Review by NarmeenHyder -- Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery
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- Latest Review: Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery
Review by NarmeenHyder -- Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery
[Following is a volunteer review of "Burn Zones" by Jorge P. Newbery.]
<b>3 out of 4 rating</b>
<i>Burn Zones: Playing Life's Bad Hands</i> is a memoir of <i>Jorge P. Newbery</i>. This story follows a seven years young <i>Jorge</i> starting his career as a paper boy to then owning an ice cream truck, moving on to pursue a passion in bike racing, then turning into a punk rock manager to finally committing to an adult job as a loan officer in the real estate world. <i>Newbery</i> calls many of his trials in life and work as "burn zones" which he is adamant in overcoming, regardless of how many times life gives him lemons.
Jorge P. Newberry after having established himself as a property owner in 2002, sets out on a mission to rewrite the reputation of "Woodland Meadows" in Columbus, Ohio. His goal is to make it one of the best, most affordable, modern housing complex in town. This opportunity initially began prosperous. It created employment opportunities for many African American ex-felons who nobody wanted to hire but were now being employed by Jorge to run the complex. However, as luck will have it, it went downhill for Newberry soon, after fighting many legal battles with the government he lost his property and with it the dream to redeem Woodland Meadows.
This is a well written memoir. The author is very likeable. His honesty, ambition and strong morals come through in his narration. He is not afraid to admit when he is wrong, as he discusses the irony of his “act confident, help others” principle in the loaning business. He clearly is a reader himself, as can be seen in the citations he uses by many famous political activists to speak on important issues. When the press was out to get him during his low point, he related with this quote by Malcolm X <I>"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hitting the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing."</i> Furthermore, this book highlights the injustices faced by the African American community in America. He pinpoints the hypocrisy of the justice system in America and shames himself and the reader for racist inclinations that go unnoticed even by those that claim to not be racist, in this powerful statement. <I> “Most of the hundreds of ex-felons who worked at Woodland Meadows through TEACH were young African American males. If I walked past any of these guys in a dark alley, my heart would beat faster and my gait would quicken. The reaction is subconscious, the result of growing up in an America where the villains on TV and other media tend to be African American while whites are frequently portrayed with positive imagery. Many news outlets pander to the white majority and perpetuate the perspective that whites may commit crimes, but African Americans are criminals.”</i>
The ending of this novel is bittersweet and wholesome. He talks about his parents and wife fondly throughout. Every time the author mentioned getting annoyed by his dad’s pronunciation of his name as “Jorgie”, I wanted to tell him to stop correcting him, it a sign of love, let him keep calling you Jorgie vs Jorge. On another note, I too like the author himself, found solace and meaning in the movie “Bend It Like Beckham” as a teenager. We both had different reasons but the gist was pretty much the same. Me as an Indian girl and he as a half Hispanic man, we can both relate with being an outcast because of our race. The movie beautifully tackles the notion of not giving up on someone while using race in the background.
Finally, my only criticism for the book is that it uses the phrase <i> “my liver sprayed bile up my throat”</i> in many variations to describe nausea. This is a personal pet peeve of mine that a lot of authors do. We don’t really think of throwing up so scientifically when we need to “puke”. I wish authors got more creative with describing nausea over overusing the “bile” terminology. It was also repeated many times and maybe if it was mentioned just once or twice it wouldn’t have bothered me so. The mortgage, loans and Wall street talks were my least favourite sections of the book because of my lack of interest in such topics. I can however see it being engaging for those that have a penchant for such things. I would recommend this to readers who like memoirs, or are financial economic enthusiasts.
******
Burn Zones
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
<b>3 out of 4 rating</b>
<i>Burn Zones: Playing Life's Bad Hands</i> is a memoir of <i>Jorge P. Newbery</i>. This story follows a seven years young <i>Jorge</i> starting his career as a paper boy to then owning an ice cream truck, moving on to pursue a passion in bike racing, then turning into a punk rock manager to finally committing to an adult job as a loan officer in the real estate world. <i>Newbery</i> calls many of his trials in life and work as "burn zones" which he is adamant in overcoming, regardless of how many times life gives him lemons.
Jorge P. Newberry after having established himself as a property owner in 2002, sets out on a mission to rewrite the reputation of "Woodland Meadows" in Columbus, Ohio. His goal is to make it one of the best, most affordable, modern housing complex in town. This opportunity initially began prosperous. It created employment opportunities for many African American ex-felons who nobody wanted to hire but were now being employed by Jorge to run the complex. However, as luck will have it, it went downhill for Newberry soon, after fighting many legal battles with the government he lost his property and with it the dream to redeem Woodland Meadows.
This is a well written memoir. The author is very likeable. His honesty, ambition and strong morals come through in his narration. He is not afraid to admit when he is wrong, as he discusses the irony of his “act confident, help others” principle in the loaning business. He clearly is a reader himself, as can be seen in the citations he uses by many famous political activists to speak on important issues. When the press was out to get him during his low point, he related with this quote by Malcolm X <I>"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hitting the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing."</i> Furthermore, this book highlights the injustices faced by the African American community in America. He pinpoints the hypocrisy of the justice system in America and shames himself and the reader for racist inclinations that go unnoticed even by those that claim to not be racist, in this powerful statement. <I> “Most of the hundreds of ex-felons who worked at Woodland Meadows through TEACH were young African American males. If I walked past any of these guys in a dark alley, my heart would beat faster and my gait would quicken. The reaction is subconscious, the result of growing up in an America where the villains on TV and other media tend to be African American while whites are frequently portrayed with positive imagery. Many news outlets pander to the white majority and perpetuate the perspective that whites may commit crimes, but African Americans are criminals.”</i>
The ending of this novel is bittersweet and wholesome. He talks about his parents and wife fondly throughout. Every time the author mentioned getting annoyed by his dad’s pronunciation of his name as “Jorgie”, I wanted to tell him to stop correcting him, it a sign of love, let him keep calling you Jorgie vs Jorge. On another note, I too like the author himself, found solace and meaning in the movie “Bend It Like Beckham” as a teenager. We both had different reasons but the gist was pretty much the same. Me as an Indian girl and he as a half Hispanic man, we can both relate with being an outcast because of our race. The movie beautifully tackles the notion of not giving up on someone while using race in the background.
Finally, my only criticism for the book is that it uses the phrase <i> “my liver sprayed bile up my throat”</i> in many variations to describe nausea. This is a personal pet peeve of mine that a lot of authors do. We don’t really think of throwing up so scientifically when we need to “puke”. I wish authors got more creative with describing nausea over overusing the “bile” terminology. It was also repeated many times and maybe if it was mentioned just once or twice it wouldn’t have bothered me so. The mortgage, loans and Wall street talks were my least favourite sections of the book because of my lack of interest in such topics. I can however see it being engaging for those that have a penchant for such things. I would recommend this to readers who like memoirs, or are financial economic enthusiasts.
******
Burn Zones
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery
