Strivers Row: A Novel [Paperback]

Kevin Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2006

***Strivers Row: A Novel***

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: HarperColilns, Publishers, 2006. (2006)
• ISBN-10: 0060955198
• ISBN-13: 978-0060955199
• ASIN: B00266VIKC
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,567,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Least Fiery of Baker's Trilogy, October 31, 2006

By 

David Zimmerman (Baton Rouge, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Strivers Row (New York Trilogy 3) (Hardcover)

The third in Baker's "City of Fire" trilogy of historical fiction about New York City, this book is set in the early `40s in Harlem with the story told through the eyes of a young Malcolm Little, who in later life would become Malcolm X, and the fictional Rev. Jonah Dove (based on Adam Clayon Powell, who also appears as himself in the book.)

Baker's meticulous research results in Harlem scenes that resonate with believability. Laid against the backdrop is the story of Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad (founder of the Black Muslims), which has to be dealt with on a symbolic level. While an enjoyable read, this one didn't quite measure up to the promise generated by Baker's first two parts of the trilogy, Dreamland and Paradise Alley.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master literary historian, great novel (what else is new?), March 12, 2006

By 

BIg Daddy (Akron, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strivers Row (New York Trilogy 3) (Hardcover)

I've been a Kevin Baker fan since his brilliant book about Coney Island: Dreamland. His next one, Paradise Alley, may have been even better. No one writes about New York City as well as Baker does -- no novelist, no historian, no one. This new book is a novel about Harlem in the era of jazz greats and secret cults, the era of war and hope. I think it's his most ambitious work yet -- it tells the sotry of young Malcolm X, in the days before he was famous, and -- better than anything I know of about the man -- it gets at the heart of a great American engima. There are other great characters, too --- The Reverend Jonah Dove, who may be a real life figure, as well (I don't know) -- but the story itself is so riveting, I was totally into the book from page one.

Anyway, I really recomend it. The dude can write.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Experience, March 13, 2006

By 

Rob Gordon "Book and Vinyl Lover" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strivers Row (New York Trilogy 3) (Hardcover)

For six years and three books, Baker has been building, brick by brick, his own city, and it is a classic. With Striver's Row, the high-rises are inhabited, the streets are paved, the corners are teeming. You see how the country came together, and you understand that the world of books has been resting in sure hands. Baker has a detective's eye and a preservationist's heart: but most of all, he has a writer's head, and the proof is on every page. This book tops off a trilogy, but Striver's can be read alone; if it were a first novel, it'd be a cause for celebration. As the end of a series, it's an occassion for gratitude.