Customer Reviews

Soul City

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Soul City is an ambitious novel written by an equally ambitious young man. In his second fictional offering, Touré employs his gift of a fertile imagination along with natural pop culturist abilities, to take the reader on a magical sojourn through the culture of black America. In this African-American utopia, named Soul City, the essence of blackness is defined through music and folklore.

There are streets named "Groove Street" and "Downhome Drive", where giant roses and violets spring out of sidewalks that thump to the sounds of whatever the Mayor happens to be spinning. For the pavements are fitted with speakers, and the Mayor's only real duty is to DJ, thus providing the town with its own ever-changing soundtrack.

But even utopias have to shed their paradisiacal qualities once in a while, and it isn't long before reality finds its way into fantasy, allowing for the more real and negative aspects of human nature to emerge. However, the cyclical tradition of life purports that what destroys can also build. The resilient powers of human nature are what see the city through a hard time, while its loving qualities are what aid in the city's resurrection.

The book is an interweaving of fables with an underlying message that is difficult to ignore. Touré plays into social and racial stereotypes as a means of highlighting the disturbing socio-political state of race in America, and a few of the characters in Soul City go further in demonstrating how some of these stereotypes are perpetuated and kept alive.

Soul City is laugh out loud funny, and while entertaining, it also manages to provoke thought within the reader. A book that can be appreciated by older and younger generations alike, Soul City is as timeless in spirit as the audience it will attract.

The first few pages of Toure's masterful new novel took me back to the first time I saw a Spike Lee movie (School Daze, 1988). It was a well-crafted, perfectly-told inside joke and I was on the inside. Like Spike Lee, Toure's world-view is not only unquestionably Black but based in the time before Blackness was so often equated with nihilistic despair.

Soul City snatched me out of my own hectic life which involves too many frequent-flyer miles and too few homemade biscuits and plopped me down in Toure's utopian vision. Interestingly, once I arrived, I had the feeling of returning to a place I had once loved but had not visited in a long time.

The best literature forces you to reexamine your life. Soul City makes me want to turn my car into a RobertaFlackmobile, crank up the volume and dance on the hood with a well-shaped Black woman until a 350-year-old grandmother tells us to " Git the ---- down from there." Toure celebrates Black culture the way I wish more of us did and arms me with renewed strength to withstand the onslaught of the diamond-studded minstrels who are turning our people into a cartoon.

I bought Soul City and Jill Scott's new CD at the same time and finished Soul City before I even removed the plastic from the CD. From me, there can be no higher praise.

Buy two copies of this book. The first is to read and reread until it is a worn as my first copy of the Portable Promised Land. Wrap the second copy in cellophane to keep as a family heirloom which your great-grandchildren can discover someday and learn why despite the drama and the hardships, African-Americans live with such joy.

Chocolate City Magazine sends journalist Cadillac Jackson on the soul train to write a short piece on the mayoral election in Soul City. Though his assignment is expected to last three days, Cadillac has ambitions that only residents of the City would have; he plans to write the definitive book on the city with more Mojo than any other in the world. In his opinion others have tried to explain the heart of Soul City, but all have failed.

Cadillac observes the mayoral race in which the parties serve up their musical platforms, but also sees the undercurrent of antagonism between the rivals in what is the supposed African-American utopia. He sees, hears and tastes the true culture and feels his heart go into palpitations when he meets resident Mahogany Sunflower. However, as Cadillac falls in love, he also realizes evil is undercutting the value of being a black man as thugs, like serpents in Eden, and a billionaire business bogie threaten the well being of the proud black culture tearing at the soul that makes Soul City dance to its own drummer.

SOUL CITY is an exhilarating allegorical tale that satirizes racial stereotypes through hyperbole. The effervescent well written story line contains an intriguing comparison of a pure "cornbread" society through the eyes of a white toasted outsider. Ironically, the overstatement jabs the message into the reader's face without the swift subtly of A Modest Proposal, but also hooks the audience with its strong spirit to embrace difference.

Harriet Klausner

SOUL CITY by Touré
September 10, 2004

I wasn't familiar with Touré or who he is, so I read this book with a complete blank slate, not knowing what to expect. I was in for a treat! It's a story filled with outrageous characters and caricatures of people living in a town called SOUL CITY. The residents can fly, they eat magic muffins, and living several hundred years is not uncommon.

A man named Cadillac Jackson travels to Soul City to cover the mayoral election. However, Cadillac has the hardest time writing down anything, because what he sees and learns in Soul City is so hard to describe. He finds himself meeting the various residents, and through him the reader gets to meet the many larger-than-life characters that grace these pages.

The gist of this book is African American pride and a sense of history of where they have been, and where they are now. But in between all that the reader gets to walk down memory lane through a sea of pop culture that will have one laughing and smiling. It's a very short book, only 184 pages, but it could have easily been longer. I didn't want the book to end, but although it was only 184 pages, I think Toure did a good job at telling a fable about racism, about accepting others for their differences, and for appreciating one's roots and celebrating all that has come before. This book will definitely be on my top 20 list for 2004.

Soul City is a perfect book for a lazy afternoon. It allows you to forget about your reality and delve into a world where music governs, the mayor is a DJ and Death is a character that's not scary. Toure is a talented writer with a keen sense of humor, and a sharp eye for detail. That's what makes Soul City a fantastical read. Even the pop culture references he makes are filled with amazing truths. Toure though sometimes gets caught up with the superficial. His best writing emerges when he digs deep and gives us a bit of his soul. It's those precious nuggets of soul, that make me rate this 5 stars but he's got to show us more of it. He's proven he can deliver humor, but ultimately it's the insight and soul that's more interesting. I'm looking forward to more of his fiction. I'm hoping he'll open up and give us more depth. Cheers to this young writer and his journey.

After reading 2 chapters, one line from a song kept running through my mind - "one Nation under a Groove". This book is marvelous. I enjoyed every character and there are plenty of those. The setting, the premise, are just all about black folks and all that's good and bad about us just made funky.

I couldn't put it down, I had never heard of it and I consider myself to be a "connoisseur" of books. I'm going to tell all my friends about it. It's a must read and I don't say that about a lot of books.

TOURE - YOU GET MAJOR PROPS FROM ME. Keep putting them out, they will get read...

Touré --- a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, an MTV personality and a CNN regular --- takes the reader on a wild ride while paying tribute to African American history and pop culture in SOUL CITY. Anyone familiar with the writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the genre known as magical realism may see this book as the African American version of it, mixing fantasy and fact, humor and melancholy. Touré takes the reader to a world where people fly and can live for centuries. It's a combination of magical realism and THE WIZ, a fable that celebrates being Black in America, from the days of slavery to today's culture of music, cars and clothing.

In chapter one, the reader is introduced to Cadillac Jackson, who is on assignment in Soul City to write a short piece on the mayoral election. His problem: how to put down in writing all that he sees and encounters on his trip to this enchanting and surreal place. All around him he hears music, he sees people dancing, and everyone is happy. Young girls playing Double Dutch fly through the air as they skip rope to the tune of a song. Vehicles are built around famous crooners. You could have a Billiemobile (Billie Holiday) or a Sinatramobile. Music is everywhere!

He meets people who are larger than life, including Granmamma, a woman who bakes biscuits filled with other people's memories and claims she has been involved in over 142 mayoral elections. If you do the math, that's a time span covering 248 years, and she's still going strong. She has evaded "Death" so that he can never catch her off guard and take her to heaven. She and a number of other citizens can boast their age in centuries, as they have all learned how to dodge the Grim Reaper, literally.

Emperor Jones is the current mayor, having been so for the past twelve years. As mayor of Soul City, his main duty to the people is being the DJ for the town. He believes in a balance of music, whereas some of his political opponents focus on only one genre, thus possibly changing the tone of the town forever. It is his job to make sure that the best person wins the election and does the right thing for Soul City.

Meanwhile, at the Biscuit shop, where the town can get their fill of Granmamma's wonderful magic biscuits, Cadillac meets Mahogany Sunflower for the first time. When Mahogany and Cadillac become an item, word gets around, and the town is worried that the two may decide to procreate.

Mahogany knows that, because he's not from Soul City, he and his children will not have the gift of flying, and it is crucial to the town's welfare that she continue on the tradition of giving birth to children who know how to fly. She is allowed only to marry someone from Soul City. Mahogany knows better than to get involved with an outsider, but Cadillac feels that their differences should not break up their love. If Mahogany does get pregnant with Cadillac's child, will she be dooming Soul City forever? Their relationship, as well as the elections and the new mayor, Spreadlove, take the book in a different direction where the city is in peril, and it's up to someone to save it.

Through this fantastic tale of love and life in a city that loves its music, Touré intersperses snippets of pop culture from as far back as the 1940s and through the 1970s and beyond, making one want to laugh, smile, or nod in recognition. He has written a brilliant tale full of wit and fast-paced humor, with characters who are bigger than life. But Touré also writes about the roots of Black America, represented by one segment of the population of Soul City that is living the life of a slave for a month. Citizens of Soul City willingly partake in this tradition to better understand their slavery roots, to better appreciate the life they have today. It is a sobering part of this novel that brings the reader back to reality. Touré does an excellent job at writing a book that will entertain and, at the same time, give one a sense of history and pride.

--- Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton (Ratmammy@lofton.org)

Touré's vivid imagination and brilliant writing make the novel Soul City come alive. His story is the story of Cadillac, a journalist from the city sent into Soul City to try to write a piece that captures the essence of the place. When he gets there, he is immediately captivated by the beautiful people and the bizarre way of life. There are people who can fly, people who never die, and a mayor chosen by how well he can DJ the music that plays on 24/7.
However, the main conflict occurs when the city has to pick a new mayor. The new mayor is incompetent and allows corruption into the city. Pretty soon, the city that was so black and beautiful becomes a place of self hatred, sex, and drugs.
The conflict is resolved, however, and Soul City goes back to being beautiful again. Cadillac realizes, though, that there is always ugly mixed in with the beautiful, and that is how he captures the essence of Soul City.
Touré's writing, while beautiful and visual, should be kept to short stories. His previous collection of short stories called "The Portable Promised Land" was excellent because it was a bunch of separate stories. Soul City is a novel only because it is loosely all tied together by the story of Cadillac. All of the other characters have their own stories, like the story of Ubiquity Jones, the woman who knows everyone's business, or the story of Precious, an woman addicted to a drug that has to be dropped in the ear, and overuse causes the shriveling of the ear, or the story of Unicorn Johnson, the man with the world's biggest penis. All of these individual stories truly captivate the reader. However, when the novel returns to Cadillac, that attention wavers, and the main reason the reader keeps reading is in anticipation of the next interesting character and his/her story.
If one is in the mood for an interesting read, however, do not hesitate to pick up Soul City. It definitely makes one think, and had many references to greater works of literature, especially Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.

Soul City by Toure is an undercover social critique, which cleverly uses the technique of magical surrealism. At first glance, it may seem like a story for children but it is quickly established that one can better appreciate and enjoy Toure's style by not only having insight but also having knowledge of greater works of literature. Much of Toure's inspirations can be traced back to "great books", such as Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. The language is captivating, the descriptions so outrageous that you'll find yourself laughing out loud at the thought of Unicorn's three foot [...] or Granmama's no-nonsense attitude.
The book opens with the character of Cadillac, a writer from the "big city" who wants to be the one to capture and reveal the true essence of this seemingly utopian town of black people. In this city which is ruled not by typical politics but by whoever has the best music and partying style, everything deemed impossible in the "real world" becomes exaggeratedly normal, such as people flying, biscuits conveying feelings and flowers growing through concrete. And that's only the beginning! The story branches into a multitude of shorter parable-like stories, which are told as a part of the town's history. Each part of the history expresses the complexities of a black person's world while also highlighting the strength and ingenuity possessed by black people. However, it also touches on how society exploits black people, who in turn, exploit themselves, as is the case of John Jiggaboo.
It is an enjoyable read, although perhaps due to the use of magical surrealism, the problems in the book, such as the town being taken over by Jiggaboo's derogatory shampoo and then the devil, are solved so easily and so impossibly that it may frustrate the reader. Toure doesn't hesitate to critique almost every aspect of life, from religion to sex to food. Simultaneously, he manages to praise the black culture, making it easy for any reader to find something, whether good or bad, to identify with. He successfully entwines both the "ugly and beautiful" of the black community in his story. Perhaps the only complaint is that his main character of Cadillac, who seems to serve the purpose of tying all the stories together, does not receive any real development. Although the ending is relatively "happy", the reader is still left with a puzzling feeling of slight confusion, which either will spur further introspection into the deeper issues of the book and society or which will compel the reader to throw the book across the room in irritation, deeming it an incredibly childish waste of time.

Some places defy description. In Soul City, musical genres are political platforms, people are able to fly, and automobiles are rolling shrines to popular musicians. The city boasts "more mojo than any city in the world."

Chocolate City Magazine sends journalist Cadillac Jackson to Soul City to cover it's upcoming mayoral election, but Cadillac has other plans. He intends to gather material for a book.

He wants to tell the world what makes Soul City what it is, but he finds that he cannot write the truth. To tell the truth is to deny the city's all-important claim to be a utopia.

Soul City draws Cadillac into its web as he falls in love with the beautiful, but dangerous, Mahogany Sunflower. Yet it's the city that is really in trouble. Cadillac might be the key to fulfilling an old prophecy of Soul City's downfall.



Soul City takes the reader on a fantastic journey through American soul culture. Sadly, the book doesn't do justice to the topic.

Touré's creative style is overshadowed by his poorly conceived allegory. At times, it seems as if some deeper meaning is struggling to show through, but it is always obscured by the story's penchant for stereotypical characters and situations. Disjointed storytelling, over-the-top sexual content and an underlying current of vulgarity make Soul City unreadable.