Customer Reviews

Tuff

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Paul Beatty's first collection of poetry (Big Bank take Little Bank)is out of print, and god forbid any other of his great books should suffer the same fate. I just finished Tuff this morning and it's just amazing. I haven't been able to get through much fiction by men lately; they are either stupid or apolgetic in this super loser way. Both Beatty and Tuffy, his latest pro/antagonist show such honest bravado, if there is such a thing, that it makes this a rare joy to read. Tuff is worth two times the hardcover price, just for the main character's vision on underground and commercial movie making. I loved it and White boy Shuffle. Go buy it now; don't be a stupid motherfucker.

Evidence of a sophomore slump is nowhere to be found with TUFF. In my view, Paul Beatty has climbed a rung or two beyond THE WHITE BOY SHUFFLE.

The corpulent street-wise protagonist of TUFF, Winston "Tuffy" Foshay, is introduced as a young man without an obvious plan getting by with his wife and son through wits, brawn and an affinity for art house cinema. Immediately after a narrow escape from the hereafter while earning his keep as enforcer for drug dealers, Tuff surmises he needs an alternative future strategy. By default and convenience rather than commitment or geniune desire, he decides to run for City Council. Gradually, in spite of all of the numerable objections he is able to muster, you sense slowly but steadily Tuff is beginning to care about his environs.

As events unfold, you meet his eclectic assortment of friends, relatives and external influences, most prominently the multiply-challenged best friend Fariq, a hustler who under different circumstances would prosper downtown on Wall Street; Tuff's forever radical father; the opportunistic but incongruent "Big Brother" Rabbi Spencer Thockmorton; and surrogate mother/mentor Mrs. Nomuri.

At times farcical, primarily serious, and wholly relevant to any inner city - this time it happens to be NYC - TUFF is a "The Candidate" with a spin.

Beatty clearly understands sometimes less is indeed more, so the similes and metaphors so prominently dispensed in SHUFFLE are less evident, the erudite references are likewise diminished. However, from beginning to denouement the story has greater cohesion than his first novel with no loss of witticisms, sarcasm, cynicism or any shortage of astute observations.

Whereas SHUFFLE was a punch to the gut, TUFF is more of a tap on the chin.

Of course truth is stranger than fiction and with Tuff it's hard to distinguish between the two. The story is outlandish enough to be true with Winston waking up from a shoot out thankful to still be alive with no wounds and a new gun to boot. Walking in Winston's shoes, traipsing the streets of Brooklyn, Harlem and everything in between--He's an overweight lover, husband and father looking to survive the dense hole called life. By the end of the book I was just glad I made it out alive.

After reading The White Boy Shuffle, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Tuff. Tuff started out more quickly, with concepts that were easy to understand and were less complicated than in the White Boy Shuffle. While Tuffy is an amusing book that often made me grin while reading, I did not need to think about it and the world in which I am living as I did in the White Boy Shuffle. I realize that it is unfair to compare the two books because they are different and have different purposes, but because they are by an author whom I adore, I cannot help it. Tuffy was entertaining, and towards the end I found social satire present as it was in Beatty's previous novel. Tuffy's debate speech was especially appealing when I wanted something to think about deeply. I loved the book, but you must know that it is not for weak-stomached animal lovers (a dog is shot and a goldfish and turtle encounter a pirhana), but the book IS for the open-minded people lover. A worthwhile read, and if you remotely enjoy the book, pick up The White Boy Shuffle. I cannot say enough good things to do that novel justice. A final note - Tuff seemed to lack closure. The book ended where I was wondering what would happen next. Throughout the book, the action and characters never stop moving, and there is no climax which makes the book's ending gradual. There are important events up until the end, which is just before you learn who wins the City Council election. It seemed unfulfilled, but maybe that was the point. Great summer reading, but don't expect all that Beatty has previously offered.

This book's unsparing honesty and wicked humor might make some uncomfortable, but I haven't laughed this hard over a book in a long, long time. My stomach hurt. Tears rolled from my eyes. It was the best kind of humor -- verging on satire, but not quite -- that holds a mirror up to American culture and forces us to look hard. Nobody is spared in Beatty's vision and he offers no easy answers. The black people are not spit-shined and hot-combed to appeal to white audiences or the positive image police. This is Black culture revealed in all of its complex beauty -- warts and all.

Unlike Paul Beatty's "White Boy Shuffle", his new novel "Tuff" is no lighthearted satirical romp, but rather a more sombre, hard-edged work with a tone closer to Chester Himes's detective series set in Harlem, and Richard Prices' "Clockers". Where "White Boy Shuffle" was a funny book that said serious things, "Tuff" is a serious book that says funny things. Told from an omniscient point of view, it follows a few months in the life of Winston "Tuffy" Foshay, an alienated young black man who survives a crackhouse shootout, and starts to reappraise his life. A more fully developed character than "White Boy Shuffles'" protagonist Gunnar Kauffman, Winston is a lover of cinema who ironically cannot see the larger picture of life. We are taken into his thoughts, and they are not pretty. Displaying once again his gifts of language, humor, and description, Beatty catches the bleakness, casual violence, and desperate schemes of those in the ghetto in a naturalistic, almost documentary way that is grimly compelling. Many scenes in the book are wonderfully drawn, particularly the intervention scene where Tuff's friends, and family try to help him set a new path. The deep estrangement between Tuff and his father in this scene is both funny and poignant. Following Tuff's adventures is like watching Tony Soprano. Both have the ability to love, and yet are capable of such astonishing violence and brutality, that it is hard to care about their ultimate fate, and as a consequence, while "Tuff" is an extremely well written, more substantial book, it is ultimately less satisfying.

Tuff is a brilliant follow up to Beatty's debut novel, The White Boy Shuffle. It proves that Beatty is the only writer out there dealing with the complex realities of young black men in a way that is deeply compassionate, and screamingly funny. He never panders to popular, safe visions of black manhood. Besides being wickedly funny, very line in this book is a poetic gem.

I've been in a bad slump lately when it comes to books. Nothing has really captured my attention. Until Tuff.

Great writing: funny, raucous, surprising, sweet. Tuffy is the new superhero of Spanish Harlem.

Winston "Tuffy" Foshay is a great character. He's complex character. He's a deep character. He's a character. His is a period of transition without thunder. A transition not unlike the tide. Slow, yet powerful. Beatty does not manifest the change through the usual gimmicks of death, violence, or mania. Instead he blends disparate elements into a subtle internal movement.

Winston's friends not only complement his persona, but they add to the over all tone of the story line. They are reminiscent of the cast in the late '90's film, "Thing To Do in Denver When You're Dead" by Gary Fleder. Intelligent and absurd at the same moment, yet undeniably believable.

Winston Foshay took me to a place where I live but have never been. Since Paul Beatty prefers not slap his readers, we are only left with wondering where will Tuff go next.

When I found out that Paul Beatty was releasing a new work of fiction, I was filled with anticipatory glee. I'd so enjoyed "White Boy Shuffle" (see my review) and was certain that this new talent would not fail to deliver yet another poignant, authentic, and wickedly funny novel. Imagine my disappointment when I couldn't muster the enthusiasm for Tuff.

To be fair, I wasn't expecting "Gunnar Kauffman: The Sequel". However the ever revolving list of characters caused me to refer to previous pages just to make sure I could keep the names and narratives clear. Winston "Tuffy" Foshay is an engaging enough character, and Beatty's examination of depression in African American men is a subject that's been all but ignored in literature. Despite these bright spots, I couldn't help feeling that Tuff (the novel, not the character) was missing an intangible something.

Still, Beatty has written an entertaining - if somewhat slowly paced - novel. If you're new to his work, perhaps you should start with Tuff and move up to White Boy Shuffle. Save the best for last.