Before reading 'Cockfighter' I knew nothing of cockfighting. Now I know more than I thought possible, which I guess is a good thing. :-) Thankfully Charles Willeford's cockfighting education manual is actually a darn good read.

Cockfighting is gruesome, and Willeford does not sanitize the sport in any way. In a rather balanced way he describes cockfighting and cockfighters. The main character in this novel is obsessed in winning the 'super bowl' of cockfighting. He lives for cockfighting. Quite honestly, it's a rather depressing existence. Thankfully Willeford's attention to detail rises just above the boredom level. And the ending is very exciting indeed.

Bottom line: certainly not a book for everyone. Yet it's compassion to this nasty blood sport should be lauded.

This is a wonderful book. Willeford was thwe absolute master and you owe it to yourself to scour the used bookstores for this gem! Or, to make it easier, I heard that No Exit out of the UK published a Willedford Omnibus and Cockfighter is included in it. Got to Amazon.co.uk and order this amazing work now! this is the best, and really, only novel about cockfighting you will ever need to read. I don't know how to say much about the plot without giving it away, though. Ideally, you're already familiar with Willeford from MIAMI BLUES and his other Hoke Mosley novels. If not, be sure to get your hands on those as well. Read anything and everything by CHARLES WILLEFORD! And then get the excellent biography WILLEFORD by Don Herron. Amazon should have it. And, as a final not, monte Hellman's film of Coickfighter, with the great Warren Oates and harry dean Stanton is now avl. on dvd. Also starring Willeford himself. And be sure to check out the film of The Woman Chaser while yr at it. Read Willeford. NOW!

You can't really relate to another man's (or woman's) obsession, but "Cockfighter" does a impressive job of drawing the reader into the psyche of Frank Mansfield, the single-minded hero of this pretty intense novel. Frank's goal in life is to win the Cockfighter of the Year award, and he's taken a vow not to speak another word until he does so. In relating silent Frank's journey, the author takes us on a memorable trip through the cockfighting pits of the Southern U.S. and allows us a close-up look at the rugged, obsessive, fiercely individualistic types who haunt them. You will learn from this novel virtually everything you could conceivably wish to know about cockfighting; the details feel absolutely authentic. Above all, though, it's a convincing portrait of a man driven half-mad by his private demons.

This is a funny little novel and a fast read but stops maybe too abruptly to make things clear. The story is entertaining and full of surprises, especially Big Rod's sale of chocolate Jesuses!!! It is also a little strange (and the only book I've seen like that) when it seems to talk about (mainly joke about) post-structuralism & feminism but in non-academic way. Like it claims on the back cover the language is colloquial. What makes me hold back the 5th review star is that the author seems to make fun of all sides without taking one on his own, to have his cake and eat it too. If it is ONLY an an apology for "Big Rod" that is sort of offensive. If the book had been longer maybe this would have been clearer. Still it is a fun book.

I purchased for our library and read this book when Charles e-mailed my library and let us know that he was an Iowan and would we be interested in a book by an Iowa author. I enjoyed the book so much that I borrowed through inter-library loan his college disertation (a short novel). I am still waiting for his next novel which will hopefully have some of the characters from the disertation. I corresponded with Charles a couple times through e-mail. He didn't say when his next novel would be out. So we must wait.

I purchased this book because I am taking a course on "Finishing Your Novel" at the Iowa Summer Writers Festival and Charles Holdefer will be the course's instructor. My purpose for reading this book was admittedly egocentric...I wanted to see whether I would feel this man was qualified to teach this class. Well, let me assure you that he is and I have been sufficiently humbled. Holdefer's wit and the obvious care he's taken in constructing his characters will burn this novel into the reader's minds long after the final page has been turned.

What struck me most about this book is the story of slaves during the Revoluntary War. I'm a RW buff and hardly ever, and never in school's histroy books was this subject touched upon and to me it really had an astounding effect on the war. I didn't know that people in the 13 states feared for their lives when the British offered freedom to the slaves if they joined up with them. And then after the long war, slave owners came up from the south looking for them and dragging them out of bed. The story was to the point with a lot of interesting personal stories. I think this book should be put in all schools and this side of history should not be avoided. I suspected Jefferson was a jerk long ago and this confirms it even more. All these leaders of our country spouting words of liberty and owning hundreds of slaves. How could they have thought it was part of God's plan and design? .

Simply, the research team covers everything from much needed basic history to indepth discussion in a conversational tone.

Great attention is given to documentation of facts. Written for all to enjoy, from the novice to the advanced scholar.

A literary masterpiece. MUST read!!

"Africans in America" is a great book that vitalizes the Black American's history, and paints a perspective on slavery as an economic horror, not a moral evil. I HIGHLY recommend to all.

I came to this series via the Jim Butcher-Laurell K. Hamilton route. If you like those authors, or like supernatural/paranormal aspects to your mysteries, then you'll enjoy this series. This particular story is the fourth in the series, and I would recommend reading the series from the beginning. There is a secondary story arc (concerning a long-missing wealthy man's daughter, a woman in a catatonic state, and an apparent assasination plot) that is continuing throughout the series, and while each book can stand alone since the previous book's plot developments are summarized at the beginning of each new one, I think that you get a better feel for what Black Oak is and who the main characters are by reading it from the beginning. Of course, having said that, know that the first book is now listed as out-of-print, but I recently found it in a major-chain bookstore, so copies are out there.

Black Oak is a security investigation firm headed by Ethan Proctor. The firm investigates standard business scams, but Proctor also takes on special cases, scams that seem to involve some sort of supernatural aspect that he tries to debunk. As this particular story begins, Proctor is burned out and his firm has lost it's most lucrative client. He is coerced by his concerned employees into taking a short vacation in Atlantic City, just to regain his focus. Of course, his visit to AC also coincides with a series of horrible mutilation murders that are occuring in the city, and to top it off a strong winter storm is about to hit the city. If you don't already know it, Atlantic City is on a barrier island alongside the NJ mainland, and when there is excess rainfall the roads flood out and cut the city off. Guess what happens when the rain starts to fall in this book?

Proctor and his two employees, Taz and Doc, are unwillingly drawn into the investigation of the murders, and it soon becomes apparent that the killer is not an ordinary being. This book reintroduces a character who intially appeared in the first book and hopefully will continue to appear in the series. This book is a great mixture of police/PI procedural and horror. If you like your mysteries with a supernatural twist, then you'll enjoy this series.

This is the best of the Black Oak series so far. A vacation turns into a nightmare for Ethan Proctor and his co-workers. During a cold, dark, and stormy visit to the Atlantic City boardwalk, a chilling (not only weather related) series of events begin to unfold. This book had me totally spellbound from beginning to end. The characters work well together and the addition of a new character was a real plus. I felt the fear of the victims down to my toes. And wanted to see the nemisis, shall we say neutralized, as badly as the characters. A good read indeed!

After the disastrous events in 'Episode' 3: Winter Knight the now unemployed Ethan Proctor is forced into taking a vacation by his miserable coworkers. Sadly something very strange and nasty is waiting for him in Atlantic City. Is this serial killer simply a cannibalistic Jack the Ripper, or is he something else, something worse?

Grant's series really hits a comfortable stride in this outting. The story is rock solid and the characters fit together nicely and work as a real team, not just people working at the same job. Hunting Ground can also stand alone, the missing girl story arc is set aside (but not forgotten in the least) in favor of explorig the Dark Forces conspiracy and that makes the book even that more refreshing. There are more than a few subtle hints and clues that nastier things are in store for both Ethan and his Black Oak company. I also hope that Grant brings back one particular character for a second go around (you'll know who I mean after reading the book, no spoilers here). Highly recommended.

THE BLACK CAROUSEL is an intriguing beginning but feels like a prelude to further works, rather than a complete story. How about bringing the rest of the Oxrun Station novels back into print so we can read the rest? Grant's prose is, as always, a pleasure to read.

Once again Charles Grant takes the reader on a chill inducing visit to his haunted town of Oxrun. The Pilgrim's Travelers Carnival has arrived and it is something to see, just stay away from the Carousel, as the quartet of novellas introduced by Oxrun's resident, and always anonymous, writer and reluctant historian repeatedly warn. Like Ray Bradbury's 'Something Wicked this Way Comes', which a cover blurb compares this novel/collection to, Grant's The Black Carousel is a sweetly melancholic and unsettling reading experience. New readers beware, you are in for an addictive treat. One that should be read while wrapped in a blanket so you can try and smother the chills it will give you. Also be prepared to start combing the used book racks for Grant's other Oxrun titles, you'll be wanting to visit Oxrun again and again. Highly recommended.

I just recently read this book and loved it. My only complaint is that there weren't more stories to make the book last longer. Each short story was wonderfully written and completely eerie. It was very reminiscent of Ray Bradbury whose books I have read over and over. I have to say that Charles Grant is now up there with some of my favorite horror writers of all time.

One story that particularly spooked me was the one about the little girl who moves to Oxrun Station. The part where she sees the boy under the tree watching the house is so spooky that I actually had to peer out the window during a thunderstorm just to make sure there was no one out there. Since I've read so many horror stories all my life, I find it great when I can find a story spooky enough to scare me out of my wits. This whole book is kind of like that. I think its great.

While Joyner's book is certainly worth reading and highly recommended for the casual reader, Joyner's methodology is questionable. The preponderance of his primary evidence comes from 10 notoriously questionable slave narratives collected in the early 20th century. Furthermore, Joyner's use of endotes is ridiculously deceptive. He uses a variety of confusing techniques, and very flagrantly confuses the researcher trying to find his sources. To complicate this problem further, Joyner includes no bibliography. Joyner's assesment of the task system falls short of its initial promise. Joyner does an excepitional job of emphasizing the change and continuity in the process of change from African culture to African-American culture. For this reason, and this reason only, I recommend this book.

I have the pleasure of adding Charles Joyner to the list of my personal educators, and he is definitely one of the most informed writers of Southern-oriented literature. This book was assigned to me as required reading, and turned out to be one of the most interesting books I've ever read. A wonderful book by a wonderful soul.

As a free-lance writer living on the grounds of a former rice plantation in Pawleys Island, I think I have read every book on the subject on the SC slave communities and the great rice plantations. Joyner's book is the bible. It is easy and fun to read, concise, filled with fascinating statistics and extremely well written. It is not the usual s dusty book some local resident wrote back in the 1920s as a fund-raiser for the historical society or local women's group. It is a skillfully written book from cover to cover and I urge anyone interested in the history of this area not only to read Joyner's book, but to purchase his own copy. If you are like me, you will soon find that "Down By the Riverside'' will be a well-used, dog-eared favorite. I've sent several copies to friends and family, and it certainly makes the perfect housewarming gift to anyone moving to this part of SC. I have spent the past two years researching this area in preparation to begin writing my own book (a novel) and Charles Joyner will be right at the top of those I thank for making my efforts possible.

The book, the Venus Hottentot, by Elizabeth Alexander, is a powerful conflation of what it means to be an african-american woman artist in a space that is dominated by the aestheticized science of the white male patriarchy. Within her writing, Alexander combines beautiful imagery with potent politics. Much of Alexander's poetry involves a renaming. The poems titled with names involve an elaboration of those names into a series of images, a collage of interconnected senses, places and objects. The poet's active role as historian reawakens the components of history, allowing them to shape and be shaped by the poetic encounter. Through the restructuring of names within history, Alexander renames herself. History becomes a menagerie of colors rather than the juxtaposition of black lettering on blank paper, making her poetry a sensual compilation of rhythms, colors and rescripted historical themes.

"All changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born." --W.B. Yeats, "Easter 1916"

"a terrible beau- ty a terrible beauty a terrible beauty a horn" --Elizabeth Alexander, "John Col"

The parallel of Ireland's War for Independence to John Coltrane's jazz at first may strike some readers as a stretch. However, through the pen of Elizabeth Alexander, an African-American poet who manages to discuss at once important issues of race and myriad topics within history, art and music, any connection is elucidated with eloquence and power. In "The Venus Hottentot," Alexander's first book of poems, the subjects range from personal memory to entire cultural memories to human subjects: John Coltrane, Romare Bearden, Claude Monet, a rare black cowboy. In the fourth section of her book, Alexander's essential message is one of unity in difference. "I could go to any city/ and write a poem" she states in "Miami Footnote." And she does, writing out of Boston, Philadelphia, Brooklyn. Her subjects are black, Hispanic, and the eye with which she paints them has its own form of the Monet's xanthopsia in "Monet at Giverny." Colors fade from the black and vivid blue of Bearden's collages into "yellow freesia," "red notes." In "Today's News", she states that "blackness is" is a poem she does not want to write, because "we are not one or ten or ten thousand things." The reader stands looking up and around at the montage, a Diego Rivera mural surrounding one with "walls and walls of scenes of work." The "Painting" is effusive, so why not include the Irish? Out of the clashes of culture, the curious, though ignorant, manipulation of a race in "The Venus Hottentot," a "terrible beauty is born." Alexander sees this beauty in all its colors and musical shadings, none of which alone can describe a situation. Shading her vision with Irish green or Monet's blue, she lives true to the words of "Today's News": "Elizabeth,/ this is your life. Get up and look for color,/ look for color everywhere." Perceptive readers would do well to join Alexander in her search; they just might find something unexpected and lovely.

If you're looking for an energetic, political, feminist poet who calls it like it is - you've got to read this book. It is beautifully provocative, and tightly written - very exciting stuff.

An apparent clue in the controversial missing girl case that Ethan Proctor's Black Oak took on leads to England and a unique haunting. What Proctor began to suspect in 'Episode' 2: The Hush of Dark Wings is confirmed here. Dark forces of some kind have marked him, but for what? The story arc plot grows thicker, the red herrings swarm, and the whole things builds to a nifty sword fight between man and ghost. Black Oak 'Episode' 3: Winter Knight is yet another delightfully creepy tale that will leave you begging for the next series entry.

Let's face it: this Black Oak series is just plain fun! GENESIS and THE HUSH OF DARK WINGS start out the series. Grant introduces us to Ethan Proctor, the brooding but brilliant leader of Black Oak Security. If there is a creepy twist, Proctor and company are sure to find it!

WINTER KNIGHT finds Proctor in the quaint town of Pludbury, Englad. The townsfolk readily accept the legend of one of the town's forefathers who will grant them their deepest desires in exchange for their souls. Proctor, of course, digs and digs to discover the mystery of the resident ghost.

This series is imaginative with Grant's patented writing. If you are new to Grant, these are an excellent way to get an idea of the depth of his writing. Besides, each is so much fun to read that you certainly won't regret the investment!

Charles Grant is the most underrated writer in the horror fantasy/sci-fi genre. His body of work is ubiquitous, ranging from hard core horror to subtle dark fantasy. Winter Knight was a pleasure to read, and the Black Oak series is the most productive series going. "Hunting Ground," the forthcoming installment in the series, should prove to be another fine read.

This is the second book in this series about Jason Coles. I could not believe how much it is like the first one, "Stone Hand." In this one Jason Coles has quite being a scout and settled down to raising horses. He comes back to his cabin to find his Indian wife killed and his adopted son carried off. Remember this is the same son that was carried off in "Stone Hand". He of course goes after the ones who did it and they are led by "Black Eagle." The story line is about Jason going back to the army as a scout. Will not tell you the ending because you may read the book. I just got tired of the same little boy being carried off, brought back and carried off again. Maybe West can come up with a different story line in his next book.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a better class of western adventure. The story takes enough twists and turns to keep you excited to find out what's going to happen next, and Jason Coles is the kind of hero you want to read more about. I hated to see the book end. I'd like to congratulate Charles West on a book well done.

I really enjoyed being transported back to the wild frontier. I could hardly put it down once I started reading. This book was a wonderful finale to the Jason Coles series.

This near-forgotten novel really doesn't get the attention it deserves. Although written over a hundred years ago(Chesnutt has the distinction of being the first African-American professional writer of fiction), the novel anticipates many of the approaches leaders would later employ in their attempts to better the plight of African-Americans. Josh Green, for example, is a dead-ringer for the "by any means necessary" rhetoric of Malcolm X, while Dr. Miller seems more emblematic of the accomodationist position adopted by Booker T. Washington and later modified by Martin Luther King. Although Chesnutt seems to imply preference for the latter, the text never falls into a redundant good/bad binary. Chesnutt skillfully demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of strategies designed to address the systemic disenfranchisement of African-Americans. Like many black writers interested in such issues (most notably Patricia Williams in "The Alchemy of Race and Rights"), the text reinforces the importance of rights discourse and a well-functioning legal forum as the keys to ensuring black freedom and autonomy from coercive hegemonical practices.

Although the text, as some commentators have noted, sometimes wildly veers into melodrama, the power and vision of the narrative trumps whatever small stylistic quibbles I may have with it. A great read.

Charles Chesnutt's 1901 novel, "The Marrow of Tradition," is finally, after nearly a century, getting a broader audience, and deservedly so. Set in late 1890's North Carolina, Chesnutt's novel examines the psychology of turn of the century American race relations. Based on the incidents leading up to the 1898 Wilmington 'race riot,' "The Marrow of Tradition" is an astounding fictional study of American race relations, and their political, social, economic, and personal ramifications, which we still feel to-day. This is a novel which should join Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" as a key text in American literature courses, and in the broader social imaginary.

"The Marrow of Tradition" begins with multiple anxities - Major Carteret, a former Southern Civil War officer, whose family was nearly ruined as a result of the war, is in the process of rebuilding his family and his fortunes. Having founded a newspaper, 'The Morning Chronicle,' his fortunes seem to be on the rise. However, he envisions threats on every side - personally, the precarious life of his new born son constantly threatens to end his family line; politically, since the passage of the 15th Amendment, the black population of his hometown, Wellington, is increasingly subjecting his pride to the 'insult' of an 'inferior' race in positions of authority and influence. For the black population of Wellington, threats to their growing power are just as palpable - Carteret and his cronies (particularly General Belmont and 'Captain' McBane) are building up a 'white supremacy' movement; social relations between blacks and whites have the veneer of restraint, with explosive rage always bristling beneath the surface on both sides of the 'color line.' For black people like Sandy Campbell and Jane Letlow, in service to white families since before the war, investment in 'status quo antebellum' is a way of life. Others like Jerry Letlow and Josh Green represent absolute differences in opinion in their relations with the whites. For mixed-race individuals like Dr. William Miller and his wife Janet, social acceptance, respectability, and mobility seem possible. Miller's decision to build a hospital in Wellington is predicated on the hope that he might be a cornerstone for the up-and-coming black community.

With a complex set of relations like this in place, the novel quickly draws us in. Carteret's determination in setting up a 'white supremacy' movement meets with various successes and failures, as he uses his newspaper to sow seeds of discontent among the white population, which is actually outnumbered in Wellington, two to one. An editorial from a black newspaper, against the extra-judicial practices of lynch mobs enrages Carteret and his group. A key relationship in the novel, between an old Southern aristocrat, John Delamere, his profligate grandson, Tom, and their longtime family servant, Sandy Campbell, sets the stage for heightened racial tensions, when Sandy is accused of murdering an elderly white woman, Polly Ochiltree, who is related to the Carterets.

Chesnutt does a phenomenal job of juxtaposing the systems by which each individual and each group and sub-group in the novel deals with the realities of life in a post-Reconstruction southern town. From simple subsisting to aggressive attempts at change, from local traditions of hexcraft to public manipulation through the press, from defensive postures to mob mentality, from legislation to extra-legal action, from duties to the community to the duties owed to one's own family, Chesnutt presents his readers with a wide variety of strategies open to his characters. With a narrative voice which believes decisively in "Fate," the novel tries to illustrate the legacy of slavery, and the almost inevitable mess that comes about when stationary, progressive, and regressive mindsets clash on a public level.

One of Chesnutt's major achievements is in never wholly giving way to group mentalities or broad generalizations with regard to the actors in this drama. Stereotypes are as soon dismissed as acknowledged. He clearly allows for and presents differences in opinion on the level of the individual - Josh Green's self-proclaimed mission of vengeance against white people is as deeply felt as Jerry Letlow's wishes to become white. Even within the 'white supremacy' Big Three, Careteret, Belmont, and McBane express radically different approaches to gaining what they imagine to be a common goal. White characters like Philadelphia surgeon, Dr. Burns, and Wellington newspaper man, Lee Ellis, are as inclusionary and accepting of black citizens and their aspirations as their respective social positions will allow them to be. There is a lot more going on in "The Marrow of Tradition" than I have pointed to here. Professor Eric Sundquist's introduction does an excellent job of setting up the historical, political, and biographical contexts involved in the novel. Overall, this is an extremely rich novel and very much worth reading.

Masterfully narrated by Michael Collins, the historical novel, The Marrow Of Tradition, by Charles Waddell Chesnutt is set in the 1898 North Carolina city of Wellington, presenting a kind of microcosm of the ante-bellum south where a town has gone mad with racial hatreds, and roiling confrontations between southern "redeemers" and the now free black community. The first African-American novelist to achieve national recognition for his work, Charles Waddell Chesnutt is able to take us back into a time of family tragedy, death, lynch law, and endemic racial violence that would scar the worlds of both whites and blacks for generations to come. The Marrow Of Tradition is a compelling, engaging story of characters and events that grips the listener's total attention from beginning to end. (Running Time: 3:30 hours)