Customer Reviews

Straight Up

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been hearing for years that I need to read this author--that she's about the best CBA has to offer. So, when the opportunity came to review her latest release, I jumped at it. I'm so glad I did.

What stood out at first was the beauty of Ms. Samson's prose. Absolutely amazing wordsmithing. Her metaphors are fresh and evocative. Once I got over the lovely writing, I began to appreciate the realness of the characters. Lisa didn't sugar-coat their failings and insecurities. These are people I can relate to. I think we all can.

I stayed up into the wee hours to finish this novel because I had to know what choices these folks would make. While I wondered about them, somehow Ms. Samson had me questioning what choices I would make in my own life and how the consequences would affect my future and those who love me. Straight Up has me clinging to grace in a way I've always longed to.


Straight Up had me laughing and crying within the same paragraph. This is truly a work of art, both because of it's literary merit and because it does what a great novel should ... cause the reader self-examination.

Do I recommend this book? Straight up!

This review was first published on Christian Book Preview's site.
A unique, gripping novel, Straight Up breaks a lot of CBA "rules." The main characters are Georgia--a jazz musician who has neglected her "gift," and Fairly--an interior designer. They were cousins and abandoned by their parents through death. They were subsequently abandoned by their spouses. Fairly's died and Georgia's "found religion."

Both main characters went "looking for love in all the wrong places." Georgia found comfort in alchohol, and Fairly dealt with her loss through her relationships with men. Georgia continues to deteriorate until tragedy occurs. She entered "pink." Without giving you a spoiler, I'll just say that it's a very interesting place where Georgia learns a lot about herself. A minor character, Clarissa, was interspersed throughout the story, but her point of view was in the third person, rather than the first person like Georgia and Fairly's point of view. Clarissa was adopted and somewhat detached from life. She lived in a chronic survival mode and was pretty much rejected and abused by everyone. I felt so sorry for her.

For the longest time I wondered how Clarissa would finally connect with the rest of the "cast," but I won't spoil it and tell you how that happens. Let me just say that it's one of those endings that leaves you thinking for hours.

Straight Up was a gourmet meal for my finicky pallet. Let me explain why. The author gives you a blend of varying dates and characters to begin with to whet your appetite. Now I have to say at first this confused me, but once I got the feel and texture of each main character I savored the meal. Parts of Straight Up had me grieving, other parts had me wanting to slap the characters, yet I also admired them for being honest with themselves even if they weren't as honest with others. A-hem. It's called pride.

In Straight Up, the author "told it like it is." No fluff here. She gave me a glimpse into the lives of some pretty heartbroken people who looked okay--for the most part--to the rest of the world. I cared so much about them that I entered their lives. I must say the story made total sense to me. I loved how the author slipped a bit of God's perspective into the mix. What an incredibly creative way to explain things too difficult to understand outside of Christ, and then introduce Him in a way that actually attracts the reader. The author literally prepared some wounded souls for the banquet table, and you ate right along with them.

Straight Up is real, it's honest, and it's one of those life-changing stories that sticks with you for a long time. The message? You can't go back and fix the past. But you can make a difference today. I enjoyed every minute of this insightful story. Straight Up comes with my highest recommendation.

Although I'd experienced Samson's prose years ago with The Living End, I was totally unprepared for the ride she took me on in this book.

Her lyrical phrases are a joy to read: "Artists flowed through that place in a steady stream like warm butterscotch over ice cream." Another: "Robert Darling lived alone ... except for twenty-two tropical fish that tinseled up the tank, their colors shimmering under the fluorescent light overhead."

Georgia, a child protégé of jazz piano, squanders her potential on alcohol. Even when rescued by the people who love her most, Georgia must make a choice, and her decision becomes yours and mine as well. What will you decide?

Samson's novel allows us to experience this jagged-edged moment of truth from the safe distance of fiction.

--Christian Women Online Book Buzz

I've been an avid Lisa Samson fan since discovering her books three years ago, and her newest release has confirmed for me once again that my admiration and respect for her as a writer is entirely justified. "Straight Up" is heartbreaking and beautiful, a page turner from the start. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book, however, is Samson's writing: poetic use of figurative language and sentences so rhythmic they practically sing themselves to you. But, in true Samson style, she manages to balance this incredible writing with a conversational approach that brings the characters and story within the reader's grasp--you never feel like you're reading the story, you feel like you're in it. I promise you will not be disappointed!

Straight Up may very well be Lisa Samson's best serving of literary delight. Samson has a knack to zero in on the characters she creates in an honest and profound way. Her writing allows you to connect with the good, bad and ugly in her story world--so much so that you want to reach out to hug one character when she needs it or scold another on the choices being made. Straight Up draws you into the lives of three members of a dysfunctional family and illustrates the need for hope and grace in all of our lives. The best part of Straight Up is the "ah-ha" feeling you're left with--a lesson we all need to learn.

Lisa Samson's delightful prose and interesting, gritty characters propel STRAIGHT UP, a novel about choices and consequences, the could-have-beens and should-have-beens, grief over wasted opportunities and our need for community.

Talented 32-year-old jazz musician Georgia Bishop has chosen the bottle over her music, rejecting her handsome husband Sean for a life of sitting alone at a bar and drinking away her potential. Her cousin, Fairly Godfrey, has her own troubles: at 26 she has lost her parents and her husband is hovering at the brink of death, and the solace of vintage clothing and antique furniture isn't enough to fill the gaping holes. The seemingly stable Uncle Geoffrey ("Uncle G") tries to glue the cousins back together when the trajectory of their lives intersects in Samson's hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. But will his love, the strength of his faith and his gentle acceptance be enough? The consequences of choices don't always have happy endings, and admirably, Samson portrays this without flinching as Fairly inadvertently brings things to a tragic climax.

In Samson's fictional world, food and coffee are the great consolers, and readers will salivate over the delicious culinary details throughout. Della-Faye bakes scrumptious peach cobbler and to-die-for fried chicken at the restaurant down the street, and Solo, a Congolese refugee, is quick to whip up an espresso when his friend Fairly is feeling low.

Samson is the veteran author of 18 books (including WOMEN'S INTUITION and CLUB SANDWICH) and is not afraid to take risks in her writing. Characters come in a rainbow of ethnicities, and Samson treats interracial couples in a matter-of-fact way rather than making race a point of tension --- something welcome and still fairly unusual in faith fiction.

The best moments revolve around Samson's portrayal of the community of faith --- a sometimes loose conglomeration of the walking wounded, the displaced, the neglected and abused, and the artistic misfits. There's quite a bit of the supernatural thrown in, especially toward the end, but nothing preachy or cliché. Book discussion groups will be delighted at the opportunities for debate on topics such as alcoholism, widowhood, race, caring for the wounded and the abused, medical ethics, marriage and spiritual calling, using or wasting our talents and gifts. What comes powerfully across is the potential each of us has to help change the life of another for the better. What also comes across is our ability to choose to reject this help.

One reason I love reading Samson's novels is her fresh and invigorating prose, which is in full evidence here. Lines such as "Twenty-two years later and the day she died still feels like stepping on a nail" provoke an almost physical reaction from the reader. Tropical fish "tinsel up a tank" and artists flow through a place "like warmed butterscotch over ice cream." On fried chicken: "That first bite is as good as a blanket out of the dryer after sledding or a gulp of cold Coke after a day of yard work." Hair is "rivered with silver." In describing herself, Fairly notes, "People see me as a birdbath. I am a well." I could read for pages for nothing else but the promise of more descriptions like these.

The constant switching back and forth between points of view and time periods are sometimes confusing and choppy, but hang with them: the characters are strong enough to move the book to its redemptive yet unsentimental conclusion, and the elegant prose will keep the pages turning.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Georgia Ella Bishop, daughter of a great jazz pianist and a well-known news correspondent, came by her talent naturally. A gifted jazz musician, Georgia was destined for greatness. But before she realizes her potential, she throws away her marriage, her life, and her career, for a drinking habit. In an attempt to straighten out her life, she moves from Baltimore to Lexington, Kentucky, where her fashion-obsessed cousin, Fairly, and her activist Uncle Geoffrey try to help. Add to the mix Georgia's estranged husband, Sean, and a soul-food chef that gives new meaning to "comfort food," and you have a story that won't disappoint!

Samson's mastery of metaphor shines in Straight Up, flowing from the page "like warmed butterscotch over ice cream." Her characterization is rich and multi-layered. Like a master artist, Samson paints colorful portraits across the canvas of the reader's imagination with her intense and vivid descriptions. The poetry of her prose transported me back to my childhood, when books had a magical, almost mystical quality. I didn't want it to end.

This poignant story of grace and mercy touches the heart and stirs the soul, shining truth ever so gently into the darkness, the place where daily choices affect future destinies and where some opportunities are lost and never found. Still, it is a story of redemption and hope, beauty and comfort.

Samson continues to blaze a trail, challenging the status quo and raising the bar for writers who come after her. Always a gifted writer, Samson reached new heights with Straight Up.

This was my first Lisa Samson read - it will not be my last. She does her craft well.

Georgia and Fairly are unforgetable characters - their relatives and friends and situations are equally memorable. Georgia's thoughts and experiences while in a coma are worth contemplating.

Life is messy - messier than we like to face and admit, but there is always grace and hope. Samson helps us see this on these pages.

This is a simple yet profound read.

For me, it's about the characters. I just can't relate to the girl who was raised in a Christian home, whose parents stayed together, who saved herself for marriage and pretty much lived happily ever after with a few frustrations along the way. I've never met anybody like that in Lisa's books, and it's one of the things that keeps me coming back for more. I've always been able to see little bits of myself in the characters that Lisa creates, and this one is no different. Straight Up does not disappoint in the character department for sure! Both Georgia and Fairly have things they don't know how to face, and so they both find their own ways to avoid having to. Both women's choices can be disastrous for them, and neither is able to reach out for the help they need at first. As messed up as they both are, they're still easy to sympathize with and like. Sometimes you want to hug them, sometimes you want to smack them, but you always want to see what comes next. In the end the message of grace is loud and clear, but definitely not preachy.

Lisa Samson novels should be read with a box of tissue and a prayer book. You'll want to do some business with God when you're done, on your behalf, or someone else's. The work is smooth going down, but hits you hard once you consume it. I love this woman's work. She raises the bar for me, every time. She makes me want to be a better person, and always, Lisa Samson reaches her goal of making readers see, with vivid clarity, that they are not alone.