Customer Reviews

Winners Have Yet to Be Announced: A Song for Donny Hathaway

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If Donny Hathaway was a poet, and he was, this is the book he would have sung. Ed Pavlic weaves together echoes of Donny's songs, fragments of his biography, and meditations on the things that matter most: trying to love with honesty and integrity; facing up to the demons around us and in our heads; reaching for the spirits in the dark.

This is simply a great book. It belongs on the shelf next to Michael Ondaatje, Yusef Komunyakaa, Adrienne Rich, John Berger: the writers who are trying to make our world possible.

I have read everything that Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor and even a Stephen King book. I love reading stuff that is way out there, thus my love for the magnificent Ms. Morrison and Ms. Naylor. You can't get much stranger than those two ladies.

But nothing compares to Ed Pavlic's garble and confusion on every page of this book. I got a damn headache trying to read that mess. I love Donny and have everything he's ever recorded. I have been looking for anything written about him, with the understanding that yes, he was mentally challenged. Many brilliant people are.

I realize that the writing represents imagined conversations with Donny Hathaway, but if you're serious about reading this book, you will need Zoloft, a joint, and an interpreter. I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED WITH THE BOOK! Plus, I learned very little about this great man by reading Mr. Pavlic's book.