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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | 921 GAINES | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
An award-winningWashington Postreporter explores the twisted path she traveled to find her place as a confident black female in a world that values whiteness and maleness. Here is a rich and insightful story of a life lived on the edge by a woman formerly preoccupied with pleasing everyone but herself.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
YAGaines's autobiography reveals a life filled with despair, peril, and finally hope. She was the oldest of six siblings in a financially stable African American family in the 1950s. Her father was a career Marine and her mother was the mainstay of the home. Gaines was not happy and blamed institutionalized racism and the emotional coldness of her father for much that went wrong in her life. She was raped twice, became a shoplifter and drug addict, had a baby out of wedlock, got pregnant again and had an abortion, was married and divorced twice, and went to prison. Today, after a long and painful look into herself and the people with whom she associated, Gaines is now a successful writer of poetry and fiction as well as a celebrated journalist for The Washington Post. This is an insightful story full of pain, anger, and emotional and mental growth. The author pulls no punches in her straightforward and frank writing style, detailing her sex life and drug addiction. Yet her stated purpose in telling her story is to give hope to other women who feel the utter despondency she once did. She succeeds admirably.Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this arresting memoir, Gaines describes her metamorphosis from a drug addicted ex-con into an award-winning reporter for the Washington Post. The daughter of a black marine, she spent her 1950s childhood on a series of military bases where, she reports, her self-esteem was severely damaged by racism. Gaines observes that her feelings of worthlessness-heightened by her father's inability to show her affection-led her into relationships with abusive men. A mother at 19, Gaines used hard drugs with her first husband; by 21, she was serving time for possession. Gaines candidly details two more unsuccessful marriages and relationships with men who beat and raped her. With the help of psychotherapy, she learned to stop her self-destructive behavior and work towards personal and professional fulfillment. Author tour. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
An autobiographical portrait of a black woman who worked her way up from convicted felon to award-winning reporter for the Washington Post. Only in retrospect does Gaines see her parents as having worked for the good of blacks by improving the well-being of their own family. As a teenager, she was, she says, a ``bullshit revolutionary'' who dismissed her father, an ex-Marine and a menial laborer, as an Uncle Tom and was attracted to macho men who exuded power. Ben, the first, gave her syphilis, persuaded her to steal from the store that employed her, and, when he was drafted, left her pregnant with their daughter, Andrea. She then married a man of whom her parents approved, but when he too was drafted and Ben reappeared, she gravitated back to her former boyfriend. This time he introduced her to heroin, and the romance finally ended when Gaines, carrying drugs for Ben and a friend of his, was busted. Although her lawyer bargained for probation, the conviction made it tough to find work until she learned to lie on job applications. Gaines progressed through more drugs and more destructive relationships. A major break came when, working as a secretary at the Charlotte Observer, her young white boss asked her to write for the employee newsletter. Still, she faced problems such as egregious racism (which made it difficult to find housing) and the needs of Andrea, who became troubled by depression. As Gaines turned her life around, she found in herself her father's ``spirit.'' This is intriguing, because Gaines focuses on her father as an emotionally absent figure, but it is her mother whose presence is all but effaced from this account. A grueling story of a woman who made it despite the odds. But even after undergoing therapy, Gaines still hasn't finished blaming others for things she did to herself. (Author tour)
Booklist Review
This exhilarating memoir by a journalist with the Washington Post picks up where an award-winning article she wrote left off and continues the process of baring secrets from her past. Now in her early forties, Gaines is both courageous and frank as she reveals the course of a life that careened from protected childhood to the sudden impact of everyday racism. A series of fractured relationships, abuse and sexual assault by men in her life, and drugs and imprisonment were obstacles endured by a woman who was destined to overcome society's barriers, progressing on a personal journey toward self-esteem. Gaines' eventual arrival at a place of stability and love makes this potent and stirring account of growing up black and female in America ultimately encouraging. ~--Alice Joyce
Library Journal Review
Looking back over the poor choices she made regarding men, family relationships, and her own behavior, Gaines reveals how she triumphantly overcame drug addiction and imprisonment to become a respected Washington Post reporter. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
