Customer Reviews

A Conversation with the Mann

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Going back to his first novel, Stray Dogs. You knew Ridley had "the stuff." You could feel it in his writing, you could sense it in the way he confounded critics. Anytime they find somebody who refuses to write conventionally, all they can do is scratch their heads and sharpen their pencils. Ridley's follow-ups, Love is a Racket and Everybody Smokes in Hell just served to further establish him as one of the best Hard Boiled writers working. Now comes Conversation. Truly, at first, I was afraid to read it. I'm always nervous when an author tries something different, and I thought Ridley was giving in to the contemptable book critics who thought he needed to write what they wanted to read. But when the Wall St. Journal picked it as a best read, I gave Conversation a try. May I just say this is one of the finest books I have EVER read. It is powerful, it is moving... It transports me to a time and place that no longer exists. This is a writer at the top of his game. How any one person can fill a novel with so much - a history of America in the 50s and 60s, New York, LA, Vegas, entertainment, the civil rights movement, a journey to self - is beyond me. It is joyus and frightening, uplifting and cautionary all at once. Ridley has written fiction so real I had to literally keep checking the front of the book to make sure it was a novel. It is that good. IT IS THAT GREAT. If you don't shed a tear before reaching the end of this saga, you are not human. I doubt Ridley will get the accolades he deserves for this novel, too many people still think he's "just" a genere writer. But as a writer of amazing novels AND television AND movies AND an NPR commentator, Ridley is quickly becoming a national treasure. READ THIS BOOK!

I had never heard of Jackie Mann. I didn't feel so badly about not knowing him after John Ridley admitted in his introduction that he had not heard of him either before eventually meeting him when he was long past his glory days. Reading the Jacket cover I discovered he was one of the premiere black club Comedians in the 1950's, early 60's who made a living "telling America what it wanted to hear", but in reality Jackie Mann's life is like an "Aesop Fable", the moral of the story cannot be missed.

All Jackie Mann ever wanted was to be famous, to be somebody and he was willing to do whatever was necessary to get there. Mr. Ridley tells his story with such eloquence and compassion and the story itself is so compelling I couldn't put the book down. I also understood his decisions. How he had arrived at every point where he made what could be considered fatal missteps. I can not honestly say that in that time and space, without a doubt, hand on a stack of bibles; I would have done things so differently. A fact I'm not proud of, but as a black woman who can't make a decision to stop perming her hair (it may be too political) I can hardly sit in judgment of him. I liked Jackie Mann. I was with him all the way. Wanted him to have his glory without paying too dearly for it. In retrospect people may point to his life as an example of what happens when you will not stand up and be a man, but Jackie Mann lived in an era where speaking your mind could not only kill your career but end your life. To be righteous and noble in those situations is to be admired, the stuff martys are made of, but it really takes more guts than most of us have.

While Jackie Mann never became a household name, most of the people who were in and around his life we know extremely well. At times this book gave us new glimpses at stories we've heard about some of Hollywood's Icons and a new look at some of our hero's. There were also several people in Jackie's life that kept pushing him to be the man they knew he could be, who were succeeding on their own terms. As faith would have it they all became the one thing Jackie really wanted to be Famous.

A Must Read!!!!

Reviewed by Ruby
APOOO Bookclub

Jackie Mann isn't real, but by the end of "A Conversation with the Mann," I felt like he was. I could imagine him doing stand-up the Copa, hanging out with Frank, Sammy and Dean during the filming of "Ocean's Eleven," and running afoul of studio boss Harry Cohn.

I had only read one other novel by the multi-talented John Ridley, who has also written for television ("Third Watch"), the movies ("Three Kings") and the internet ("Undercover Brother"). That book, "Love is a Racket," was entertaining but vaguely upsetting, because the main character and the world in which he moved was so bleak and filthy.

"A Conversation with the Mann" isn't exactly full of uplift, but the grimness isn't as unrelenting and the characters are given more depth. Jackie Mann isn't a happy guy -- his obsession with becoming famous is fueled by rage over a lifetime of mistreatment from the rest of the world -- but Ridley details his almost-rise to the top with such grace and honesty that I found myself genuinely caring whether Jackie made it onto "The Ed Sullivan Show" or not. I couldn't put it down, reading most of the book in a single evening (and going to bed really, really late).

If you care about Rat Pack-era show business, the civil rights movement, or just great, lean writing, you really have to get this book. It's terrific.

The reviewer for Amazon comments that this is a Show-Biz novel, half-way dismising it as such. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's about America, not Show-Biz. There is so much in this story. So much. It works on the personal level, the family, national, and cultural level--you've got some details from other reviews, so I don't need to repeat it. I'll just say that this story is beautiful and devastating all at once. It's the first really good book I've read in more than a year of looking. I thank Mr. Ridley for telling this story.

From the depths and despair of Harlem in the 1930's to the glitz, glitter and applause of Vegas, comedian Jackie Mann had seen and experienced it all. His mother died when he was seven and Jackie was left in care of his addicted father.

Determined to leave the darkness of Harlem behind him Jackie honed his skills of comedy on classmates first and then in bars and strip joints where he meets his agent Sid. Jackie's single goal is to do the Ed Sullivan show.

Slowly, by polishing his stand-up routines in dives, Jackie's bookings improve until he is finally working the big clubs like the Sands and Vegas. He is rubbing elbows with the big shots and soon he becomes the opening act for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Jackie attends parties at their houses, but ironically, he's barred from entering the casinos where he brings down the house each night. He cannot even stay in the hotels where he works the big rooms.

Jackie and his manager Sid must always stay in the black section of whatever town Jackie is playing. This is a frustration that becomes harder for him to bear with each rise in the ladder of success.

Through flashback and compelling first-person fictional narrative, Ridley cleverly weaves a tale of persistence, prejudice, blackmail, murder, bigotry and betrayal. The setting provides a social and cultural history of this country in the 1950's and 60's and reveals the motivation behind the main characters actions.

Each chapter is cleverly prefaced by an overview of the times in which Jackie Mann lived. "Too young to know about dust bowls and death camps, for kids of the 1950's there was only Davy Crockett, Captain Video, Hula Hoops and Flexible Flyers. There was only fun to be had." Jackie Mann's story is an inspiring and informative look at one man's struggle to overcome forces within and without.

This story is a provocative look at the life and times of one black comedian as he pursues his career in the 1950's and 60's. He struggles aginst bigotry and prejudice while trying to be accepted by the white establishment. It is a story of obstacles and the courage to face them while trying to maintain a sense of self and personal identity.

Ridley comes out of a different box everytime. This mock showbiz biography -- Yes I Can meets Dick Gregory is pretty irresistible and finally moving. One downside is that Jackie's routines aren't all that funny.

I read more non-fiction than fiction, however, many more books like this one and I will have to change my ways. I was engrossed throughout by reading about a young black man who wonders how he can make something of himself and get out of the poverty and life defeating stream of his life in New York City. He comes across the idea of being a stand up comic and this is his story of how he accomplishes his goal. The author uses big show biz names which is woven into the story in a most effective way. You wonder if Jackie Mann was really a part of the history of comedy during the 50's and 60's and beyond. You will not be disappointed.

I loved this book. I could go on and on, but there's really no need for me to do so.

This one's definitely worth your money and your time.

Okay. For those who click on to read about this book, perhaps it's monotonous to see so many five star ratings. Which is one of the reasons I wish it were possible to give the book more than five stars.

Here's the things I don't understand. Why didn't this book get a front page review in the NYT Book Review? And why is it not higher in the Amazon.com sales ranking, given that it was published only a couple of months ago?

It is always said that the first duty of a novelist is to SHOW and not TELL. John Ridley has done a superlative job of SHOWING how the African American predicament in this culture has been so tragic. As a journalist and nonfiction author who would love one day to write fiction (Isn't that the dream of almost everyone, as well as selling a few screeplays? A dream Ridley is living), this book rates as precisely the quality of fictional work I would like to leave on earth before departing it.

Ridley doesn't overdo the literary stylism, he strikes just the right tempo, and uses just the right descriptions to make the reader walk in the shoes of Jackie Mann and the people in his life.

For instance, prior to reading this book, I never quite empathized with the countless down and out African American men I've see on the streets -- men like Jackie's father. In contrast to such men, the African American men I was surrounded by as a child were educated and good providers. On an intellectual level I could understand why the men on street corners, drugged out or drunk, were so defeated. But until now I never FELT their dilemma.

"A Conversation With the Mann" is a tonic that should be taken by all Americans who are tired of the issue of race, because it makes you understand how and why the issues of race intertwined with greed have turned this nation into what it is today. It's a book which should be nominated for all of the nation's major literary prizes.

John Ridley's A Conversation with the Mann is almost too engaging and readable for its own good. Ridley tells a disturbing, yet still completely compelling story that is so good, you can almost get caught up in enjoying it and forget he's got quite a strong message in there too. The novel (and it is a novel) tells the story of Jackie Mann--a comedian from Harlem, born in the late 30s--who overcomes tremendous racism to become a "success" at least as he thinks it is. So many times in the novel, Jackie is forced to swallow his pride, to sell out, to give in, all for what he believes is the right thing, his way to the top. Jackie's story is juxtaposed against the civil rights movement of the sixties. Jackie is at the height of his fame when that movement reached its crescendo. He tries to ignore the messages of that movement, but ultimately, he cannot. He makes a choice--the end results of which are a departure for him--it's a depressing, but uplifting at the same time. Jackie's story is amazing and the early years are especially upsetting--but that's what makes the novel so important. Read it, enjoy it, think about it.