Customer Reviews

Never Drank the Kool-Aid: Essays

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

 

 

Never Drank the Kool-Aid is full of virtuoso performances, but the reason you must buy it and read it is "What's Inside You, Brother?," a personal essay in which Toure invents a first person narrator to describe a third- (and, for nearly half the essay, a second-) person Toure as he tries on a new persona, making himself over as a boxer not unlike Sonny Liston, well-acquainted with "the body English of the back alley, the backroom, the back corner of the prison's back cell." And even as he remakes his body into something lean and strong and fast, he is grappling with notions harder to pin down: blackness and whiteness, poverty and privilege, who I am and who they say I am. No one, not David Remnick, not Joyce Carol Oates, not Gay Talese, has ever written better about boxing, and boxing's not even Toure's main concern.

It's rare to come across a writer able to both entertain and educate at the same time. I've read all three of Toure's book's, and have yet to be disappointed. Much like Kurt Vonnegut's brilliant short story collection "Bagombo Snuff Box," Never Drank the Kool-Aid, will both enlighten and have you laughing out loud. It's refreshing to come across a writer with the ability to effortlessly engage and challenge the readers pre-existing thoughts on society. Though much of "Never Drank..." consists mostly of Toure's encounters with Hip-Hop celebrities, he also manages to include various figures one wouldn't normally expect. As a whole, "Never Drank..." is the kind of book that will make you want to turn the television off, leave the phone at home, and find a park bench to allow yourself-if for a moment, the pleasure of losing yourself in the lost art of the written word. Never Drank, as well as the Portable Promised Land by Toure, are two books that will always have a home on my book shelf.

You will find in this book very cleverly written articles. Toure shares his candid opinion on topics as well as sharing experiences he's had with many pop-culture icons. Very interesting read!

This is a must-have for anyone interested in hip-hop culture and it's impact on society at large. Toure's writing is smart, witty and incisive. I'm back on Amazon to purchase copies for my friends. They can't have mine! <smile>

I was entertained from the first page. I thought I knew Toure' but now I understand so much more. I want to hear more stories. Please keep writing!!!!!