Customer Reviews

Platitudes (Northeastern Library of Black Literature)

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

When I first read Platitudes it knocked me out. Here was fabulously fresh take on the black novel and it the first novel by a very young man. Ellis mocks the usual platitudes of the black novel. He refused to try to outdo Alice Walker and he didn't come up with a urban street yarn either.

The book pulls off one of the hardest literary tricks in the world : it feature not just one but two stories within a story. His hero, DeWayne Ellington is writing a book about Earle and Dorothy, two middle class kids in Harlem and Ishee, a caricature of Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and all the other dreary glory tale writers tries to get him to tell a more "relevant" story casting Earle and Dorothy as brave strivers in the 1930s segregated South. Witty arguments and eventually even love ensues.

Trey Ellis poked fun at a lot of tired old literary conventions and managed to write a cute, clever little novel. Hopefully one day, Ellis will come back at us with another piece of brilliance.

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....

Great read. Mr. Ellis weaves a wonderful story about two black youths overcoming the greatest obstacle of their lives -- growing up in middle-class America.

In Platitudes, Trey Ellis transcends the typical genres and
vernacular commonly associated with African-American literature.
The evolution(s) of Earle and Dorothy provide a touching look
at the "forgotten" black youth. The characters are not the
progeny of sharecroppers or transplanted islanders, they are
simply part of middle class Black America. The hilarious
contrast between the writers blocked Dewayne and militant
feminist Ishee Iyam provides a valuable look into the past and
future of African-American literature. A must read for anyone
who is tired of reading the same old slave autobiographies.

I remember being in college when I first encountered this book. Being a Black student at Boston U., works by Black authors was a rare treat that was devoured upon contact. Having grown up in New York City, I was able to identify with a lot of what the main character saw and experienced (in that part of the tale). The dueling writers turned love story effect of this rich tet was a wonderful experience as a reader and budding writer. Hence, I look forward to using the text in my own courses.

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.