Customer Reviews

Ten Seconds

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Louis Edwards, in the esteemed tradition of Joyce, Wolff and John Edgar Wideman, delivers a tour de force in his first novel "Ten Seconds". With remarkably swift yet extremely provocative prose, Edwards recounts the life of a young African-American man attempting to ground his identity in the south. Using a Joycean technique, in terms of the cyclical structure of the novel (based on ten seconds of a 100 meter race), Edwards captivates the reader from page one. Once you pick this, you will not put it down until it is over. Wonderful!

Louis Edwards coming out party into the literary world was a success. The work had a great resemblance to Richard Wright's earlier novel Rites of Passage. He took on a great challenge in his book. Edwards spoke of the forgotten average black male. He is a part of a new generation of writers who are finally embracing this group of black males. He filled in the gap between the Protaganist in the book Invisible Man and Bigger Thomas in Native Son.

The best story in the book was the conversation between Eddie and his wife in the kitchen. I loved the way he gave the reader both voices of the story in a non-chronological way. The way he described the different points of view was breath-taking. Eddie was trying to put his mark on his women, while his "woman" viewed the act as second degree masturbation. This concept was seen in both of the previously spoken of books, but Edwards put this relationship in the concept of marriage where the average black man currently abides.

This book's longevity is only in the hands of Edwards if he can come back with a more insightful work. All in all a great book.

Comparisons to Joyce et. al. are made too lightly. I was drawn to the book by a review on NPR. The literary tool of the time loop, ten seconds of a race, is none too fascinating but is satisfactory. That's generally what I'd say of the book as well. I wasn't particularly engaged by the characters, and the story held my interest long enough to get through the book, but had it been a couple hundred pages longer I don't know... At least it's worth a read. Edwards shows promise, and I would expect better things from him in the future as he matures as a writer.

Don't be fooled. A short book doesn't mean a lack of information between the covers. The author gives us an excellent treatment of ten seconds of thought about periods in the main characters life. This was selected by my book club, and I was reluctant at first, then pleasantly surprised. Well done!