Platitudes (The Northeastern Library of Black Literature) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Bertram D. Ashe (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Earle Tyner, 16-year-old black bourgeois in contemporary New York City, falls in love with Dorothy LaMont, a young waitress at her mother's down-home Harlem diner. As Earle plots encounters with Dorothy, taking an after-school job near the restaurant, the teenagers' friendship weathers upsets but eventually deepens and strengthens. Earle and Dorothy are characters in a novel-within-a-novel here, ostensibly creations of newly divorced, depressed black writer Dewayne Wellington. Dewayne appears mainly in his letters to Isshee Ayam, successful black feminist author and critic of Dewayne's work-in-progress called "Platitudes." Isshee, whose own novels bear such titles as Chillun' o' de Lawd and My Big O' Feets Gonna Stomp Dat Evil Down , offers in letters to Dewayne her revisions of "Platitudes," with Earle and Dorothy cast as poor schoolchildren in 1930s rural Georgia. As the writers reconcile their differences over Dewayne's rapidly developing story, the two relationshipsthat of Dewayne and Isshee and that of the doubly fictional Earle and Dorothyparallel each other, both closing with pat endings. Ellis demonstrates an ear for adolescent lingo and a sharp grasp of teenage pursuits and pleasures; at its best, his book is entertaining and the young protagonists sweetly appealing. But too often, Platitudes degenerates into tedious attempts at wit and humor, as in Isshee's plodding literary contributions or Ellis's version of Earle's PSAT exam, an annoying joke. This aptly named first novel is, finally, predictable and self-indulgent. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A stunning first novel. Blending the genres of the epistolary and satire, Ellis has produced a novel at once socially engaged and artistically fresh, hilariously funny and intellectually compelling. His is a major talent and this is a wonderful read." (Henry Louis Gates, Jr. )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (October 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555535860
• ISBN-13: 978-1555535865
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,012,037 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Changed my life ..., October 21, 2001

By	D. Belton "The Black Snob" (Florissant, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Platitudes (Paperback)

I first stumbled across this book when I was in the seventh grade and only 13 years old. It was around this time I started giving up my high school clique, junior high school girl books and decided to start reading black fiction. This was one of the first books I read and at the time it blew my mind. As a youngster, I was very much about "coloring within the lines." I only thought books were supposed to be written one way, but when I read Ellis's playful, inventive and mysterious prose it sent a shock through my system. Multiple points of view, words you have to read out loud to get the full affect of them, sexual humor ... all things foriegn to me at 13. Needless to say, after reading it I decided I was going to be an author. The book still has a powerful affect on my writing today as I truly enjoyed what I thought then was a unique and experimental style. I went on to read Ellis' "Home Repairs" but by then I'd grown disinterested in Ellis' style. While Platitudes was fresh, the same tricks used in "Home Repairs" seemed gimmicky and by then, I'd moved on to other forms of black fiction.

Now as an adult I see Platitudes is a good, but uneven book. But I give credit where credit is due. Ellis helped me develop my own style and that has to mean something.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very dated, September 22, 2009

By	E. Petersen - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I find this novel has not aged well. While Trey Ellis is trying to poke fun at the contrived nature of Black literary politics from the mid-1980s, he ends up presenting a very weak caricature of how a feminist author would write. I actually found the novel pretty insulting, particularly as the meta-narrative comes to its extremely predictable ending. For me, the fact that Ishmael Reed was a vocal advocate of this novel says it all.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow..., November 1, 2001

By	Erren Geraud Kelly (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Platitudes (Paperback)

one of the most creative and inventive black novels i've ever read. deals with a black male growing up in middle class harlem, who is also smart. trey also takes on feminists, the traditional slave narratives, pop culture, dating, the bourgeoise and anything else he can think of. definately not your average black novel. and i'm glad for that....