Soul City

Toure, Toure, Toure...trying so desperately to be looked at as a "new Negroe", as one who broke the mold, apart from the pack Negro. Soul City, the city of Harlem in a fever dream, where every possible Black Stereotype exists, is scathingly satirized, and chronicled. But while Toure thinks he's tipp......more

Terrific idea; so-so execution. I like Toure as a journalist, and that includes both his roles as music critic and defender of all-things-black. And I like the concept here of both celebrating and commenting on black culture through a series of references and symbols from pop culture, music, literat......more

I read Soul City several years ago, and what I really liked about it was the fantastical trip it took me on. I literally felt like I was in an alternate universe with musical beings living a supernatural life. And it was so visual. I laughed out loud often at his characterizations and descriptions.......more

What a romp! Cadillac Jackson, the Big Mama's, Jigaboo Shampoo: it's just a crazy bit of black fun. It's not a serious read - but it did make me think about why some things are only racist when they come from outside the race. There would be a hit out on this guy if he wasn't black, and it would pro......more

I was pretty into this book. Not quite at first, but it stuck faithfully to its own mythology, and was a smart, very smart and inventive look into what it means to be black in America. Tongue and cheek and simultaneously entirely serious, this book accomplishes what it sets out to do and is magical,......more