Customer Reviews

Laughing in the Dark: From Colored Girl to Woman of Color--A Journey From Prison to Power

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"Laughing in the Dark" was an excellent book. I really enjoyed reading it. Patrice had a tough life. She has been through a lot, but in the end she has accomplished so much. In my eyes Patrice Gaines is a remarkable women. I find books about the author's life are the most interesting types of books. They are so honest and tell you so much about life. Everybody faces different problems and situations that the next person. I myself learn more from the mistakes and lifestyles others have than what anyone could teach me. Biographies and autobiographies tell you the truth, how they felt, the details on what happened, their mistakes, and how they dealt with it all. The more you know about the author the more interesting the reading is. Patrice in particular is a very strong and smart women. She has been through a lifetime of mistakes, promises, deaths, and accomplishments than a lot of others ever will be, and she is still going. Her earlier life had helped her get ready for anything, for the rest of her life. I believe she should be everybody's role model to success. She has done a lot and is still helping others. I am very pleased with the book and I recommend it for others to read. Her life has made me think about my own. She has helped me know what to expect, what to watch out for, and what a wonderful life you can have if you want it enough and try to get it.

"Laughing in the Dark" is the Black female side of Nathan McCall's "Makes Me Wanna Holler." Both works share the stories of young African people growing up with harsh realities and obstalces. Both books are about "how I overcame," and what it takes to endure the hardships of life.

Ms. Gaines's book though is rare, for we don't have nearly enough coming-of-age books by African women. The focus is mainly on the plight of African men.

Though "Laughing in the Dark" is somewhat depressing, it serves to remind us of those Black women who are not "waiting to exhale" and can't get their groove on because they don't have the privileges to do so. They must find strength in themselves where there might not be very much strength.

I hope more books like Gaines will be written. I'm sure there are many more sistahs out there with similiar stories to tell.

Patrice Gaines's book Laughing in the Dark opens the eyes of women, both young and old, across the country. Patrice takes you on a journey through her life filled with pain and tears, toward self survival and determination to better her life. Patrice helps women see inside themselves through her powerful words and wisdom. She encourages women to better themselves and to always believe in themselves. With her gripping stories and tear-filled memories of childhood to her successes in womanhood, she helps you find your true self and pushes you to be the best you can be. I enjoyed this book immensely, and it has pushed me to look deeper inside my own soul for the person I want to be.

Patrice Gaines' autobiography Laughing in the Dark is an unbelievably amazing story. I would recommend this book to anyone that has doubts in their life or to a person who wants to feel the pain and happiness that Patrice has been through. Patrice has walked in many shoes, anywhere from the most uncomfortable heels to the best pair of sneakers. She explains this to you with remarkably strong emotions. As a young female facing many of the same struggles, I feel that this autobiography has taught me a lot about life and how to deal with the everyday pressures of sex, drugs, and crime. She begins her book as a young, black female dealing with racism and ends as a strong, beautiful woman. To express in such great detail so much of her life truly means something. Whether it's that she is just a great writer that wanted to stop living what some may call a lie, or that she felt her story could help many that face the same problems, she did a terrific job. She made a tremendous difference in my life.

I think Patrice Gaines's Laughing in the Dark captures the eyes and ears of most women in America. With her strong voice and powerful heart she did what most women wouldn't dare: She talked about reality and what really goes on behind closed doors when you constantly let men control your life, including your mind and your money. She wants people to know that you can take back control. She makes excellent points about drugs and issues of race, things that been around her all her life. It doesn't matter what color or age you are, sometime in your life you may have experienced the things Patrice mentions in her book. Patrice writes about the importance of family and friendship; she lets you know that without family and friends you can't change. She should be congratulated for facing and overcoming the problems she had in her life. She didn't let her troubles overpower her; she overpowered them. I would like to say this to Patrice: Keep your voice strong and your heart powerful and there will always be someone listening and understanding what you're trying to say.

The reader discovers the personal world of Patrice Gaines, a staff reporter with the Washington Post and a recipient of the National Association of Black Journalists Award. The impetus for this memoir was Gaines' view of her baby daughter from a thin jail cell window. The story unravels as Gaines seeks to be the independent woman that her daughter can look up to with pride.

Gaines provides us with the details of her struggle, commencing with her life as a five-year-old on a military base in Quantino, Virginia in 1954, when the Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional.

The adversities she faced included: being raped twice, shoplifting, abusing drugs, getting divorced, and going to prison. She delineates these experiences with stark honesty and a compassionate understanding of everyone. Her sensitivity is strongly highlighted by her complete and unwavering devotion to gay friends in their personal battles against AIDS.

As the story unwinds, the reader is poignantly aware of Gaines' personal and professional growth. She comes to meet her daughter's needs, as they each mature into adulthood, one a journalist and one a college student.

This non-fictional account of one journalist's life is well written and totally captivating. "Laughing in the Dark" cannot be kept waiting; it must be read immediately from start to finish.

Patrice Gaines is a veteran Washington Post reporter and nationally renowned speaker who grew up in insulated middle-class military brat society, became a teenage mother and drug abuser, served time in jail, and found her inner power to change her life. Gaines blames her disastrous life choices on her dependency and poor choice in men. She writes that it was only when she started loving herself, and stopped looking for outside affirmation of her self-worth, was she finally able to come into her own.

As a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show, Patrice Gaines inspired Oprah to make a spontaneous admission that she, too, had smoked crack cocaine in her youth, at the behest of a man. Tearful, Oprah admitted that "It's my life's great big secret. It was such a secret because...the tabloids would exploit it...But I was involved with a man in my 20s who introduced me to the same drug that you've been talking about and, like Patrice, I always felt that the drug itself is not the problem but that I was addicted to the man. I can't think of anything I wouldn't have done for that man."

Gaines has made great strides growing from a convicted felon to an accomplished, award-winning journalist, and her story will inspire readers of all shades and stripes.

I recently read the book Laughing in the Dark, by Patrice Gaines. In my opinion this is a wonderful example of the hardships and traumas that women face throughout their lives. I myself gained a lot of knowledge and insight as to why women sometimes react the way they do or make certain decisions. The book flows along nicely and keeps you waiting to find out what turn it will take next. It takes you through experiences with men, drugs, family, pregnancy, pain and death. It is a great book and I would strongly suggest reading it.

Patrice Gaines-an amazing woman who has gone through almost everything you could think of. Laughing in the Dark is an amazing autobiography. I would recommend this book to anyone that is going through trouble in life; this book is could give them a better understanding of what they are going through because people can't see what is happening to themselves, but when they see another person going through they can understand it better. Not only do I recommend it to those with troubled lives but anyone that likes to read what is going on in the world with someone besides themselves. This book is amazing and I could read it over and over again and not get sick of it. So read it.

Laughing in the Dark was a phenomenal, well-written book. Patrice went through many trials and tribulations in her life and managed to make it despite her many struggles. This book is not only exciting, but it provides very good advice. She talks about her experiences with men, drugs, pregnancy, death and many other things. By reading what she said, many women should know how to deal with life decisions without a doubt in their mind that most of their choices are right. I think that her best message to women is to stay strong; love and respect yourself before you jump into relationships, and you're more likely to come out on top--like Patrice.