4 out of 4 stars
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"What's going on. Ya, what's going on. Tell me what's going on, I'll tell you what's going on." - Marvin Gaye
I can't say much about the world today, but I can tell you that what's going on in Urban Rhapsody is a whole lot of great storytelling!
Urban: "In, relating to, or characteristic of a city or town." Nowadays, this word often has a second connotation, representing areas in which people of color live.
Rhapsody: "An instrumental composition irregular in form and suggestive of improvisation." Rhapsody Blues is a famous song which makes excellent use of extemporization.
Urban Rhapsody: An entertaining yet thought-provoking composition of stories that are based in urban areas, making excellent use of improvisation.
Written by Wili G, Urban Rhapsody is perfectly named, and I will be forever grateful that I got to partake of such a provocative assemblage of stories that illustrate many facets of the black experience; I am aware that not all African-Americans live in these ways, so I didn't want to make a blanket statement. Still, even if we haven't lived it ourselves, I'm sure that we've all heard of single mothers who are stuck taking care of themselves and their children, with seemingly no way out of bad situations. We all know of a family that held such promise being taken down by drugs and poverty. We've all heard tell of a seemingly-innocent teenager snapping and taking down their peers in a gun shower. Less heard of perhaps are the stories of good single fathers taking care of their children or women choosing possible death in their quest to successfully give birth. These themes and more are explored by this wonderful author. Also applause-worthy is that the title of each story is taken from a song title from Marvin Gaye's award-winning album, What's Going On, a provocative collection itself. In addition, most of the stories quote lines from the songs they're named after, which I don't think was any small feat; done wrong, it could have resulted in cheesy, forced lines that made the reader shake their head. Thankfully, that was not the case here.
Of the nine tales told therein, my favorites are Wholly Holy, Flyin' High (in the Friendly Sky), and Right On. Wholly Holy is the tale of a woman on her seventh pregnancy praying that it will result in a live birth after six miscarriages and stillborns. As if her pregnancy isn't stressful enough, she also has to contend with an insolent husband, witchcraft, and a curse. Obviously, this is not something that most of us go through, but the tale was very interesting and at times, maddening. Flyin' High (in the Friendly Sky) tells the story of a family's descent into poverty after the father loses his job and has trouble finding another job that pays as well. Unfortunately, this is a recurring theme seen in families of all colors, and I thought Mr. G tackled the subject quite handily. Finally, Right On follows several people in the weeks leading up to the party of the year, taking place on Labor Day at Harmony's abode. The attendees include an abused woman and her abuser, a heterosexual male on the rebound unwillingly shacking up with a homosexual man who uses his body as payment, and a "cougar" in her 40s with her teenaged lover. How their stories are resolved at the party is on-the-edge-of-one's-seat reading.
I loved Will G's writing, which showed an intimate knowledge of the dialect and, dare I say, "Ebonics" that persons of color often employ. On occasion, however, there would be a weird blend of "proper" talk mixed with slang, which left me scratching my head at the duality. The author also did a superb job in his character studies; even if I didn't agree with actions that the people took, I could understand their motivations and desires. I just wish there had been more description of the characters' physical attributes. I had only the vaguest idea of what anyone looked like, but perhaps the author wanted it that way so the focus would be more on what they were doing than how they looked while doing it, which would make sense in such a compilation. I also want to note that some of the tales, such as Inner City Blues and Mercy, Mercy Me, were not written as linear stories. That is, they didn't have the expected introduction-conflict-resolution flow that we learned about in grade school. These stories are more of brief looks into people's lives, and I fully appreciated them for what they are. Still, sticklers for clear endings may want to be aware of this.
This tome did have a handful grammatical errors, consisting mostly of letters missing from words and writing one word as two words or vice-versa, like "into" when it should be "in to". There were also two instances of the wrong word being used, such as "intensive" instead of the correct "intense". However, I was enjoying the book so much that I had to force myself to look for such missteps, so they did not take away from the flow.
With all things considered, I cannot give Urban Rhapsody anything less than 4 out of 4 stars. The tales therein made me weep, celebrate, and get angered for my fellow humans of all persuasions who may be going through such trials of their own, and any book than can do that is an A+ in my estimation. I therefore recommend this book to readers of all races, colors, and creeds who love stories that make them think and/or sympathize, as well as fans of urban tales. I also think that fans of Marvin Gaye will like it due to its provocative nature. I will warn, however, that there are some instances of graphic violence and sexual situations, so those who don't like such scenes should steer clear of this.
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Urban Rhapsody
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