Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom From Black Barber Shops [Hardcover]

Craig Marberry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2005

In Crowns and The Spirit of Harlem, journalist Craig Marberry took oral history to a new level. Here, in Cuttin’ Up, he presents more pitch-perfect portraits so good you’ll feel like you’re eavesdropping. Cuttin’ Up celebrates the laid-back fellowship of men in a barber shop, the place, as Marberry writes, “where we go to be among ourselves, to be ourselves, to unmask.”

Crisscrossing the country from Detroit to Orlando, Brooklyn to Houston, Marberry listened in on conversations that covered everything from reminiscences about the first haircut---a sometimes comic rite of passage---to spirited exchanges about women, to serious lessons in black history and current events. His collection of the wit and wisdom of patrons and barbers---including the small but scrappy subset of women barbers and the father of a very famous celebrity---brings together an irresistible and often touching chorus of voices.

Marberry has created a book that sings with the handsome beauty of the oral tradition that is the cornerstone of the black barber shop experience.

A portion of the proceeds from this book support the Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health at Wake Forest University.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats (a collaboration with photographer Michael Cunningham) shifts his focus from hats to hair with this celebration of the black barber shop, "one of the nation's earliest black businesses [and]... as much a think tank as it is a comedy showcase." Over the course of 18 months, Marberry traveled around the country to document that particular "barber shop atmosphere." In Detroit, a policeman waxes poetic about a good "Razor Line" haircut; in Nashville, Oprah Winfrey's barber father, Vernon, jokes: "Somebody asked me if Oprah is my only child. I said, 'The only one so far.' " Along with the cutting quips and clipping tips, each barber and patron offers a little slice of life; topics include black history, celebrity clients, raids on unlicensed barbers, robberies, murders and the attitudes of female barbers: "It's tough for a woman in a barber shop. They say it's the black man's country club." Sixty b&w photos show the faces behind the commentary, but only some locations are identified; shop names aren't supplied, and curiously, shop exteriors aren't shown. And though Marberry is a fine writer, he gives only four pages of his own words. (May 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Marberry, author of Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats 2000), explores another black cultural phenomenon--the barbershop. The shops are an institution of fellowship in which black men commune, where there are unwritten social rules of tradition, where conversations can entertain and enlighten. World issues are interwoven with more localized and mundane concerns, including job woes and troubled relationships. Marberry visited black barbershops across the U.S and observed numerous exchanges between barbers and their customers that reflect a forum for teaching in an informal context. Marberry reflects on some of the traditions of black barbers, the fact that black barbers used to cut white men's hair but could not do so in the same shops where they cut black men's hair. The black barbershop, like the church, was--and is--a central outlet for news and connections. Marberry touches on black barbers' involvement in the civil rights movement, as businessmen operating central news stations in the black community. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; First edition. edition (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385511647
• ISBN-13: 978-0385511643
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rare, Real Look Into Real Black-Barbershop Culture, November 16, 2005

By 

saint james (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom From Black Barber Shops (Hardcover)

I truly loved this book. My heart leapt in my chest when I saw it on the book shelf. As a "kitchen-barber" for more than twenty-years I was ecstatic to see the subject matter bound with photographs and ready to read.

The barbershop has for men of African decent been a respite from women, life's pressures, etiquette, censorship and sometimes reality for many years. This highly valued institution often serves the community as an outreach center, political platform, advice booth, stand-up comedy tryout club and therapist's couch. Craig Maybery has struck gold again with an enjoyable foray into the subtleties of African American culture. Like his book, "Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats" Mayberry gives the reader a clear insight into the passion Blacks have for their turn at at an American tradition. It was so refreshing to see an accurate view of the black barbershop which isn't exaggerated as in the films, Barbershop I and II or butchered like the Showtime adaptation "Barbershop"; (What a MESS!)

Using 49 short biographical stories the author gives us an authentic look into the motivations, tragedies, humor and passions of the men and women who cut and style the afro-american hair shaft. The portraits of these barbers are as they presented themselves to the author. They are human: Flawed, Dedicated, Unique and Proud.

The only disappointment I had in reading this book was not being able to find present-day photos of all of the subjects interviewed. I intend to give several of these books as gifts. A beautiful tribute to the men (or women) everyone needs and uses and takes for granted and noone wants to lose. Your barber.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Black Hair, August 3, 2005

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom From Black Barber Shops (Hardcover)

If I have heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times: black people have a special relationship with their hair. In CUTTIN' UP, Craig Marberry has put together a collection of interesting vignettes that highlight black barber shops around the nation. The stories introduce us to all kinds of people, some barbers, some patrons, some famous, and some lesser known. Each passage includes relevant photographs, usually of the narrator. The book covers a myriad of issues and topics including haircuts as a rite of passage, civil rights and the barber shop, barber shop camaraderie, funny stories and superstitions. Some stories are humorous, others are sad and all are educational.

Marberry has put together a well-organized collection that will remind readers that the ordinary things in life like going to the barber shop for a shape up can have a meaningful impact on one's life. This is a book you can pick up again and again and find at least one or two passages that will speak to you. By sharing stories told by an assortment of contributors, the author highlights our cultural diversity. The accompanying photographs make the stories even more personal and some of them are worth a second, more thoughtful look on the basis of their pure artistry alone. CUTTIN' UP didn't move emotional mountains for me, but the passages did make me smile and leave me with a sense of warmth. (RAW Rating: 3.5)

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rising Interest, June 6, 2005

By 

Shamontiel L. Vaughn "Message from Montie" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom From Black Barber Shops (Hardcover)

I'm excited to meet this author and hopefully get my book signed at the Printer's Row. I find men to so entertaining, and I always wanted to hang with them when I was little. I never could talk my father/brother/grandfather into letting me follow them to the barbershop and even when I got my tattoo, I was in the back. I was crazy about the first "Barbershop" movie (the 2nd one was cool too) and when I saw this book, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough. I loved reading the stories about the male barbers facing bad haircuts, capping, crime, discrimination, the younger generation, fatherhood, manners and women. There was even some eye candy: Marcques Tatum, Jabreel Ali, Kola Olosunde, and Lennie Bosley. The beginning stories were a little dry, but it picked up tremendously towards the middle.