Uptown Dreams: A Novel [Paperback]

Karen E. Quinones Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2005

Twenty-five-year-old Brenda Carver is a writer and a welfare mother of four children; Rosa Rivera is an aspiring actress who will let nothing get in the way of her career; Sharif Goldsby is a political activist determined to change the world, starting with Harlem.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Powerful and provocative."

-- Essence

"Miller shows how she's 'got it like that' in the literary world."

-- USA Today

"Miller is an excellent storyteller who draws you in from page one."

-- Zane

About the Author

Karen E. Quinones Miller's bestselling novels teem with unforgettable characters that are "hot-blooded in every way" (The Philadelphia Inquirer). With Uptown Dreams, Miller presents a riveting urban drama about three neighbors whose spirited friendship is sustained by a shared past and present -- and thrives on a passion for imagining what the future will bring.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743260023
• ISBN-13: 978-0743260022
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,778,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Essence best selling and NAACP Literary Award Nominee, Karen E. Quinones Miller was born and raised in Harlem in 1958. Miller dropped out of school during the eighth grade, and spent the majority of her teenage years experiencing street life first-hand. After getting a job as a police attendant in New York City's Midtown North police precinct, Miller became friends with a number of police officers who persuaded her that the life she was living could lead to an early death.

So at age 22, Miller joined the Navy and after spending five years in the Navy, Miller married, had a child and divorced all within a two-year period. At age 29, she got a secretarial job with The Philadelphia Daily News, but after three years complaining about the paper's coverage of people living below the poverty level she quit and started taking journalism classes at Temple University.

After graduation she became a newspaper reporter, and worked for the Associated Press, The Norfolk Virginian Pilot, and lastly for The Philadelphia Inquirer where she was employed for nine years. She also worked as a correspondent for People Magazine from 1996 to 1999.
Miller wrote Satin Doll in 1999, and after many unsuccessful attempts at finding a publisher, decided to publish it herself. She sold 28,000 copies on her own, and Satin Doll wound up on the Essence Bestseller's List for two months. Publishing rights were sold to Simon & Schuster (via auction) for six figures.

Miller went on to write five other Essence Bestselling novels for Simon & Schuster, Warner Books, and Grand Central Books: I'm Telling, Using What You Got (both were main selections for Black Expressions Book Club), Ida B. (which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction.), Satin Nights and Passin'.

Best selling author Kwan Foye has often publicly referred to Miller as "The Aretha Franklin of Black Publishing." Miller, who is included in the book Literary Divas: The Top 100+ Most Admired African-American Women In Literature, often gives publishing and self-publishing seminars in her home and Philadelphia, and is the CEO of Oshun Publishing Company. Miller has been often cited for her willingness to help aspiring authors, and Essence best selling authors Daaimah S. Poole, and Miasha are just two of the young writers who consider Miller their mentor.

Miller's new book, An Angry A** Black Woman, will be published by Karen Hunter Books in 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Re-Write, Re-Make, or Whatever . . . This book is GOOD!, April 14, 2006

By 

Cynthia Robinson (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uptown Dreams: A Novel (Paperback)

I didn't read Ida B. so I didn't get caught up in the anger that the first two reviewers shared. I didn't even know there was an Ida B. or that Uptown Dreams was the paperback version. I picked up Uptown Dreams because I had only recently heard about this author and wanted to read one of her books. I picked a really good one!

Uptown Dreams is about the dreams of three people living in the projects in Harlem. Brenda is a black woman on welfare with three kids, Rosa is a Puerto Rican woman who wants to be a movie star, and Sharif is homosexual community activist who cares about other people more than he cares about himself.

They all love the Ida B. projects, and they all can't wait to leave, even though they grew up there it's time for them to move on and follow their dreams.

But then someone is murdered in the projects everyone in the housing complex begins to point fingers at each other, but especially at Sharif.

This is a book about love, about community and following one's dreams, and is FILLED WITH DRAMA to boot!

Even the secondary characters are cool. Like the grandmother who walks around with two pitbulls. Or the gossip who puts everyone's business out in the street but doesn't want anyone to say anything about her or her sleezy son.

And don't let me get started on Aunt Pat, the woman who carries a bottle of rum in her pocketbook and raises hell just because she's bored. I think every body has an Aunt Pat in their family.

I'm sorry for the people who bought Ida B. and then turned around and bought Uptown Dreams, but I don't think they should dump on the book because they made a mistake. This is a REALLY good book and should be judged on its merits, not on a change in title.

I'm glad I decided to read this book, and I plan to read other books by this author.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No one's fault but your own!, August 19, 2005

By 

BCD "blackchinadoll" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uptown Dreams: A Novel (Paperback)

Grow up people and do some research. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this is previously released 'Ida B' under a new title. I too was excited about a new release from Ms. Miller, but once I READ the synopsis it was clear that this was Ida B. If you reviewers had done that instead of coming here and writing unnecessary reviews you could have saved yourself some time and money. You could have also used your mind for something constructive like contacting the author or checking out her website for confirmation. In the literary world/business sometimes publishers make the decision to remarket a book by changing the title or cover. There is no deception in that. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last. Whether this is the case with Ms. Miller, I don't know but why in the world would you jump to the conclusion that she has nothing better to do than deceive her readers? Accept your own responsibility here and move on. If you truly appreciate Ms. Miller's work then you will continue to support her. If not, she really hasn't lost anything by losing a reader like you.

Ms. Miller, I anxiously await your next novel.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware!!!, August 10, 2005

By 

Cheryl L. Boswell "Rescue Bunny" (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uptown Dreams: A Novel (Paperback)

I, like the other reviewer, purchased this book under the impression that I was buying a new release from this author. When I started reading this book I noticed it was the same as Ida B. Now, on the front of this book it does state in small print "previously released as Ida B". However, I would have never expected this nor would I have thought that an author would go through such extremes to make money. Very shady lady. I will not buy any more of her novels for fear that I will get burned again. I will try to send this one of the books back to amazon.