if you want to get a gist of why interracial relationships happen, read this. also, you will come to figure out why why blacks feel the way they do about whites. one of the best books ever written about blacks in europe...

This one is a cult classic, a story with messages that resonate long after we've put it down. One of my three or four all-time favorites. Brown has the gift of the storyteller's ear and voice, and an instinctive feel for the trope and rhythm of language. If it were put to music, it would be a combination of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. A cover-to-cover "bright moment"

The re-release of Cecil Brown's 1969 classic is long overdue. The man's insights and vision are haunting in their lyricism, and his messages pack a punch. Cecil Brown is a natural, and I've missed his fiction all these years. Not to be missed

Anyone with even a slight acquaintance with the blues knows that Stagolee killed Billy Lyons over a brand-new Stetson hat. Stagolee thus became the prototypic baaad dude, the player who would coolly kill a man over fancy headgear. Until now, however, no one knew the real story, and most of us blues fans wondered if either of the gentlemen existed. In truth, "Stack" Lee Shelton shot Billy Lyons in a barroom in the red-light district of St. Louis on Christmas Day, 1895. The ballad, now known in hundreds of versions, must have emerged soon afterward.
Cecil Brown has researched the full story--he even provides pictures of the death certificates. He situates the event in its full and rowdy context: the roaring, wide-open world of Mississippi River towns in the late 19th century, when liquor, prostitution, gambling, and violence were the order of the day. He goes on to trace the song through its long and chequered history; central to the blues, it has been enthusiastically adopted by hillbilly and folk singers, rockers, and many more.
Good studies of folklore have been rare lately. The glorious days of the 1960s folk revival are long over. It is thus doubly rewarding to see a really fine study of folk tradition. This book focuses on the literature side; it does not deal with the music (someone should write a companion volume). Brown does an excellent job of interpretation, bringing in just enough theory, not too much. His generalizations are useful and interesting. (I don't agree with "Publisher's Weekly"'s sour comments at the end of their note.) The world needs more books like this. I not only got stuck in it and read it in one sitting--I then sought out my worn old record of Long Cleve Reed and Papa Harvey Hull's superb performance from the 1920's, and played it three times over.
Right on, Cecil Brown.

The lyrical and cynical wit of Cecil Brown shines through again in this novel about a Black Los Angeles comedian. Mr. Brown's insights are again very powerful, and his humor is devastating. Unfortunately, the very end seemed rushed and cliched. If you appreciated the "Life and Loves of Mr. Jivea-- Ni--er", you will thoroughly enjoy this book.