Review of Firstborn Daddyman
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Tijana Duric
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- Latest Review: Firstborn Daddyman by Frank Bailey
Review of Firstborn Daddyman
[Following is a volunteer review of "Firstborn Daddyman" by Frank Bailey.]
Can one change his destiny only by the strong will and believe in God? If we are destined to live in a community rotten by crime and no perspective or hopes of an honorable life, can we change the course of our life and find the right path beyond all odds? Frank Bailey’s first novel Firstborn Daddyman is a real-life story of a Black man destined to live in a society full of obstacles and challenges, trying to overcome those with hopes of brighter future. Bailey is giving us an insight of a life in a ghetto community and his everyday struggle to survive. Living in a high-crime rates Philadelphia neighborhood, being left by his father at an early age and being raised by his mother and the closest family members, Bailey has understood from early on that he will have to give it all to try living a life away from the crime, but the odds are not working in his favor. The fact that he was raised among women, having four younger sisters and no father figure or any male around, has taught Bailey what the women don’t like in a man and by that also how to manipulate them. This is reflected in his narrative about his relationships and marriage. Through the 10 chapters of the novel, Bailey is reflecting on all the events in his life, his experience in military, complex relationships with women, involvement in narcotics, good and bad decisions, trials, and errors that led him through life and until the final peace he found in his faith in God.
Positive aspect of the book is that Baileys’ story is reminding us of the power of will and how one can affect the course of his destiny by trusting his basic instincts for survival.
Besides this, I admit I did not enjoy reading this novel too much. There are numerous reasons for this. Baileys’ life story is indeed a complex one and in his 55 years of age he has been through quite a journey. Still, putting all these in 102 pages of a book, leaves a reader with a feeling that the stories are half-told and not complete. If some of them, such as the interesting one of Frank joining the Military and the inglorious ending of that journey, or his try on a new easy life on the island he moved at some point of his life, were put accent on and narrated in a more detail style, I believe that Baileys’ novel would be much more appealing.
I found a few errors while reading, but this, though, is not what has affected my overall rating as much as it has the fact that there were too many sections of the novel where the same words and phrases were used. Also, the same grammatical error was reappearing throughout the novel, leaving me with impression that the book has not been professionally edited. Another negative point for me was that there were many military terms and abbreviations used that I was not familiar with and therefore had to Google to understand what the writer was referring to. For these reasons, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
I wouldn’t recommend Frank Baileys’ Firstborn Daddyman to the young readers, due to the strong reference to drug abuse and negative relationships with women but would recommend it to those trying to find inspiration on how to overcome some of the obstacles one can find on his life path.
******
Firstborn Daddyman
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Can one change his destiny only by the strong will and believe in God? If we are destined to live in a community rotten by crime and no perspective or hopes of an honorable life, can we change the course of our life and find the right path beyond all odds? Frank Bailey’s first novel Firstborn Daddyman is a real-life story of a Black man destined to live in a society full of obstacles and challenges, trying to overcome those with hopes of brighter future. Bailey is giving us an insight of a life in a ghetto community and his everyday struggle to survive. Living in a high-crime rates Philadelphia neighborhood, being left by his father at an early age and being raised by his mother and the closest family members, Bailey has understood from early on that he will have to give it all to try living a life away from the crime, but the odds are not working in his favor. The fact that he was raised among women, having four younger sisters and no father figure or any male around, has taught Bailey what the women don’t like in a man and by that also how to manipulate them. This is reflected in his narrative about his relationships and marriage. Through the 10 chapters of the novel, Bailey is reflecting on all the events in his life, his experience in military, complex relationships with women, involvement in narcotics, good and bad decisions, trials, and errors that led him through life and until the final peace he found in his faith in God.
Positive aspect of the book is that Baileys’ story is reminding us of the power of will and how one can affect the course of his destiny by trusting his basic instincts for survival.
Besides this, I admit I did not enjoy reading this novel too much. There are numerous reasons for this. Baileys’ life story is indeed a complex one and in his 55 years of age he has been through quite a journey. Still, putting all these in 102 pages of a book, leaves a reader with a feeling that the stories are half-told and not complete. If some of them, such as the interesting one of Frank joining the Military and the inglorious ending of that journey, or his try on a new easy life on the island he moved at some point of his life, were put accent on and narrated in a more detail style, I believe that Baileys’ novel would be much more appealing.
I found a few errors while reading, but this, though, is not what has affected my overall rating as much as it has the fact that there were too many sections of the novel where the same words and phrases were used. Also, the same grammatical error was reappearing throughout the novel, leaving me with impression that the book has not been professionally edited. Another negative point for me was that there were many military terms and abbreviations used that I was not familiar with and therefore had to Google to understand what the writer was referring to. For these reasons, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
I wouldn’t recommend Frank Baileys’ Firstborn Daddyman to the young readers, due to the strong reference to drug abuse and negative relationships with women but would recommend it to those trying to find inspiration on how to overcome some of the obstacles one can find on his life path.
******
Firstborn Daddyman
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Firstborn Daddyman by Frank Bailey
