character ideas and plots. Many of the posters were outraged at what this did to GWTW, but if you endeavor to read this book, take away from it what is meant, the oppressive racial stereotypes that GWTW portrayed that had a negative impact on society. It's designed to enlighten people of these fallacies not ride the coattails of GWTW.

Clever & Realistic.......2007-01-01

I'm writing because so many hated it for 'spoiling' -GWTW-. Surprise! It complements it wonderfully.

Speaking as some1 who was oppressed & who was raped ["God made cripples for whites who don't have niggers," i was 1ce told, quite seriously, by a 'Christian' Preacher], rapists *do* rape whomever they can regardless of race, age & social position; it's an act to 'prove' superiority. If Tara didn't have mulattos, it would've been an *extremely* odd plantation. History [as opposed to the let's-pretend-it's-real-past of -GWTW-] asssures us there were more mulattos than 'pure' blacks by 1776. Scarlett can easily be believed to have ignored what she didn't want to see [& -GWTW- is clearly written by Scarlett]; Hades, i *lived* w/a 'Scarlett' more than .5 of my life. As for 'Planter' not oppressing the oppressed; ever read of the "brown eyed/blue-eyed" study? It's enough to make 1 shiver.

From the stupidity to assume Scarlett's randy father [he's *described* as 'hungry for life" & that, dear souls, includes a lust for flesh would've been satisfied w/his obviously frigid wife [did you *read* -GWTW-?!] when there was black flesh which was O-so-free-&-plentiful, to the blind folly of accepting Ashley Wilkes' bisexuality [*every* slave-owning society accepted 'experiments' w/the 'inferior' slave; i'm only surprised Cynara didn't hint that Scarlett {Other} 'experimented' w/Prissy] in a era before people "accepted" that gayness was 'evil', to the world-weariness of Belle {'Beauty' in -TWDG-} toward her whores & the egalitarianism of the whorehouse's after-hours, to the doomed brillliance of pre-Reconstruction Washington & Frederick Douglas' free-spirited house parties [which have been documented by whites; check out his house in D.C.], -The Wind Done Gone- explodes the Victorian hysterical blindness about all matters sexual to look starkly at the horrors black people suffered ... the darkness that lurked behind Tara's glittering beauty. If Cynana overcompensates w/her love affair w/'R', it's readble as that: the attempt by a black mistress to 'beat' the Other who threw away *every*thing while others had literally nothing.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Marijuana Rx: The Patients' Fight for Medicinal Pot

Average customer rating:

AN EYE OPENER!
Why the public needs to read this book!

Marijuana Rx: The Patients' Fight for Medicinal Pot
Robert C. Randall , and Alice M. O'Leary
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560251662

Customer Reviews:

AN EYE OPENER!.......2000-05-07

EVERYONE WHO IS AGAINST THE USE OF MARIJUANA SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. THIS HAS THE STRAIGHT FACTS AND IS A PAGE TURNER. IT DESCRIBES A COUPLES FIGHT FOR A RIGHT TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE. I FIRST STUDIED THE SUBJECT FOR A PROJECT IN MY HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASS. IT SEEMED LIKE A TOPIC TO ALMOST LAUGH AT, BUT I CAN SEE NOW THAT IT IS ONE OF THE MOST SERIOUS CASES IN HISTORY.

Why the public needs to read this book!.......1999-01-07

In the war against drugs, the people that have been hurt and who suffort the most are patients..Glaucoma, MS, Auto immune dieases, HIV,AIDS, Cancer..too many to list!! Robert Randall and Alice O'Leary have written of the twenty + years of fighting the "demon", and the the DEA and the ill advised government agencies that control the destiny of millions of people. People that are dying, living in intracable, horrific pain.All in an flawed effort to Stop the "drugs" The "War on Drugs" has become the war on the least of us, the sick, the poor, the pain racked citizen's. Marijuana Rx The Patients Fight for Medical Pot gives us a rare look inside the lives of two people that found themselves up against the most powerful men in our government. The fight has taken them all over the world. It is brilliantly written, part fact, part personal history. All true and a guide for today! The fight Must be won!! Robert and Alice have found a way to tell their story that is concise, even humorous at times. A story of a man that has faced death and won, for now. A woman that has stood by him every step of the way. It should be required reading for every medical student in every university in this country! There is a time for each of us to stand and be counted. I will be counted. Read and understand the flawed and cruel policies of a govenment too embarassed to admit they are wrong. Medical use of marijuana is a shining tool that is helping chronically and terminally ill patients all over the world. It is time the Government of this country and the DEA stop trying to "pass the buck, denying hundreds of studies that Marjiuana Works. Robert and Alice tell a gripping story of the fight of their lives. It must be recongized and read. For all those namesless, faceless patients that are staking their lives on the use of "Pot".

Pushkin and the Queen of Spades: A Novel

Average customer rating:

"Tis time, my friend, tis time!

Pushkin and the Queen of Spades: A Novel
Alice Randall
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0618562052

Book Description

Windsor Armstrong has a problem: her brilliant boy, Pushkin X, has become a football superstar and is planning to marry a Russian lap dancer. In Windsor's opinion, Pushkin is throwing away every good thing she has given him. When she was an unwed teen mother, Windsor attended Harvard, leaving her shady Detroit roots behind. She raised her son to be fiercely intelligent, well-spoken, and proud. Now he lives for pro football and a white woman of no account. Outraged by her son's decisions but devoted to loving him right, Windsor prepares to give up her last secret: the identity of Pushkin's father.

Customer Reviews:

"Tis time, my friend, tis time!.......2006-11-18

For rest the heart is aching;
Days follow days in flight, and every day is taking
Fragments of being, while together you and I
Make plans to live. Look, all is dust, and we shall die."
Alexander Pushkin

Alice Randall's "Pushkin and the Queen of Spades", is a terrific novel. Beginning with the double entendre of its title the book is rife with meaning and food for thought. The issues addressed in the book, our internal and external lives at the intersection of race and culture and the long term impact that our relations with our parents have on our own children are often discussed in solemn, ponderous and often overly contentious tones. Randall will have none of that. Rather, she embarks on a graceful, biting and often hilarious tour de force that should leave the reader laughing out load while at the same time soaking in the powerful ideas set out neatly inside the pearls of laughter. Mary Poppins once said a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down. In this instance a while lot of sugar and down right great writing helps open our minds to the sometimes provocative issues she sets out.

The story line itself is simple. Windsor Armstrong is an African American woman, graduate of Harvard, a professor at Vanderbilt University and the holder of a PhD in Russian literature. Her son Pushkin X is named after the great Russian poet and playwright, Alexander Pushkin (author of a famous book The Queen of Spades) whose own African ancestry formed the emotional basis of his work and life including his tragic death in a duel. Pushkin X has dashed Windsor's hopes that he would follow in his mother's academic career. He turned down Harvard and played football, at the University of Michigan. Even worse, Pushkin's football skills have resulted in his becoming a star in the NFL. The book's plot is revealed in the opening paragraph, perhaps one of the funniest opening paragraphs I have read in recent memory. Brief excerpts follow:

"Look what they done to my boy! . . . Fifty million people have watched him on a single Monday night. He has given a Russian girl a diamond ring. He means to get married. My son is a football player engaged to a Russian-born lap dancer, a girl named Tanya who danced at a club call Mons Venus. There is a God and he's punishing me. This much bad luck cannot happen by accident."

It soon becomes apparent that Pushkin X has withdrawn his mother's invitation to his wedding after she expresses opposition to the marriage and, more importantly, after she once again refuses to reveal the identity of Pushkin X's father, long a source of contention between mother and son. The rest of the book is devoted to Windsor's internal dialogue in the days leading up to the wedding. She touches on her early childhood in Detroit up to 1968 and the impact of her relationship with her father, whom she adored, and her mother, whom she did not adore, who took her away from Detroit and her father to D.C. They arrive in D.C. soon after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Despite her unhappiness in D.C. the city (and her mother) provides her with the opportunities that take her on her life's journey to Harvard, to Russia and a career as a scholar. Her internal dialogue continues. Like a river, her dialogue takes many twists and turns. Randall's words emerge as a beautiful stream of consciousness that leads us to many new and unexpected destinations. She is never boring and often profound. She is also funny and downright sassy at times as she embarks on riffs that touch on such diverse topics as her sex life, Malcolm X, `the souls of black folks', and writers such as Colson Whitehead and others. She touches on the meaning of being a mother and how the love of a mother (or father) for a child can bring more pain than we sometimes think we can endure. Simply put, in a context that Windsor Armstrong might enjoy - Curtis Mayfield may have had Windsor Armstrong in mind when he wrote the words "the woman's got soul".

The identity of Pushkin X's father and the nature of his conception gradually emerge as the book reaches it climax. That climax includes Windsor's wedding gift to Pushkin X - which gift is worth the price of the book standing alone.

In many respects the structure of Randall's dialogues are reminiscent of James Joyce's Ulysses. This is not to compare Randall to Joyce necessarily but I think it is no small compliment to the power of Randall's writing to even be thought of with Joyce in the same paragraph. As Christopher Hitchens once said about a writer once compared to Tolstoy, to be even compared to Tolstoy (or Joyce in this instance) is no small achievement even if one hasn't quite reach that stature (yet). I enjoyed the book tremendously and encourage anyone with an interest in good books to pick this up and read it. It is a book to be enjoyed and savored.

Average customer rating:

Long, Boring and annoying
A mother's love
Top Draft Pick of 2004
Informative, thought provoking and entertaining
A Great American Novel

Pushkin and the Queen of Spades: A Novel
Alice Randall
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sapphire's Grave

ASIN: 0618433600

Amazon.com

The unacknowledged boom in African-American fiction continues with Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, a second novel from Alice Randall, author of the nearly banned Gone with the Wind parody, The Wind Done Gone. Windsor Armstrong is a Harvard-educated professor of Russian literature whose son, Pushkin--named after the great Afro-Russian poet--defied all her hopes for him by becoming a star football player. Any other mother would be proud, Windsor reflects. But she had wanted her son to transcend the narrow roles allotted to him as a black man in America. She had wanted more for Pushkin--a place in black bohemia, a place carved out by the writings of Dubois and others. And now, he rejects her again by choosing a Russian lap dancer as his wife.

Windsor's musings--by turns angry, conflicted, wistful, and eccentric--are among the most penetrating comments on race and mother love in contemporary fiction. She recalls her Motown childhood; her cruel, self-hating mother's climb through white society in Washington, D.C.; and the refuge she found at Harvard, slowly uncovering the roots of her racism and her shock and sadness that Pushkin has fallen in love with a woman who does not look like her. And what does Pushkin want from Windsor? Only the truth about who his father is.

Though the novel is a little longer than it needs to be, readers who stay with Randall through the switchbacks and cul-de-sacs of her narrative will be rewarded with stylistic fireworks and an unparalleled examination of black racism. --Regina Marler

Book Description

Windsor Armstrong is a polished, Harvard-educated African American professor of Russian literature. Her son, Pushkin X, is an exceedingly famous pro football player, an achievement that impresses his mother not at all. Even more distressing, however, her beloved son has just become engaged to a gorgeous white Russian migr who also happens to be a lap dancer. For Windsor this predicament is no laughing matter. Determined to get to the bottom of it, she embarks on a journey into her own rich past: to her Motown childhood, where the Temptations danced across the stage and love came disguised as a sharply dressed gangster; to Harvard, where she endured the humiliation of being an unwed black teen mother; to St. Petersburg, where the verses of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, great-grandson of an African slave, moved through her head as she made love to her own white Russian. The urge to protect her son has been Windsor's only goal, but as she draws ever closer to the secret that has cast a shadow over her life, the identity of her son's father, she discovers that the half-lies she has fed her boy don't add up to the beauty of the truth. Balancing sharp-witted humor with profundity, sexiness with psychological depth, this is an exhilarating ride straight through the racially divided heart of contemporary America , which also probes the universal question of what it means to be a good mother. Pushkin and the Queen of Spades is a provocative, enormously entertaining novel that will change the landscape of literary fiction.

Customer Reviews:

Long, Boring and annoying.......2005-10-06

I have to admit that I gave up on this book at the half-way point. I just could not read any more, although I was mildly curious to find out who Pushkin X's father was. It wasn't worth the pain, though, so I gave up.

In the first place, the book is written somewhat in the manner of Toni Morrison's "Beloved", with one big difference-Morrison is a great writer and Randall is not (based on this book, at any rate). The result is that this book goes on and on in circles. It's deadly dull.

Second, I developed a hearty dislike for the protagonist. Instead of coming off as sympathetic, having had a tough childhood and adolescence, the protagonist comes off as self serving and selfish. Her disappointment in her son, with whose conduct and life I could find little fault, irritated me to the point that I simply could not stand another moment of the protagonist's harangues against him and his girlfriend (who struck me as an intelligent and thoughtful women and no weirder than the mother!).

Third, the idea of connecting the author Pushkin's life and works to contemporary black life is very intriguing (and was the reason I launched into the book in the first place), but the author does nothing with it. She skims over the clichés of Pushkin's life, but never digs into any original connections between him and black identity.

Fourth, what does this book really say about black identity? Granted, I am not black, so there may be some subtle message I am missing, but I learned nothing about black life in the US. The protagonist's life, in any case, is atypical, since she is a professor - hardly mainstream either in black or in white culture. Her childhood struck me as far from typical also.

I really found nothing in the first half of the book to suggest that I ought to invest the effort into reading the second half; so I didn't.

A mother's love.......2005-01-15

After her controversial debut The Wind Done Gone, a parody of Gone With The Wind, Alice Randall is back on the literary front with PUSHKIN AND THE QUEEN OF SPADES, a work of art presenting deeper observations on race, classism, interracial relationships, motherhood, family, and love. Embedded in these themes are strands of humor, literary references, and a mother's love and frustration in protecting her son from the realities and cruelties of the world.

Windsor Armstrong is a professor of Russian literature and has named her son Pushkin X after Alexander Pushkin, the Afro-Russian poet and Malcolm X. She raised Pushkin with the hopes that he would one day follow in her footsteps, as an intellectual, not boxed in the same stereotypical class of many other black men. Unfortunately, Pushkin has his own ideas and goals in life. He excels in football, turns down a scholarship to Harvard, and eventually advances to the NFL, to the horror of Windsor. When he announces his marriage to a white Russian lap dancer, Windsor finds herself lost in a myriad of emotions.

"Pissed" would be the forefront emotion as she takes his announcement personally, wondering why he didn't choose a black woman, why he chose the life he lives, and how she can continue to love him, considering all of the issues she finds with him. Tossing back and forth from the past to the present, she relives her life, her troubles, pain, and happiness, as she creates a wedding gift for Pushkin -- a narrative of her life. Through the revelation of her disappointments, we're able to further understand her anger and the love she has for Pushkin. In addition, we're given a multifaceted view of her character and her past.

PUSHKIN AND THE QUEEN OF SPADES is an exploratory journey for Windsor as she searches for identity and reconciliation. It is at times moving, hilarious at others, but, nonetheless, adeptly addresses many concerns faced by parents. It is definitely a book to be read slowly, up close and afar, to catch exactly what's going on throughout the pages. It is an exciting look into contemporary fiction with a literary edge.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Top Draft Pick of 2004.......2005-01-05

In Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, Alice Randall mixes a spicy gumbo of Russian literature, Motown, and hip-hop that glides across the palate of the mind to rave culinary reviews. It's funky, hip, and sexy, yet sophisticated, cosmopolitan, and righteously poetic. When a Harvard-educated professor's football superstar son decides to marry a Russian lap dancer, her life becomes a retrospective of "where did I go wrong as a single black mother?" Windsor Armstrong thought she had raised her son, Pushkin X, to be a perfect reflection of herself: educated, erudite, and worldly, and sees his taste for the common as a direct rejection of everything she has ingrained in him, including her place in his life. Rather than retreat and wait for him to come to his senses, she writes a hip-hop elegy of epic proportions as a wedding gift in hopes of culling his forgiveness while desperately trying to respect his choices.

Informative, thought provoking and entertaining.......2004-06-18

Randall's latest novel, "Pushkin and the Queen of Spades" covers a lot of territory. On one level, it's the story of a mother's love for her son and her attempt to protect him from a truth that she feels may crush him. Windsor and Pushkin X - mother and son - are the focal characters in the novel. When Windsor learns of her son's plans to marry a Russian lap dancer, she is forced to reckon with aspects of her past that she has tried desperately to forget. Not only must she find a way to accept her future white daughter-in-law, but she must also find a way to tell her son who his father is. Within this story line, the author demonstrates the current and historical complexities of black/white racial relationships.

On another level, the story examines class and culture conflicts within the African American community. Windsor comes from a family with "all of the vices except those that are unforgivable and none of the virtues except those that are absolutely necessary". It is within this context that Randall explores the difficulties that Windsor has with integrating all facets of her life after a legitimate shift in class and cultural status. ". . . Negroes who survive to thrive exhibit highly original adaptations to life", Windsor tells Pushkin X; and she adapts by compartmentalizing her life in an effort to keep the criminal and abusive aspects of her family background from bleeding into the highly intellectual and academic life she now has as a Russian studies professor at Vanderbilt University. Is it possible to jettison what was then for what is now? Is it necessary? I found this aspect of the novel comparable in many ways to my life experience and the author captures the character's psychological conflicts with apt clarity and clinical insight.

Then there's the literary relationship between the text of Randall's novel and the work of Alexander Pushkin. Although I wasn't familiar with Pushkin's work I had heard of him at some point during my academic career. What I don't recall hearing is that he is of African descent. This bit of knowledge did for me on a small scale what it did for Windsor enormously - it sparked an interest to know more about the African-Russian. It's because of Randall's work that I've recently read Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades", that I've read a little biographical information about the author and his work, and that I will read "The Negro of Peter the Great." There is nothing more beautiful, more powerful, than a novel that entertains, uplifts, and educates; "Pushkin and the Queen of Spades" does all three.

And then there's the rhythm of the story, the beat. Poetic passages and skillfully crafted phrases reflect the author's command of language and knowledge of literary history. "Pushkin and the Queen of Spades" is a monumental accomplishment. Randall packs the story with African-American history and tradition as well as literary creativity and complexity. You'll have to put your thinking hat on for this one but its well worth the effort.

A Great American Novel.......2004-06-07

Alice Randall's Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, is, simply put, a great novel. Beginning with the hilarious double entendre of its title the book is rife with meaning and food for thought. The issues addressed in the book, our internal and external lives at the intersection of race and culture and the long term impact that our relations with our parents have on our own children are often discussed in solemn, ponderous and often overly contentious tones. Randall will have none of that. Rather, she embarks on a graceful, biting and often hilarious tour de force that should leave the reader laughing out load while at the same time soaking in the powerful ideas set out neatly inside the pearls of laughter. Mary Poppins once said a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down. In this instance a while lot of sugar and down right great writing helps open our minds to the sometimes provocative issues she sets out.

The story line itself is simple. Windsor Armstrong is an African American woman, graduate of Harvard, a professor at Vanderbilt University and the holder of a PhD in Russian literature. Her son Pushkin X is named after the great Russian poet and playwright, Alexander Pushkin (author of a famous book The Queen of Spades) whose own African ancestry formed the emotional basis of his work and life including his tragic death in a duel. Pushkin X has dashed Windsor's hopes that he would follow in his mother's academic career. He turned down Harvard and played football, at the University of Michigan. Even worse, Pushkin's football skills have resulted in his becoming a star in the NFL. The book's plot is revealed in the opening paragraph, perhaps one of the funniest opening paragraphs I have read in recent memory. Brief excerpts follow:

"Look what they done to my boy! . . . Fifty million people have watched him on a single Monday night. He has given a Russian girl a diamond ring. He means to get married. My son is a football player engaged to a Russian-born lap dancer, a girl named Tanya who danced at a club call Mons Venus. There is a God and he's punishing me. This much bad luck cannot happen by accident."

It soon becomes apparent that Pushkin X has withdrawn his mother's invitation to his wedding after she expresses opposition to the marriage and, more importantly, after she once again refuses to reveal the identity of Pushkin X's father, long a source of contention between mother and son. The rest of the book is devoted to Windsor's internal dialogue in the days leading up to the wedding. She touches on her early childhood in Detroit up to 1968 and the impact of her relationship with her father, whom she adored, and her mother, whom she did not adore, who took her away from Detroit and her father to D.C. They arrive in D.C. soon after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Despite her unhappiness in D.C. the city (and her mother) provides her with the opportunities that take her on her life's journey to Harvard, to Russia and a career as a scholar. Her internal dialogue continues. Like a river, her dialogue takes many twists and turns. Randall's words emerge as a beautiful stream of consciousness that leads us to many new and unexpected destinations. She is never boring and often profound. She is also funny and downright sassy at times as she embarks on riffs that touch on such diverse topics as her sex life, Malcolm X, `the souls of black folks', and writers such as Colson Whitehead and others. She touches on the meaning of being a mother and how the love of a mother (or father) for a child can bring more pain than we sometimes think we can endure. Simply put, in a context that Windsor Armstrong might enjoy - Curtis Mayfield may have had Windsor Armstrong in mind when he wrote the words "the woman's got soul".

The identity of Pushkin X's father and the nature of his conception gradually emerge as the book reaches it climax. That climax includes Windsor's wedding gift to Pushkin X - which gift is worth the price of the book standing alone.

In many respects the structure of Randall's dialogues are reminiscent of James Joyce's Ulysses. This is not to compare Randall to Joyce necessarily but I think it is no small compliment to the power of Randall's writing to even be thought of with Joyce in the same paragraph. As Christopher Hitchens once said about a writer once compared to Tolstoy, to be even compared to Tolstoy (or Joyce in this instance) is no small achievement even if one hasn't quite reach that stature (yet). I enjoyed the book tremendously and encourage anyone with an interest in good books to pick this up and read it. It is a book to be enjoyed and savored.

My Country Roots: The Ultimate MP3 Guide to America's Original Outsider Music
Average customer rating:
My Country Roots: The Ultimate MP3 Guide to America's Original Outsider Music
Alice Randall , Carter Little , and Courtney Little
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Discographies & Buyer's Guides | Reference | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1595558608

Book Description

Containing 100 recommended playlists for downloading, this book is the best and most unique way to explore the Country music genre in a modern, easy, convenient way. Each playlist walks you through the history, culture, and relevance of Country music, revealing the authenticity and raw truth that represents Country. </p>

Pushkin & the Queen of Spades 1ST Edition Signed
Average customer rating:
Pushkin & the Queen of Spades 1ST Edition Signed
Alice Randall
Manufacturer: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO@
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PKZARI

Mission to Mexico
Average customer rating:
Mission to Mexico
Alice J. McCllelland
Manufacturer: Presbytarian Church
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JK23EW

The sources of Spenser's classical mythology
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The sources of Spenser's classical mythology
Alice Elizabeth (Sawtelle) Randall
Manufacturer: AMS Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | Classics | Contemporary | General | Historical | Humor | Letters & Correspondence | Middle | Old | Poetry | Renaissance | Shakespeare | Short Stories
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ASIN: 0404055680

The Wild Done Gone
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The Wild Done Gone
Alice Randall
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K07O68

Pushkin and the Queen of Spades: Library Edition
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Pushkin and the Queen of Spades: Library Edition
Alice Randall , and Lisa Renee Pitts
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0786186852

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