Customer Reviews

Uptown Dreams: A Novel

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Personally, I did not enjoy this book. The beginning of the book read like a kids' book to me, only with curse words in it. One of the main characters (possibly Miller herself?) always wanted to write a novel and this book felt like it was her dream's fruition, not something terribly captivating for a reader. A plot does develop about mid-book and then it did get interesting. But I just did not feel that it was well-written. Lots of editing overlooks (type-o's, grammatical errors) and inconsistencies --for example: a character uses some simple Spanish slang then her lifelong friend asks what she's said. People who have been around each other that long would know expressions used by each other. Miller was obviously explaining for the reader's benefit, but it didn't fit with the context of the friends' relationship. But, to say something positive, the book did bring to light the kind of neighborly community among the residents of the Ira B building, a government-assisted living tower in Harlem. Coming together, protecting each other, and doing their best to succeed in the real life around them.

I don't know if the publishers or the author is trying to pull one over on the readers or what but I bought this book thinking it was something new and it is the same book called Ida B. that I already bought. It was no different on the inside, kinda weak writing like a teenager wrote it and a little bit hard to believe although I love those projects she mentions and liked her first book.

Uptown Dreams tells the story of the people living in the Ida B. Barrett Wells Towers in Harlem. The whole building is like a great big family. Fighting each other one minute, and loving each other the next -- but don't no outsider better come in and try to hurt someone.

The three main characters are Brenda, Rosa and Sharif. Brenda has four kids, by four different fathers, and is on welfare, but she has dreams. Brenda, who really is a good little mother, plans on writing her way out of the projects. If only she'd get around to putting pen to paper.

Rosa is a Puerto Rican woman (the description immediately puts you in mind of Rosie Perez!) who wants to be an actress, and is truly a drama queen. She's funny and spirited and you think, at first, very selfish. But you'll see at the end she's willing to sacrifice anything and everything for her friends.

Sharif is the guy in the building who everyone looks up to. He's homosexual, but he doesn't let that get in the way of being a role-model. There's nothing feminine about him ("just because I'm homosexual doesn't mean I want to be a woman.") and he's the one who keeps the boys on the corner who sell crack in line. And he is usually the voice of reason in situations, but we see that even he can be pushed too far and revert back to his street roots.

Brenda, Rosa, and Sharif have known each other since they moved into the building at five, and are all twenty-six now. And through these three main characters we meet many of the other vibrant residents of Ida B., for instance, Miss Jackie, the building gossip; Mrs. Harris, an 80-something grandmother posing as the local fence; Aunt Pat, the drunk who is a regular visitor who nobody messes with; and Vincent, the ex-bank robber and local go-to man with a history of handling his business.

This book was released as "Ida B." when it first came out in hardcover, and it really bothers me that a few of the people posting bad reviews here on this page have done so because they felt deceived at the name change. I understand their frustration, but the name change was done by the publisher, not the author. You're giving her bad reviews for an excellent book because you're mad at the publisher???

Me? I don't think that's fair.

I DIDN'T READ IDA B.,BUT UPTOWN DREAM IS ONE GOOD BOOK,I REALLY ENJOY READING ABOUT BRENDA,ROSA,SHARIF,AND VINCENT THE BOOK MADE ME THINK OF HOW NEIGHBOR USE TO GET ALONE.MISS JACKIE WAS A MESSY OLD LADY ALWAYS IN SOME BODY BUSSINESS,IF SHE WOULD HAVE WORRY MORE ABOUT HER OWN SON,THEN MAYBE SHE WOULD HAVE SEEN HE WAS ONE SICK PERSON.I WISH THERE WAS A PART TWO TO THIS BOOK,I WOULD LOVE TO SEE BRENDS AND VINCENT GOT TOGETHER.NICE JOB,MISS KAREN E.QUINONES MILLER,"I'M A FAN NOW!"

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK, ESPECIALLY SINCE I USED TO LIVE IN A HOUSING PROJECT THAT WAS KINDA LIKE THE ONE IN THE BOOK.

THE AUTHOR MADE THE BOOK VERY REALISTIC, AND I THOUGHT ALL THE CHARACTERS SEEMED VERY TRUE TO LIFE. ESPECIALLY AUNT PAT.

I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK VERY HIGHLY.