Customer Reviews

The Shirt off His Back: A Novel (Strivers Row)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"Many brothers are good . . . Some are even great . . . Only a few will give you . . . The shirt off his back."

The passage above taken from the beginning of Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown's latest novel, THE SHIRT OFF HIS BACK, pretty much sums up what readers will come to love and appreciate about the main character, Terrence Winston. Terry is a handsome man with some serious "skills and benefits" that makes him an ideal catch for any sister looking for Mr. Right. Besides being kind and generous to a fault, what adds to his appeal is the fact that he stepped up to the plate and took full responsibility of raising his twin daughters, Ariana and Alisa, as a single parent during his third year in college. No, he wasn't forced to do this, but wanted very much to raise the girls when their mother Catherine Hawkins deserted them for a glamourous and lucrative career out of the country. With the help of his mother, Teresa, his sister, Veronica, and best friend, Roland Carpenter, Terry has been able to raise his daughters for eleven years in peace without any interference from Catherine. Now that he is about to marry the love of his life, Jackie, who is also a single parent to twins, Catherine shows up from Spain demading custody of the girls and respect for her role as their mother. Refusing to let her take his girls and disrupt their lives, Terry and bestfriend Roland, who happens to be a powerful and respected attorney, put their heads together and come up with a plan that will keep Catherine out their lives forever!

THE SHIRT OFF HIS BACK is an engaging book filled with humor, true friendship, love and feel-good romance. I commend author Parry Brown not only for writing an awesome story about a man who is obviously a good son, a wonderful brother, and true best friend; but for writing a story about a black man who is a loving dedicated single parent. This was a fun book to read . . . and one that I would gladly read again and again!

First and foremost, I have to give Ms. Brown MADD PROPS for writing a book that depicted GOOD, LOVING, HONEST brothers. Unfortunately in my reading of contemporary novels, I rarely come across books that make you go, mm mm mm, I want one of those...and Ms. Brown's novel, "The Shirt Off His Back" did that and a whole lot more.

"The Shirt Off His Back" is the story of Terry, a good, kind black man who is raising his 10-year-old twin daughters. Since their birth, he has had custody over them, seeing that their mother just didn't have the time or the maternal inclination to take part in their upbringing. Now, ten years later, with Terry finally finding happiness with Jackie (a beautiful sistah with her own self-esteem issues)...he's ready to make his relationship a union of both his and Jackie's families, but his twins' mother - Catherine - is back, and wants her daughters...so that she can climb the ladder of career success.

This novel was a one-sitting reading, as I got engrossed with Brown's characters. Brown pulls the reader in with her conversational dialogue, and I found myself racing to finish, in the hopes that Terry would win custody of his daughters (you'll have to read for yourself to find out!)

To those of us who have lived in the Waiting to Exhale, my man don' dogged me, my man ain't no good era of relationship novels, this is a definite read to restore your faith in the black men we DO know and love for their conviction and values.

Shonell Bacon, author of "Luvalwayz: The Opposite Sex & Relationships"

RAW Sistaz Member & Book Reviewer

"The Shirt Off His Back" is a true to life story with some strong African American men. Wonderfully and well written novel. It touched my heart. I laughed, cried and cheered thoughout the novel.

Catherine was very selfish. She had her priorities mixed up. I admired Ronald and loved me some Terry. Jackie and Terry were heaven sent to each other. Cedes was a laugh mouth down to heart sista.

I feel very satisfied after reading this novel. The love of friends, family and trusting in God is the key when facing dilemmas.

Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown I want to Thank you for writing this heartwarming tale. It shows that the world still have some good African American men even if this is the work of fiction. Be Blessed.

It's refreshing to read a novel about a man (Terry) doing right by his children and loving a "thick" sister, while doing right by her children also. Being a "thick" sister myself, I was able to relate to Jackie's feelings and emotions. The characters are real. Momma C is everyone's mother and/or grandmother. This story is full of love--family, friends, etc. You will live this story as your own. You will cheer, laugh and cry. You will be involved in the family dinners and celebrations. This is real love!

This is a break from all the other relationship books. I recommend you read it when you need a pick-me-up from the everyday drama. God Bless you, Parry Brown.

APOOO Reviewer

As a member of a newly formed book club, we chose Parry Brown's book, THE SHIRT OFF HIS BACK, as our very first book club read. As I read the first chapter I was very disappointed that this book would mark the first book of "The Book that Binds" book club.

It is true that this book provides a view into the life of an African American male that is rarely portrayed in the media let alone a novel. For that I give Parry Brown kudos. But the book quickly becomes predictable with nothing left to chance. By Chapter 9 I think that I had figured out how the book was going to end...and I was right! I mean, who really thought things would turn out any different for Catherine or for any other character for that matter?

The characters also remained at a superficial level from the beginning to the end of the book. I would have loved to have the author delve deeper into some other aspects of the characters and their relationships rather than continue with the established relationship of Terry and Jackie. What was behind the love triangle between Catherine, Terry and Roland in college? What about Lawrence, Jackie's previous relationship and Mikey and Ikey's father? How had Veronica's drinking problem continued to progress without intervention from Terry and her mother Teresa? And most importantly, why did Momma C talk the way she did? (smile)

So, as you can see I was deeply disappointed in this book and would not recommend it to a book club that wants to go beyond the predictable for their book club selections.

With all the negative print images of African American males, it is nice to pick up a book focusing on the positive print image. Terry is a good hardwarking man providing for his children, while falling in love with a BIG Beautiful Woman. Ms. Brown, uses very little profanity, which I find refreshing. KEEP UP THE WORK EBONY SATIN!

First, let me say that anytime someone consciously sets out to do something as artistic as write a book, I applaud them. Courage is what writes book. Now, writing a good book is another story. No pun intended. I thought this was a wonderful idea to reach out to the Brothers and let them know that not all women think they are dogs while at the same time illustrating that not all female writers portray them as such. Awesome idea. BAD story. I found the characters to be stilted, unimaginative and the writer seemed to be telling a story she WISHED were true rather than a story that MIGHT be true. Although it's fiction, reality does carry some weight. It was too soap opera-ish, and entirely too unrealistic. How many 6 or 7 year olds do any of us know that always do the right thing, are intuitive enough to immediately see the first signs of deception and always think of others before themselves? It's not a question of character, but maturity. Since the characters had God so deeply imbedded in their lives as well, and were thanking Him and realizing how blessed they were every other page, I found it odd that they had no problem fornicating on a regular basis. If it's going to be a dream book at least stick to the script. I was actually rooting for the "bad girl" in the middle of it. It has never taken me an entire month to read anything. That sterling record has been shattered in one fell swoop. I can only hope things get better. The best part was the end and I mean the end of the misery of reading it.

One of the first things learned in any elementary level creative writing class is 3 DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS. This book is the worst example of this I've ever seen.

I believe this story got such raving reviews because of its portrayal of a positive black man raising his children, which is all good. But let's be truthful, does anybody REALLY know a man, black or white, as flawless as Terry? I doubt it, just like I doubt, unless you're personally acquainted with Jeffery Dalmer or the Devil himself, that you know anybody as evil as Catherine. And the twins, what are they, Stepford Children? The story was so mushy and unrealistic, just oozing with love and understanding and easy solutions, that the whole time I was reading it I found it difficult to believe this was a published author. I agree totally with the reviewer who said this sounded like a student's writing--a high school student at best.

I think this book would have appealed to a lot MORE people, INCLUDING men, if it had been more realistic, showing more of the real life problems a man goes through when dealing with a new relationship and the troubled one with his children's mother. I'm not saying make it "ghetto," because the one thing I do agree with about this book is it's attempt to show that not all black people live that lifestyle. But these characters, NO ONE, ghetto or bourgie, can relate to because they do not act like real people at all.

My initial thoughts were "finally, here is a novel which would refute the myth surrounding our Black men." Less than halfway into the book, I developed a serious headache - especially after reading Momma C's dialect. The characters were ridiculously phony - you really couldn't get more fictional than that! The plot was underdeveloped and surprisingly I did something I haven't done....I refused to finish the book - it was just that bad.

There was so much potential with this novel, yet Parry Brown was unable to attain it! I skimmed through all the reviews (on this site) prior to reading "The Shirt Off His Back" and I agree wholeheartedly with Reviewer 'valree76' - see below or above. Her review sums it up to a "T".

Thank you Parry Brown for such a wonderful story of the few, the proud, the black men... who give the shirts off their back and the medals from their sleeves for family and friends!

"The Shirt Off His Back" is the story of a strong black man, Terry, who gives his heart and his life for his twin daughters, Alisa and Ariana. Though the twins pump life back into him daily, Terry wants to give his girls more. When he meets Jackie, a single mother of twins, Terry is blessed and confident that he has discovered the missing puzzle piece of their lives. While the couple slowly falls in love, they take their families and friends with them. As they safely plunge into the depths of true love, everyone is caught by loving, unsuspecting arms. Even the hilarious friends, Roland and Mercedes, become more supportive of their friends and of one another.

Each relationship (between parents, siblings, and friends) proves that 'love endures all things' (I Corinthians 13:7) These loving families and friends stand amidst the storm that comes their way in the form of the tempest, Catherine. During the storm, the peace of God comes in to calm them all.

This is an excellent read. Ms. Brown has restored our hope and faith in good brothers. I pray that ALL brothers read this book, and become inspired to join the ranks of the few good men. In Jesus' Name. Amen.