Customer Reviews

Drop

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I weep for the state of black writing. I am a black woman and I'm in tears. A previous reviewer claimed that Johnson's book was hard to get through, hard to understand. A fair point, some first time authors don't know how to use their talents just yet, but then to see that this same reviewer gave Eric Jerome Dickey a five star review! Saying, "He did it again..."

Did what again, exactly? Wrote a book for people with a third grade reading level?

I will just say it because it needs to be said more often: black readers do not deserve the level of talented black writers out there. When I see an author like Mat Johnson passed over for the likes of Omar Tyree, the refried beans of fiction, I can't help but be hurt.

There will always be different knds of books for different readers, that obvious. Hell, I love to read Octavia Butler even though her ideas are much stronger than her (largely) terrible prose. But to imagine that Mr. Johnson wasn't nominated by the NAACP for a fiction award and to see the cavalcade of no talents who were, well, it leaves a sister slightly mad, but more than that it makes me sad.

Mr. Johnson, please remember that there are INTELLIGENT black readers who value the humanity you create. The complexity (not everything has a happy ending!). The reward for your hard work is like the pride Romans may take in their aquaducts: a thousand years after the society crumbles, great works of men (and women) live on.

I'm currently on tour for my own book, and first saw this book at Reprint Books in D.C. It caught my attention during a booksigning. I picked it up, made a mental note. Then I saw it two more times in the next two days. By day three, I got the hint, and finally bought it at a store in Tampa (Books for Thought) where I was signing. That was two days ago. I started reading it yesterday, and boy did I get lost in the pages!! I was reading it at lunch and dinner (even though I had company with me at lunch and dinner...I've never done THAT before). I read until 11:30pm last night (even though I had to be up at 4:30am for an early flight), and just finished it in Houston moments before I'm about to do another signing (I was not leaving this room without getting to the end). Excellent isn't good enough to describe how much I enjoyed this book. Mat Johnson had me, literally, screaming with laughter at the cynicism of his character's delivery, gasping at his pointed observations, marveling at his juxtaposition of images and his wonderful use of metaphors. So much so that I was annoying another author who was doing a few cities with me, and now SHE'S running out to buy the book because I read her so many passages while I was engrossed with the book that she just couldn't stand it anymore (I'm not giving her my copy...authors need to eat, so she has to buy her own). What an incredible use of the language!! Johnson's protagonist Christopher Jones was completely tangible. His rise from the depths of what he considers a loathsome Philly to an almost surreally blissful career/life in London, and his subsequent, tragic spiral downward had me riveted (sure that sounds cliche, but I was stuck to the page). I didn't know what to do. Christopher became so real, I somehow wanted to help, until I, as did the characters in the world around him, realized that only he could help himself. Kudos to you, Mat Johnson, for writing a book that is both literary and commercially accessible (no easy feat). I'm recommending this book to everybody (I just told a whole crowd of people at a store in Jacksonville--Nefertiti Books---to go buy it. I held up the book so they would know it when they see it. The unique cover is a real eye-catcher.) Anyway, I've gushed on enough about this book. It's a bonafide, unequivocal winner. Welcome to the wonderful world of publishing. The readers, and the critics, are going to love your work (you don't need to me to tell you that). Best to you and your family. You should all be proud.

I kept seeing this book all over the place. Finally, someone gave it to me and I was so glad they did. His descriptions were great, I could feel what the main character was feeling and relate. It reminded me of "Black Girl in Paris", except is was "Black Man in Philly, Black Man in London, and Black Man Philly again. Excellent debut.

Why 5 stars when this book wasn't perfect? The ending almost disgusted me with its casual reversal of expectation. Ah, but the writing.... There are passages here that thrilled me, filled me with exuberance, made me stand up and walk across the room and back. "Was it really that good?" Then I'd reread it and confirm the power of the words.

I'll be standing in line for the next book. Thanks, Mat Johnson.

Home. It can be good, bad, even indifferent, but its always home and its home for a reason. "Drop" took me to a point in myself that forced me to think about home - where it really is, what it really means, why we run from it and why we run back.

The style and flow of this work was personal and rhythmic. The art in the writing doesn't get in the way of the story it does a great job developing key images for the reader while completing the characters at the same time.

The story was real, I think we ALL carry what Chris Jones carried when we fail in some way or lose something when we KNOW that is just isn't justified. We prefer to hang on that loss and injustice parts of the situation rather than the more important pieces surrounding it like what we learned from it, how it impacted our life, how it forced us to look at self for the next step (then again, that could just be the feelings of another thirty-somethin' brotha that's gone through stuff in life...)

Thanks Mat Johnson, "Drop" is a nice piece of writing that's well worth reading.

DROP reads like a "Catcher in the Rye" for the thirty-year old black male. It is a dynamic novel rich with beautiful prose and a well-thought out main character. Chris Jones' plight is the dilemma of most young people his age. We are taught that college is the right road, yet those who choose to travel this path are often disappointed by the failure to be given a chance to prove oneself. As important as going to college is, what lies after the completion of a higher education can be cause for disillusionment.

I was captivated also by what the novel says about the black race and how we see one another. Some scenes are incredibly touching (Margaret's good-bye to Chris, Chris' apology to Alex, Chris trying to understand most black people's version of what is power) and I read many things over more than once for the sheer beauty of their phrasing.

Mat Johnson is a major new talent. This novel took me two days to complete as I was so infatuated with what this novel had to say. It is my latest book to give to all my friends as gifts. I will try to wait patiently for Mat Johnson's sophomore effort.

I must say that for a debut novel, Mat Johnson got a lot of things right. His characters were well developed and the narrator especially had a distinct and accessible voice. Take this brilliant example. The narrator has just said something stupid and hurtful to a female and describes to the reader "the part of me outside myself, the part that was a better thing than the sum of my actions, cried out for her, and for itself that it was related to such a [person]...."

Here is another example. The narrator sees a pitiful disabled woman, and helplessly thinks "[my] eyes that kept looking until they hurt, until it was, Mama, please turn away, Mama, please walk away and heal or die because whatever void is there I can't hope to fill."

Beautiful.

The novel's plot isn't particularly exciting, and the author manages to keep it interesting throughout the book. Some scenes are joyous, others effectively empty. Especially appreciated is that the author knows when to end a story. The book clocks in at just under 215 pages.

Now onto the criticism. The authors "moral" to the story isn't particularly urgent, and not handled very well. His transformation or growth is a little unrealistic. It seems he went from one extreme to another, not to middle ground where the reality most often is found.

Also, I found the ending (last half of the last chapter) to be largely unexpected, non sequiter, unrealistic, and just not working. I can't even describe it. I'm still in shock by it--still trying to figure where the heck it came from.

This book certainly isn't "all that the American novel hopes to be at its best" (said by Victor LaValle)

All in all, the book was pretty enjoyable to read. Not required reading, and I wouldn't tell people to read this book, but I also wouldn't tell them to not read it. Mat Johnson is definitely full of potential and future works should prove to be worth reading. ...

It is hard to call DROP a coming-of-age story considering the protagonist, Chris Jones, is a thirty-one year old college graduate, but because of this character's growth and evolution, it still qualifies. Chris has graduated from a third rate Pennsylvania state college and finds himself woefully unemployed and grappling for survival in a West Philly ghetto. He lives in constant fear of the "pop, pop, pop" of gunfire outside his window at all times of the day and night. He feels as if he is merely marking time, waiting for his life to come to a tragic end right where it started. That is, until he meets David.

David owns a tiny advertising agency in London and hires Chris. Chris' new life takes on a very hip and glamorous trend as he maneuvers through the very black and urban, yet bourgeois, neighborhoods of South London. He even manages to find a very elegant and beautiful Nigerian girlfriend. Life is good until a twist of fate threatens it all.

DROP is Johnson's debut novel and showcases his extraordinary talent. His writing is inventive and darkly funny, yet so lyrical and eloquent in quality you will want to read passages aloud. Reminiscent of Wright and Baldwin, Johnson's writing is deeply layered and textured, but by no means old-fashioned. He is a writer for this millennium.

Reviewed by Kim Anderson Ray
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

While "Drop" was a little shaky in some areas, I think that Mat Johnson's debut was clever, fresh, innovative and intriguing. Reviewer, Marcelle Washington, I agree with you wholeheartedly regarding the direction of Black fiction. I am a writer and I am so sick and tired of the same recycled drivel being cranked out by these authors. Terry McMillan started the trend (and she was good), but the authors that followed her took it and ran in a totally zig-zagged direction... veering off course. While these books are in fact appealing to a large group of people, there is nothing fresh or innovative about them.

I think Black authors like Mat Johnson, Andrea Lee, Octavia Butler, Suzan Lori Parks and writers of the like write for the art and the intellect of those of us who appreciate clever ideas, as opposed to those who write for the money. He follows in the literary tradition of Walter Moseley, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin etc.

Drop is a much needed break from the norm and I enjoyed it. I felt a little ripped off towards the end, but all in all, a really great start from Mat Johnson. He more than makes up for it with Hunting in Harlem!

I am a freshman in college and my vocabulary is quite limited so this book for me was a little difficult to comprehend. However, I got a dictionary and I looked up the terms that I did not recognize and I got through the book. I really liked it. It was quite funny I thought the Yam-Man was the funniest character!