Customer Reviews

Resurrecting Mingus

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Resurrecting Mingus is a riveting novel!!

The author unveiled topics rarely discussed in our society. I now have a more profound understanding of entrapment. I can now validate feelings from both man and woman. The heat from sibling rivalry was so thick that you could feel the tension mounting. Mingus and Eva epitomize a love-hate relationship. I appreciated author, Jenoyne Adams, for delving into the growing pains of infidelity in a marraige, life after a divorce (different perspective coming from a biracial marraige), and unexplained human emotion captured in words, captured in this novel. I was captivated by Adams' writing style, I could see each scene as it unfolded. I was so immeresed into the novel that I finished reading the book in 8 hours. I could hardly put it down, rare for me.

This book is good!! As I thumb throw the pages searching for a passage to share with you, I find myself stuck. Resurrecting Mingus has something for everyone.

It's moments of revelation when Adams writes: "I figured out that bitterness sits behinds eyes that can't cry."

Love between woman and man: "Mingus slid herself down to the carpet, her bare chest pressed against his shirt. She touched his face like it was her first time feeling skin under her fingers. She looked into his eyes as she traced his chin, his nect, back up to his lips. She kissed herself into him..."

Entrapment: (Carl) "Second time she got pregnant... I never heard it pop... made me wonder about her. She got up... straightened out her clothes, and walk herself out. Quick. Never once looked me in they eye. All night I sat up in my bunk wanting to scream. She trapped me. Pinned a hole in the condom and trapped me." (Ellie) I knew the condom was old..." You have to buy the book for the rest. Buy the book ya'll, buy the book!! The book is deep. Find your center. You will enjoy Ressurecting Mingus.

To the author: Thank you! Excellent book! How can I get a schedule of readings of Mingus and book signing? Look forward to the next one!

I wonder if there are words that will illustrate the feeling I received from reading Jenonyne Adam's first book,Resurrecting Mingus. Well, I will have to try.

Adam's transends you physically and mentally into lives of these characters. The primary character Mingus, is the voice of reason or the gel that holds this fragile family together, until it is broken with her father's infidelity. These elements of betrayal, rverbrate throughout the story making it a reoccuring theme. But, it is not the forbidden acts alone, that make this novel worthwhile, it's the overcoming of the antagonist that makes this a sure-fire read. Plot aside the authors writing is style is extremely fresh and honest. Her metaphors and beautiful way of unfolding the characters,events, and storyline, is her true talent.

I know it is pretty early to say, but this is one of the best books I've read all year.

I can't wait for her sophomore effort!!!!

Resurrecting Mingus is an amalgamation of insight, delivery, and intense emotions. Never before have I read a novel that explored multiple sides of so many unchartered issues. Adams' candor is simply intoxicating and effulgent.

This novel oscillates between Mingus Browning and her family. The author conceptualizes the affect that divorce has on adults, the damages of surpressing desires, and the anguish that secrets and lies can cause. Now, one might say they've read novels with similar storylines. But, Jenoyne Adams wasn't the author. This author has a magnetic way of opening her characters' souls, exposing their fears, intentions, and inner demons. The story is not one sided at all. As readers, we receive all of the participants and affected parties' points of view.

Besides the explosive characters and stellar storyline, Resurrecting Mingus is also brisk and eloquent. It's a quick, yet engulfing read. Adams is extremely voluminous providing just the right amount of lucid descriptions and toxic lyrics.

This blistering novel will grab your attention and interest and hold it until your eyes reach the last page. Enjoy!

This was DEFINITELY one of the better reads I had this year. The writing was fresh and vibrant. The way she allowed different characters to contribute their perspective to the story was very intelligent and real. Each character brought just enough to the table to keep them relevant and prevent the story from going off course. And the relationships were dealt with in an exceptional fashion.

I guess we all have issues, make different choices and live by them, and Resurrecting Mingus takes us through all of those phases during a tough set of situations in a way that makes you not want to put the book down.

With the exception of page 219, I'd have to say this novel was nearly flawless. Relationships, race, sex, family, achievement are all dealt with in a thoughtful and compelling way. It was fun, deep, pleasant to read and with enough emotional demand to keep a reader involved.

Can't wait to read more from Ms. Adams!

the first time I read it. The ending [made me mad] as it seemed against my instincts, Mingus pissed me off with her weak actions throughout the book... I was generally made angry at one point or another by everything in this book.

..and then I read it again.

I laughed out loud unexpectedly. Eyes glistened wet while moving through a particular difficult chapter. I realized I was not angry with the book. I was angry at the characters.

The characters in this book are human, painfully so. Were they my friends, I'd have to sit them down and give them a good talking to. They make decisions and do things that sometimes don't seem logical to me-- because they are human, and prone to error, and generally illogical. The characters were so well-developed I started taking up arms with the _individuals_ in Resurrecting Mingus, wanting to help them with their lives. If that's not a success in the writing style, I don't know what is.

This book is about human flaws, and struggling to do right by yourself. It is about a woman who realizes all her material successes don't substitute for self-love. That the love of a man does not replace being comfortable with the person you are when you are alone.

It is, above all, about becoming yourself.

I think every character by the book's end commits to being more honest with themselves-- and that is one of life's most important lessons. This book has become a favorite, and I'm looking forward to more of Jenoyne's character explorations.

How does a family of thirty-five years get to the point where they are slowly killing each other with lies, sibling rivalry, infidelity, hidden secrets? The Browning family is at a crossroad. After seemingly living an existence that was in truth a series of lies and mistrust, the family can no longer trust one another. Does Eva really hate her sister Mingus? Did Carl and Elaine have a marriage based on guilt and obligation? Did Mingus grow up denying a part of herself. Torn between a white mother who is has given up her past life and lived through her husband and a black father she adores, Mingus is torn apart when her beloved Daddy disappoints the family. But is Carl's betrayal a result of misplaced obligation, a man who has outgrown his wife or the result of racial awareness. Struggling for normalcy means trying to string together alot of wrongs to get right. Told in the point of view from Minugus, her father Carl, and her mother Elaine, this poignant tale will make you stop and look at interracial families in a new light. Being on display for the whole world to wonder and make judgements have caused Mingus distress in her personal life. Meeting Eric, who seems to be the man of her dreams, seems to be the medicine she needs. But this young woman needs to find happiness within herself in order to define "normalcy". One of the best books of 2001.

This debut novel from Jenoyne Adams is very powerful. It exposed the emotions of bi-racial children as children and as adults. My understanding of children of a bi-racial union was increased through the reading of this novel. I never realized how truly hard it must be at times to be a product of that type of environment. Add divorce to the mix and you have a pot full of mixed emotions.

Each child was a best friend with one parent and disrespected the other for reasons all their own and understandably so. Mingus was gem in that she cared more for others and their feelings than her own; even her "evil, jealous and pitful" sister, Eva. Each character had a voice and a reasoning behind their madness.

Ms. Adams words are written very eloquently and they flow through the pages to help you understand and picture the characters' fears and hurts. This novel was very, very good. I finished hoping that Mingus found true happiness with herself. I felt sorry for Mingus because she truly had everyones best interest at heart with the exception of her own. This novel demonstrated rediscovery of self. POWERFUL!

My intesrest in this book stemmed from reading Michael Datcher's "Rasising Fences" where he mentioned this book. I read it in 3 nights. It was a real page turner-a must read!! I kinda got the feeling though, that it was to be continued...
Overall, it was a touching, honest story and I recommend it.

Growing Up all Mingus Browning ever wanted was to belong, to feel normal and secure in a semi-perfect family. Now all grown up as a mature adult everything appears to be okay in her professional life as a successful lawyer, however, her personal life continues to stay in a rut due to one heartbreak after another. As she sits depressed over the breakup of her last boyfriend, she receives a phone call from her oldest sister, Eva. All hell breaks loose when Mingus learns that her father has left her white mom for another woman...a black woman no less. Mingus was unprepared for the dissolution of her parents 35-year marriage or the fact that life as she knew it would be ever shattered. Mingus is torn as she struggles to do right by her mom, although she's always been closest to her father, Carl. As Carl pulls away from Mingus the hole he digs might be too deep to ever repair and the lives he shatters will never be the same again.

Resurrecting Mingus is a well-written, candid and poignant debut novel from Jenoyne Adams. Its a tale about growing up in an interracial family. A tale of secrets, deceit, betrayal and identity issues. The Browning Family truly makes you wonder how one family can appear so normal on the outside yet be so dysfunctional on the inside. As the family is engulfed by the affects of adultery, the bond seems to ravel as we discover secrets that have been hidden for over 30 years. One of the greatest strength of Adams writing is the character development and her ability to transition seamlessly between characters as she allows them to each tell their crucial side of the story. The reader is allowed to witness up close and personal the emotional side of the Browning Family. There's Mingus, the successful younger daughter who's only wanted to be loved and to belong. She couldn't understand why her mother seemed to prefer her sister Eva over her. Mingus' mom, Ellen, struggles to understand why her marriage collapsed. Seems she was more concerned about loving her husband than she was about loving herself. Mingus' father Carl confronts his many mistakes and owns up to a few of them. Mingus' older sister, Eva probably the least understood member of the family. As the story climaxes and comes to an explosive ending, Eva was the person who appeared to have no redeeming qualities and an individual that you loved to hate.

Resurrecting Mingus is appropriately titled as familial and personal events force Mingus to reevaluate her relationship with her parents as well as her feelings about her biracial identity. Resurrecting Mingus is a craftily written, riveting and poignant novel. Adams gives a new and different voice to a interracial marriage and the affect that it has on kids even when they're grown. It's a moving and touching story that you will ponder long after you read the last chapter. Pick up this book and discover this new author today.

APOOO Bookclub

This book was recommended to me by a friend aand he was right. Adams has done an excellent job of describing the heartache of divorce for an interracial couple.

Mingus reminded me of so many of my friends who were at one point or another faced with a boyfriend or lover who decided to leave without the good sense to say that it was over. Next, you add family problems. Total Drama! Yet, at some point, you have to pick yourself up and move on with life. The Browning family had to deal with a family that was built on lies. As a result, everything they tried to build after was difficult. Mingus and her sister, Eva, had to learn to accept each other, their parents and themselves. The ending of the book was a total surprise.

I truely enjoyed this book. Peace and Blessings!!