Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude BrownMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This 1965 autobiographical Harlem memoir from Claude Brown chronicles the author's coming-of-age story amidst poverty, street drugs, and violence in Harlem during the 1940s and 1950s. Published at the height of the civil rights movement, the book reached far beyond the traditional literary world, drawing new attention to the lives of those living in urban environments. It has sold more than millions copies and has appeared on banned book lists for offensive language and violence but is celebrated by critics for its realism. The infamy drew me to it and I finally read it. The candid depictions of violence and drug usage is arresting. The story of hope realized is in three clear acts and would make a great movie - I wonder what that hasn't happened: Act I: young Claude "Sonny" Brown takes to street life and institutions (Warwick, Wiltwyck); Act II: Our hero seeks to overcome the street life through Black Muslim faith, college, books, new associations, etc; Act III: Our hero having saved himself loses others and cannot keep the dangers of the junkie life from affecting his family.
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