Black Cracker [Paperback]

Josh Alan Friedman (Author), Wyatt Doyle (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2010

South School, 1962: The last segregated school in New York. Their teacher moonlights on "Lawrence Welk," the lady principal wears boxing gloves, and the student body is all-Negro . . . except for first grader Josh Friedman. He's white, but he's working on it. The acclaimed author of TELL THE TRUTH UNTIL THEY BLEED and TALES OF TIMES SQUARE returns with a one-of-a-kind autobiographical novel - "a memoir you can't accuse of lies." Center stage in the unflinching and frequently hilarious funhouse tour of Friedman's Long Island boyhood is a rogues' gallery that includes Bobo, precocious third-grade dropout and boy prince of the ghetto; his bumbling (and alarmingly potent) ne'er-do-well Uncle Limpy; Mumsy, the smelliest shoeshine boy in Penn Station; Mrs. O'Leary, the menacing Irish nanny; her son, Drake, an etiquette-obsessed, switchblade-totin' clammer overwhelmed by the tides of racial progress; and the impoverished Wilshires, the bone-white, nigger-hatin'-est crackers in town. At once heartbreaking and hysterically funny, BLACK CRACKER delivers a fearless account of adventures in the now-forgotten poor Black shantytowns of Long Island, exploring the singular ugliness of racism, the intrigue of janitorial whodunits, the tragic limits of friendship, and the inexplicable seductive powers of croco-print footwear.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

In 1987, writer-guitarist Josh Alan Friedman sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads (the Crossroads of the World--Broadway & 42nd Street) and moved to Texas. He'd just written TALES OF TIMES SQUARE, a cult classic. An Expanded Edition with new chapters was recently released, while the still-unfinished movie of TALES has played 35 film festivals. Josh's latest book is BLACK CRACKER, the story of his tumultuous childhood as the only white boy at Long Island's last segregated school. In 2008: TELL THE TRUTH UNTIL THEY BLEED: COMING CLEAN IN THE DIRTY WORLD OF BLUES AND ROCK 'N' ROLL. Before that: WHEN SEX WAS DIRTY; I, GOLDSTEIN: MY SCREWED LIFE (with Al Goldstein); NOW DIG THIS: THE UNSPEAKABLE WRITINGS OF TERRY SOUTHERN (co-editor). Josh also set off satirical fires and lawsuits as writer-half of the Friedman Bros, the most feared cartooning duo of the late '70s and '80s. Two anthologies remain in print, featuring the art of Josh's brother, Drew Friedman: WARTS AND ALL, and ANY SIMILARITY TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. On the music front, as "Josh Alan," he barnstormed the state of Texas for 20 years, rocking whole arenas with his Guild D-40. Copping three DALLAS OBSERVER Music Awards for Best Acoustic Act, he released four albums: FAMOUS & POOR, THE WORST!, BLACKS 'N' JEWS (the title of which became a documentary on Josh's life) and JOSH ALAN BAND.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Wyatt Doyle Books/New Texture (March 3, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615354173
• ISBN-13: 978-0615354170
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,480,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In 1987, writer-guitarist Josh Alan Friedman sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads (the Crossroads of the World--Broadway & 42nd Street) and moved to Texas. He'd just written TALES OF TIMES SQUARE (Feral House), a cult classic. An Expanded Edition with new chapters was recently released, while the still-unfinished movie of TALES has played 35 film festivals.

Josh's latest book is BLACK CRACKER (Wyatt Doyle Books), the story of his tumultuous childhood as the only white boy at Long Island's last segregated school.

In 2008, Josh released TELL THE TRUTH UNTIL THEY BLEED: COMING CLEAN IN THE DIRTY WORLD OF BLUES AND ROCK 'N' ROLL (Backbeat Books). Before that: WHEN SEX WAS DIRTY (Feral House); I, GOLDSTEIN: MY SCREWED LIFE (with Al Goldstein); and NOW DIG THIS: THE UNSPEAKABLE WRITINGS OF TERRY SOUTHERN (co-editor).

Josh also set off satirical fires and lawsuits as writer-half of the Friedman Bros, the most feared cartooning duo of the late '70s and '80s. Two anthologies remain in print, featuring the art of Josh's brother, Drew Friedman: WARTS AND ALL (Fantagraphics), and ANY SIMILARITY TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL (Fantagraphics).

On the music front, as "Josh Alan," he barnstormed the state of Texas for 20 years, rocking whole arenas with his Guild D-40. Copping three Dallas Observer Music Awards for Best Acoustic Act, he released four albums: FAMOUS & POOR, THE WORST!, BLACKS 'N' JEWS (the title of which became a documentary on Josh's life) and JOSH ALAN BAND.

Josh shares new work and selections from his archives - articles, photos, music and video - on his website, www.BlackCrackerOnline.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More bizarre and facsinating history from the world of Friedman., March 23, 2010

By 

B Elizando - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Cracker (Kindle Edition)

A historical and personal autobigraphy of an atypical "white boy" in late 50's Long Island. Intentionally or not, Friedman's parents- hip, successful, and often-absent- enroll him in the last of the N.Y. segregated public schools, possibly because the only private schools available were Catholic. (Given what we now know, a wise choice.) The hapless kid uses his innate ability to adapt and even flourish among impoverished, often angry, black kids and their families during the volatile times of forced integration. Bizarre stories, unbelievable at times, with historical context provided. More a collection of individual experiences, Friedman painstakingly uses the accurate vernacular and pronunciation of the participants, to excellent effect. Raw, edgy, hilarious and often scary recollections. A slice of 60's America heretofore largely unspoken. Highly recommended. Would make a great movie, think Mad Men or Revolutionary Road.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really great read, March 22, 2010

By 

Bettie C. "Tinkerbettie" (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Cracker (Paperback)

I really didn't know what to expect when I started reading Black Cracker, but from the first chapter I was hooked. The story is compelling, the writing is vivid, the characters are endearing. Once I started, I couldn't put the book down. I laughed out loud at many things in the book but was very touched by moments as well. While the book deals with race relations and segregation in schools, it was not at all heavy-handed. In fact, race was kind of in the background for me. It's the characters themselves who drive the story. No one is all good or all evil. The characters here are portrayed as we really are, human.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oy gevalt. Hot dam. Great read., May 9, 2010

By 

R. Jaccoma - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Cracker (Paperback)

Move over James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright. Oh, and Leroi Jones... oops, I mean Amiri Baraka... might as well make room on the bench, too. Josh's autobiographical novel is the quirkiest contribution to the literature of mid-20th century American race relations I have ever read, profound in a wonderfully warped way and definitely up there with the funniest... as in laugh-out-loud at the 1960s misadventures of a Candide-like po' little Jewboy in an otherwise-all-Black elementary school. Oy gevalt. Shee-it. Hot dam. Great read.