Advance Praise for
GROWING UP NIGGER RICH
By Gwendoline Y. Fortune
"A well-written
novel populated by a vibrant cast of characters. An important
Southern
story, seldom told illuminating, memorable, necessary."
--Lee Smith, fiction writer and author of
Oral History
"In Growing
Up Nigger Rich, Gwen Fortune lights up a niche of the American
experience which has hitherto been in the dark. And she does so
in a way
that is both meaningful and exciting, making this a landmark
novel." --Robert Gover, author of A Hundred
Dollar Misunderstanding
"Gwen
Fortune takes us on an important journey in her debut novel, Growing
Up Nigger Rich. It is a journey that will engage and enrich us.
The many simple and loving personal encounters between members
of
often oppositional communities are models for a humane society.
Enjoy!"
--Susan Koppleman, editor of Women in the
Trees: U.S. Women's Short Stories about Battering and Resistance
1839-1994
"Gwen
Fortune takes us back to an African American south in the 1950s
that we haven't seen before, a rich mix of ethnicity, personal
idiosyncrasy,
class, and education; a diversity which is, nevertheless, collapsed
into one dimension by the overwhelming power of segregation.
Growing
Up Nigger Rich is an important book because it forces us to confront
the nature of stereotypes. The 'other' is always one-dimensional.
How can we allow diversity, when that would mean the 'other'
is
just like us?"
--Judith Ernst, publisher Parvardigar Press
"Fortune
hits the right notes, creating a personal symphony of themes and
motifs ... An excellent window into the largely unseen complexities
of Southern life,
this book illustrates how much has changed racially in the 'New
South'
while reminding us of just how much more change is needed in the
hearts and
minds of both North and South, both male and female, both poor and
'nigger
rich.'
--R. Steve Eberly, professor of literature Western Carolina University
"A brave
book and a powerfully honest one, dealing as it does with an important
subject, one that too many of our writers have either scrupulously
avoided or deftly and carefully tiptoed around. An admirable
and
gifted writer, Gwendoline Y. Fortune here proves herself worthy
of our best, most serious attention."
--George Garrett, professor of english University
of Virginia
"This
novel reads like a journal, hope chest memoir uninterrupted by
contrived formulae sensations, yet more sensational because any
'American'
who reads Growing up Nigger Rich will find endless moments that
will sit them back and chuckle or well up at their own memories."
--Nathan Ross Freeman. playwright. Founder,
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