Customer Reviews

Mixed: My Life in Black and White

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am not a polite laugher. When I was younger, kids hated playing the make-me-laugh game with me (unless they could tickle me) because I could hold it in. But I couldn't last ONE PAGE without breaking out laughing at this author. She is hysterical. For someone to be able to tell such a sad story of a woman so overwhelmed by being biracial that she was a stripper, in a psychiatric ward, bullied, beaten up, lied to, cheated on, almost fatherless, self-conscious, with low self-esteem, and STILL make you laugh like it was all good, is a TALENT. This story was so funny...but so heavy at the same time. It makes people aware of how stressful it is to be biracial. I remember debating with a bi-racial (Mexican and Black) girl about why she kept referring to herself as black, and that's who I kept thinking about while I was reading this story. I never really considered how annoying it must be for someone to ask for your nationality...but after reading this book, I can totally sympathize. My mother, who is not a reader, recognized this woman immediately from the Tyra Banks show and demanded that I let her borrow this book after I was done...so I guess her personality was so outstanding on the show that people are flying to the book. As they should, because this was a great read!

This could be a forgettable book. The well-educated and attractive daughter of a bi-racial couple who now works for a successful sitcom (SCRUBS) tells us how rough and interesting her life has been? Please!

But this book is actually quite good. Why? Because it's funny and energetically written! Nissel is a witty and charming guide to the more amusing episodes of her life as a girl wondering what the heck it is to be a "mulatto." For instance, Nissel's mother was a member of the Black Panther Party who married her father because she thought he was half-black. (Even though he was a redhead, she was thrown off by his black stepfather.) This is the same mother who tried to persuade Angela that David Hasselhoff was half-black so that she would have a good role-model to look up to.

And this isn't all fun and games. Nissel writes revealingly about being treated for depression, and how culturally difficult it is for a black woman to claim to BE depressed. (She was afraid that her Black Pass would be revoked if word of this got out.)

I am so glad Ms. Nissel wrote this book. Being mixed Black and White myself, I have had similar experiences. So many people fought and cried against our very existence. Shoot, a hundred years of Jim Crow laws went into preventing it.But here we are - mixed and proud - maybe a little difficult to understand - but we're workin' on it. Not all mixed people are alike, but one by one - as we tell our stories, we are beginning to come into ourselves as members of our own group.

Angela does a great job of representing both herself and the rest of us in a responsible, balanced, respectful and humorous way. You will soooo laugh. She has a knack for comedic timing and writing - and boy can she weave a story! Her Broke Diaries book is hilarious as well. Please pick these up when you get a chance. I need to get a couple more copies myself, as all of my family members keep passing them around.

A quick witted yet refreshing way of telling her life story..
I was not completely impressed with the way the writing ended the story..it felt somewhat rushed, my life in black and white gave me an insight on angela nissel.."she's a gem"

I'm going to go get her other one tomorrow. Finally, a FUNNY memoir about growing up in America being black and white! I was on the subway laughing like a maniac while reading this. I know many of us grew up around mixed children and especially as children, we can be not very kind. This book is written in a comical format with serious undertones and sheds a lot of light on how it feels to grow up as one. I was never one of the cruel kids but know many who were and feel for the author but am especially proud of her many successes. WERK, Angela!

You know the old cheesy saying a good book (or movie) isn't good unless you laugh and you cry. Well with this book I did both. I loved Mixed. It was a quick read, I read it in a few hours, but it kept me turning pages. She was very honest, even when it must have been difficult to share some things. All of us remember the scars we carry from things that happened to us when we were kids. I couldn't imagine being of mixed race because as she showed us in this book, it makes you deal with race each and every day of our lives. What makes this book so good for me is that even if you remove the race factor and put in any other trying, difficult aspect of life, you can relate. Well cone

I was originally introduced to Angela Nissel through her earlier journal "Broke Diaries," which I read through in a few mere hours, laughing all the way. It was that book, in fact, that turned me on to blogging in 2004.

Being involved in an interracial marriage and expecting a child, I purchased this book to read of Nissel's point of view of being racially mixed in the U.S. While she infuses the same self-deprecating sense of humor seen in her earlier book, she is able to do so while earnesty discussing the pain of prejudice and rejection.

Nissel's humor was easily translatable to both myself and my white husband and we enjoyed the book equally.

I am not biracial; I'm not sure I even know anyone who is biracial but Angela Nissel has a way of writing that makes me feel like everything I'm reading is happening to me. This isn't a "It is so hard to be mixed and black in America" book; it's almost like an good episode of All in the Family: strong topics, laughs, but never enough drama to start a fight while watching (or in this case, reading.)

What I appreciate most is that Nissel doesn't hit you over the head with her views nor does she claim to be speaking for anyone other than herself. My favorite essay was Nissel's experience as an "ethnically-vague stripper". Only a gifted writer can write about topless dancing and make me laugh until I choked on a crowded subway car!

As a mixed girl, I decided to read this book in hopes of see what someone else's experience was like. Hers was not too similar to mine. I could relate to her on some levels, but for the most part I really couldn't. Although I did understand her experiences, even if I couldn't fully personally relate.

The book was kinda funny.

My main problem with the book was that she would never tell you what age she was at each event.

One minute she could be talking about being 11 when something happened, and then all of a sudden be 13 or 14. It got kinda confusing trying to figure out what her age was.

I also felt that towards the end, she started jumping ahead. One minute she speaks of the fact that black men only date white in California. Then she speaks of trying white men out. And the next thing, she is talking about her black husband. She does not go into how she met and how that relationship became a marriage.

It seemed like she left out some things of her story.

Overall, the book was good, it gave a good idea of how the average mixed person growing up has to deal with problems from both blacks and whites. Although my own experiences aren't as similar to hers, it is nice to see someone talk about theirs. I would say Mixed is a great starter book for people who want to know more about biracial people, and even further, want to know more about interracial relationships, being black, etc.

growing up as a child alone is challenging but being Racially Mixed has a whole different can of challenge that can be challenging to fully open all unto itself. Angela Nissel keeps a balance on the subject matter. the Book has humor, but deals with things straight on. a must read.