Honky by Dalton Conley Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Honky
Book Review: Better than sociology
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want to read a book about the real issues of race and class most people don't talk about (but you don't want a lot of sociology jargon), this book is for you. The stories are both funny and sad. Conley is hard on everyone, but especially himself. I couldn't put it down.Book Review: Dispelling the Myth...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm glad that this book finally puts to rest the myth so common in America that people can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Maybe it happens once in a million times. But most people are greatly affected by their surroundings and what kinds of resources they have. Conley shows that race is a resource (for whites) and that middle class advantages persist over generations. I hope that lots of white people read this book so that they realize how much is stacked in their favor.required reading for white people who live anywhere in America...
Book Review: CONFUSING AND TROUBLING
Summary: 1 Stars
I found this book both conmfusing and troubling. As a black man who grew up on the Lower East Side of New York, I find conley's observations out of sync with my own. First of all: the Masaryk Towers--the "project" where he lived--was not a PUBLIC housing project, nor was it low income. Its population was far more mixed than the projects where I grew up. His stories, while well written at times, seem forced--as if to prove a point: white people have privileges that black people do not. I think we know this already.As a person of color, I felt a bit hurt by the book's constant opposition between white sucess and black failure. If it's stereotypes the author is trying to attack, he sure doesn't succeed. Black people are type cast in this racial drama. My life growing up was filled with rituals, joy, ideas. His picture of black life is filled with anger, tragedy, and sadness. Where is the positive, complex side of black life on the Lower East Side.
As for the book's title: I've never called ANYONE honky. Was Conley called honky? The title of the book--like so many of Conley's stories--typecasts black people in a confusing and troubling way. Our lives are as complicated as white people's. I wish this book had shown this. Too bad. I think Conley means well. He just doesn't get it.
Book Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
As a white chick growing up in Takoma Park, MD and DC, this book really hit home! Similar to the author's experiences, I was stunned when my baby brother was born and he wasn't black (as I had expected), and I, too, coveted the amazing cornrows sported by my classmates (impossible in my white-girl hair). This book is so real, so honest about the way kids and adults view race/skin color in our society and isn't overburdened with "liberal white guilt". "Honky" made me feel that there is someone else out there who really understands how disconcerting it is to grow up as a "majority-minority" and discover how society REALLY views race. A totally awesome book---I wish there were more like this out there!Book Review: Read this book.
Summary: 5 Stars
As a former thug child who grew up in and around the NYC area, I secretly wished for a childhood like that of Mr. Conley's. As a white kid, I always felt compelled to be tougher then my peers in order to prove myself. Regardless of where I was or who I was with, (usually minorities) I always held on to the comfort of knowing that at any given time, I could walk into a store and be treated better than my friends simply because of the color of my skin. It's not something that we discussed within my circle but we all knew it exsisted. This form of guilt followed me until I got older and learned more about racism and class. I think that Mr. Conley just spoon fed me the answer I've been searching for all these years. In retrospect, I think that it's ridiculous to have wished for a less fortunate life than the one I was granted. Mr. Conley didn't have the choice to grow up where he did, but I bet he wouldn't have changed it for the world. This is a brilliant and courageous man, and I hope that the next generation of leaders in this world think more like he does. I have three words for all of you...READ THIS BOOK. It can do everybody a lot of good.