Hot Johnny (and the Women Who Loved Him) [Hardcover]

Sandra Jackso Opoku (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2001

Like a ray of sun that can warm your skin for a moment but can't be captured, John the Baptist Wright has touched the lives of many women-- heart, body, and soul. Now, in this brilliant new novel by Sandra Jackson-Opoku, award-winning author of The River Where Blood Is Born, we hear from the women who gave Hot Johnny his heat.

Through the discerning eyes of those who have known and loved him, we watch Hot Johnny take a journey into the past, where a deeply guarded family secret lies hidden, waiting to be revealed. Along the way, pivotal moments of Hot Johnny's life begin to surface: his childhood struggles in the ghettos of Chicago, his rites of passage as a young gang member, his tragically short athletic career, his fantasies and obsessions, cruelties and compassion.

Each woman has a distinct voice and her own point of view. Among them is Destiny, the damaged young woman he married, but cannot save; Lola Belle, the white lesbian with something to prove and nothing to lose; Tree, the college soulmate, whose first taste of tenderness came from Hot Johnny's touch; Cinnamon, the thrill seeker who only Johnny can satisfy; Peaches, the prostitute who gave the boy his name and sealed his reputation; Jonavis, the daughter he never knew he had; and Gracita Reina (Queen of Grace), his great-grandmother, who holds the key to Johnny's salvation. Each woman provides a piece of the puzzle that is Hot Johnny--until at last he is brought into dazzling focus.

This deeply felt and emotionally involving tale offers a captivating portrait of a complex man who is both saint and sinner, hero and villain, and all the shadings in between. Sandra Jackson-Opoku has done nothing less than illuminate the shadowy places of a man's soul--and created a powerful novel of destiny and redemption.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Women love charismatic, faithless John Wright, and in this ambitious novel by award-winning author, poet and journalist Jackson-Opoku (The River Where Blood Is Born), they tell his story in a crazy quilt of interconnected episodes. From the hapless Destiny--who becomes his wife and bears a daughter plagued with sickle-cell anemia--through siblings, numerous lovers and an ancestor who holds the key to his past, Hot Johnny is portrayed in the various stages of his difficult life. From the time he was a little boy, abandoned by a mother who preferred life on the streets to raising a child, Johnny has had a knack for getting people to take care of him. Jackson-Opoku captures the different voices and attitudes of the women who cross paths with the unforgettable Johnny: his half-sister, Sister Baby Ruth; Miz Jones, a 38-year-old woman who has an affair with him when he is 19; Tree, the athlete who competes with him both on and off the college basketball court; and Gracita Reinu, his pioneering great-grandmother, who gave him his strong spirit and will to survive. Although the author adeptly juggles numerous personalities, she too often sends them off on crude, meaningless tangents or reduces them to speaking in awkward clich‚s. And the puzzling decision to throw in a possibly incestuous relationship and a contrived subplot in which Johnny is forced to search for a blood relative to aid his ailing daughter adds further distraction to an already intricate plot. Still, Jackson-Opoku's ability to craft memorable characters with distinct temperaments and sensibilities marks her as a writer to be reckoned with. Agent, Susan Bergholz. 5-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Jackson-Opoku's second novel about John the Baptist Wright is an intriguing story of an African American man who has been the good and bad guy as well as the lover and fighter. The women who have loved him share intimate details of their lives but also the interconnectedness of having been a part of Johnny's life. Each woman recounts her relationship with him, from his grandmother to his daughter. He has been called by many names: John the Baptist, Juanita, monkey, Sergeant Hersey, Hot Johnny, the Gent, and Daddy. He was a student, an athlete, a serviceman, a brother, a husband, and a father. Yet, the illness of his daughter forced him to return to people that he had long since forgotten or ignored. And he is finally able to recognize that the women had given him what he had always been in search of. These women, from Chicago to Asheville, only wanted to love Johnny and be loved by him. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: One World/Ballantine (January 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034542896X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345428967
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MESMERIZING, February 19, 2001

By 

V. Lancaster "Nicki Lancaster" (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hot Johnny (and the Women Who Loved Him) (Hardcover)

First I would like to give much honor and praise to the author, Sandra Jackson-Opoku for writing this poignant tale of life, love and loss. A wonderful story full of culture, ancestry and family secrets. Told by the women who loved and lusted after Hot Johnny.

This is a carefully woven story told from END to BEGINNING of a child struggling between fulfilling a prophecy and later a handsome young man juggling life's temptation's. Thrown away by parents who didn't want him, you'll meet "John the Baptiste", "Johnny the Gent", and "Hot Johnny" - one man different to many.

I have never read anything quite like this book. This is not your average quick read novel, but recommended for the serious reader. Those of you who know the Word, get ready for a bible quoting, foot stompin, church goin' good time. Welcome a new character into your literary world. A tale you will not soon forget!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth The Challenge, March 31, 2001

By 

Brian K. Walley (Clayton, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hot Johnny (and the Women Who Loved Him) (Hardcover)

Hot Johnny is one of those books that is going to make you think, make you pay attention, and most importantly, make you fall in love with it. When I put this book down, I would find myself thinking about it and being anxious to pick it back up so that I could find out more about this man, John The Baptist Wright, whom most knew as Hot Johnny. Each chapter is devoted to one of the women in his life and they range from his wife, to his mother, to his half sister. While reading each chapter, a little more about Johnny and his life will unfold before your eyes and, by the final chapter, you'll know and understand how Johnny got his name and what he really is like. This is not a book I'd recommend for anyone but the serious reader as casual readers might not understand it or they might just give up. But, if you want to read an excellent story, pick up this book, stick with it, and be ready to enter the fantastic world of Hot Johnny!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Written By A True Writer, April 8, 2001

By 

"seekingphd" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Johnny (and the Women Who Loved Him) (Hardcover)

What can I say? Hot Johnny was written by a TRUE writer at the top of her game. Not one of these fly-by-night authors who can't tell a metaphor from a meteorite. The story was so textured and and deliciously layered with the best in literary form and structure, I found myself gobbling up each chapter and racing on to the next. There is no comparison between Ms. Jackson-Opoku's writing and that which is currently flooding the African-American commercial market. Writers on this level include, Gloria Naylor, Bernice McFadden, and very few others. Most of the people out there penning novels (myself included) wish they COULD write with such style and finesse. Many readers and so-called reviewers give praise (and 5 stars) to a lot of the poorly written and trashy work of today, but as a developing writer I recognize pure talent when I see it, and Hot Johnny is written proof that anyone with enough money or the right connections can be an author, but it takes something very special, something Ms. Jackson-Opoku has in abundance, in order to call yourself a writer. Congrats, Ms. Jackson-Opoku, for a literary gem that is thoroughly enjoyable.