College Boy: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

The Urban Griot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003

After hard-fought battles to include African Americans as qualified students within the white American educational system, the opportunity for higher learning still remains a struggle.

This is Troy Potter's story.

He is an African American young man from inner-city Philadelphia. He grew up with dreams of becoming a basketball player but now that he's eighteen he must learn the rules to a whole new game: college. How will Troy survive at a predominantly white school? Will he be afforded the same quality of education as his fellow students? How will he learn to become a successful black man in a white world? This penetrating novel takes a close look at the world of academia from a youthful African American perspective.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The Urban Griot is the pen name for Omar Tyree, the New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Flyy Girl, A Do Right Man, and, most recently, Diary of a Groupie. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743482735
• ISBN-13: 978-0743482738
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,725,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Omar Tyree is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, journalist, screenwriter, and public speaker. A renowned business figure, he has published seventeen books, and his articles have been published in the Washington Post, Essence, Upscale, and the Washington Times.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terr-ri-ble!, August 20, 2003

By 

Kristy M. Phillips "KP" (Southaven, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: College Boy: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

No wonder this book was on sale for [money amount]at Wal-Mart! Can we say boring. Before attempting to read this there was only one book that I could honestly say that I gave a valiant effort to read and could not complete it. And believe me, I read a lot. This was just absolutely terrible. It is supposed to be the gritty tale of an urban youth's attempts to cope on a majority white college campus. As a graduate of a small white institution, I was anxious to read the Griot's take. Well, I could not get beyond the smattering of ebonics and racial slurs and the "brothas" constant attempts to get white women in bed. I got three-fourths of the way through and still couldn't figure out where this one was going. One word of advice to the Urban Griot, stick with what works!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Was this supposed to be based on the author's on experience?, March 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: College Boy: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I don't know why I continue to buy books written by Omar Tyree (The Urban Griot.) Once again I was disappointed...in the book and in myself for buying it. First of all, what year is this supposed to be set in? Sometimes it feels like the early eighties, sometimes the 90's. Honestly I'm not even halfway through the book and already I'm disgusted. Everyone in the book is described by their race or complexion ("She was a caramel-colored girl" or "He was a cream colored boy") what does that have to do with anything? Did we need to be reminded everytime he was in his room that Troy's roommate was Jewish?

Another issue I had with this book was that the black people who were raised in the "suburbs" were portrayed as Oreos or looked down upon by their more "street" classmates.

I really thought this would be a good book, but once again the synopsis on the back cover tricked me. I do not recommend purchasing this book to anyone unless you have a LOT OF FREE TIME to waste as well as $7 you don't need.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Most Boring Book I Read In 2003!!!, December 19, 2003

By 

DaRealReturns (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: College Boy: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

This HAS to be a joke right? I mean, the book starts off okay but, it got stuck on racial issues and it stayed there throughout 400 PAINFUL and yes, I mean PAINFUL pages. This book could have easily ended after page 200. I mean, if the author had ANY compassion for his readers, he could have granted his readers that, couldn't he? I was never a fan of Omar Tyree to begin with, but, if this is the kind of crap he's going to write as The Urban Griot, he might as well make this his last book ever! This is the time I wished that Amazon.com had a "zero stars" option but I'm being forced to give this total waste of time 1 star.