Customer Reviews

A Hungry Heart: A Memoir

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first picked this up, I didn't know what to expect. All I knew about Gordon Parks was that he was a photographer. After reading it, I felt like a fool, because there was so much more to this extraordinary man. This book is well over 300 pages long, and I finished it in two days. There are many reasons for this.

For one, he has so many stories to tell, and, in a way, he has a way of placing you at the story he is telling. This book was published last year, and he does his best to reach back as far as possible to give the reader accurate accounts of his memories, good and bad. It tells of his humble beginnings, and some of the losses he experienced along the way. He talked about some of his earlier jobs, the undesirable conditions, but some of the people he came in contact with. At that time, he proposed to his first wife, and after constant opposition from her family, they later wed.

He also tells about the first camera he ever purchased. Not having much experience at all, he took some shots, and the rest was history from that standpoint. He never comes off as arrogant, cocky, or pumping himself or his talents up. He was always humble, and just enjoyed doing the things he loved: photography, literature, and music. He made the most of his opportunities when he was given them. His undying love and support for the poor and the less fortunate is well-chronicled, and his loyalty to fellow Blacks at the harshest of times put him in very compromising situations, but he was always able to adapt, sympathize, and relate to his subjects, and it showed in all of his work. He never compromised his beliefs for personal gain, and he was widely respected for it. He also tells of his times behind the camera, from his first film "The Learning Tree" to one of his more popular films "Shaft." To my surprise, his son wrote the screenplay and directed one of my favorite films of all-time, "Superfly", and he tells of how that came to existence.

There are so many lessons gained from reading this story that I do not have the time to list them all. For me, a 23-year-old black man, it was a blessing to be able to come across this piece of literature. I learned about a great man who made his mark on this world to the best of his ability and remained humble and down-to-earth from beginning to the end.

I would first like to say that this memoir was an excellent tour through the life a professional genious, good father, & well admired & respected man. His story takes us on a journey of reexamining ourselves, our dreams/achievements, black history, American history. He allowed us access to tour places abroad & at home & to see our government at it's best and worstlight. We were introduced to the real people beyond their stardom: from Marlon Brando to Muhammad Ali to Ingrid Bergman to Malcolm X. He focused on families who weren't fortunate enough to live the American DREAM; but for him were very much a part of it. He took a chance on people & stood up for what he believed in; even though the doors often times seemed shut in his face.

I felt that Mr. Gordon could have left out all the details of his many affairs with women: from wives, to mistress, to flight attendants, to his own editor (later to be wife ). I appreciate his honesty; because no man/woman can claim perfection and to do that would have been a lie. But, his detail and sense of "dat a boy" praise made me to give this book a 4.

Gordon Parks was one of the first to transcend race in America, he was not a "Black" photographer, he was a photographer. He says it well describing his retrospective with photos of a high fashion gown the same color as the blood from a youth in a gang war he had photographed the same day.

Born in 1912 (a living icon before his death this year), Parks' work took him everywhere.. northern Canada, Paris, Rio and all over the US. He brushed with King Farouk and President Eisenhower and spent extended time with Malcom X, Mohammed Ali and Eldridge Cleaver.

This book is a once over lightly. He tells a lot through dialog, but it is not a satisfying substitute for description. I'd like to know more about how he got into photography (it reads like a fairy tale... but then he's remembering back 70 years). History needs more about the people and situations of his WPA and war work experiences... to name a few areas.

Some of the stories evoke nostalgia for a time when a spread in Life magazine would yield life changing contributions for a child in Brazil or a family in Harlem. Do today's photographers get body guards anywhere but Iraq? Do publishers still compensate those like the sharecropper who lose everything, due to the photographic spread?

This book reminds us, though, that these kindnesses and courtesies ran concurrent with overt and life taking racism.

Parks gives an outline that someone else should follow up on.

Gordon Parks brings the memoir to the reader almost as vividly as his photographs. I like to find the origin of the person, and Parks certainly affords just that. I can't wait to read his other memoirs. mike

This is Parks' 4th autobiography - or 5th, if you count his first one (which was "novelized"), "The Learning Tree." He wrote "A Choice of Weapons," "To Smile in Autumn," and "Voices in the Mirror" - all autobiographies - before he wrote this last one. It's interesting to me that he wrote this many, and that he always started at the beginning. Some of the details differ in the various books, and sometimes the exact same paragraphs are used. I suspect that readers who feel it's a "glossed over" treatment of his life, could glean additional details about his life by reading the other books. His work with the FSA/OWI has been covered extensively in other books and online, on the Library of Congress' site for one. The Smithsonian has a transcript of an interview done in 1964, as well. His huge retrospective work, "Half Past Autumn" (which accompanied a multi-year traveling exhibition), is a great resource and includes hundreds of his images along with narrative, and essays by others. Essays about him can be found in works by others, as well.

I do want to add about this book from Amazon.com, sold as new - since there is no place to actually rate Amazon.com as a seller, potential buyers should be aware that the "small publisher's mark" is actually a very fat, long, ugly, black remainder mark across the bottom edge of the pages. The description at the top, about "bargain priced books," is misleading in that respect. I purchased it to give as a gift, not realizing it would have a large black slash made with a Sharpie - so I will have to find something else for the gift.

Gordon Parks eloquently takes you down the road to his childhood and through the development of his career. A Renaissance man, of invention, art, music, and firmly grounded by the admonitions of his mother. He recounts episodes in his life where he looked squarely into the face of hatred, and prevailed by keeping his anger contained, and using his wit and humor, or sheer resourcefulness to survive.

I have been enriched by reading this work. I have already passed-on the book to a college professor I know, to hopefully challenge the stereotypes and assumptions of his students.

It is a fabulous book. I couldn't put it down. Reading about his life makes you appreciate what he had to go through to get to where he went in his life. Makes you also appreciate your life and his book is an inspiration especially for people who have creative goals.

Very aware of this author because he is my hero so I absolutely love all that he has done in life and art. Thanks

Gordon Parks is by far the most influential man of our time. He has given so much to the world in the form of photography , poems, and literature. He was well travelled and never comprimised himself in the process. I had the pleasure of hearing him lecture with Avery Brooks in NY a few years back. What an experience of a lifetime. Read his works and you will understand his importance in our history

It has been a long time since I started reading a book and could not stop until I had finish it. I started at 5pm on a Sunday and finish on Monday, the next day. The benadryl I had taken Sunday night did me in. What a man and what an extraordinary life.Every circumstance from the beginning of his life stated, he should have failed. Mr Parks was born dead, not alive but dead. His parents were great role models and taught him how to live. His father gave skin grafts to a burn child and told Gordon he did it for the child. Gordon had asked if the boys parents thanked him or gave him a gift. Before reading the first chapter, I said that I must meet this great man. It is not to be. Mr Parks accomplishments remind me of another great man, Dr. John Franklin Hope, the black historian. These great men were born only a few years apart, 1912 and 1915 respectfully. Please treat yourself and read this book.