Parallel Time was an interesting book that tells about the harsh life of an editorial writer for the New York Times named Brent Staples. Brent came from a family of nine, which consisted of Brent, three brothers, three sisters, his mother, and father.
There were many harshness's that Brent faced inside and outside his families home. During his early years his home life was filled with problems from an abusive father who drank. This led to his mother being beaten and the children mistreated in more ways than one. The father tried to act like a father sometimes due to his conscious but didn't seem to show any emotion towards Brent. I think this caused many social issues for him in his life. There was also the constant moving of his family due to money problems that helped to make Brent feel isolated from others. These things helped make it hard for him to find his identity. The years spent with his family weren't depicted as an enjoyable childhood.
Another phase of Brent's life in this book involved the period of life while he was in college. This was not an easy place to find your identity but at least it helped to keep him away from some of his family problems. During his time there he tried many things one of which was portraying himself as a member of the Black Panthers. He held protests in order to accomplish things and gain respect from his peers. During his years there I think he went through many phases, which helped him to become conscious to many harsh realities of society. The next part of his life was going to graduate school. Here he seemed to sort out what worked for him and seemed to really make some forward progress in finding himself.
After graduate school he went on some interviews that seemed to bring up some of the negative feelings of his childhood. During an interview he was asked what kind of background or environment he had came from. He began to tell of his educational background, which he felt was what they should be focused on. The interviewee wanted to know what his childhood was like which Brent didn't feel was relevant and became angry. He felt that this was a form of judgment that should never have had relevance regarding this position.
The death of his brother Blake I feel also played an important part in Brent's life. Initially he seemed to hide his feelings about the death as he did with many other painful parts of his life. Once he acknowledged this fact I feel it made a difference in his life.
I enjoyed reading about many of the events of Brent's life. He had an explicit and graphic way of depicting many of these events. His story shows some of the things that a low-income family may have to contend with as well as some of the difficulties of growing up as a black man.

Brent Staples is so subtle at revealing himself that you hardly notice you are thinking his thoughts until something bad happens in the book and you have to put the it down and recover from the shock. He is that good.

I read this book a while ago, but I am still concerned about his little sister who was burned in a fire, I still wonder where the hairdresser ran off to, and I still see the big red tail-lights of the old American cars blasting down the highway like rockets.

The only bad thing about this book is that it ended.

This book captures more than the important chronicles of a black male growing up in the South and earning his Ph.D. It is the story of a writer realizing his craft. With every page you are invited into Brent Staples living room in his mind as he paints the portrait of growing up black in the South capturing the essence of an era. He went on to earn his Ph.D and tells of the value of growing from obstacles. He is honest without being a heavy load, in fact, he is very uplifting. This book helps to aquaint the human race, very intimately, with a black mans journey through the realization that he is a writer first and everything else next. I recommend this book as an important historical prospective but also as a treat for people suffering from a lack of quality reading material.