21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ishmael Reed's acid Western doesn't dissapoint., April 27, 1998
By A Customer
Ishmael Reed is a novelist\poet\essaist\playwright\anthologist. What makes Reed such an intriguing writer is the way he approaches the theme of his work. Never approaching with the "dead-ahead" "straight forward" message in his writing Ishmael Reed takes the subject from every imaginable angle to present a Picasso painting in novel form. Ishmael Reed is the author of "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down".
General Plot In his novel, "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down" Ishmael Reed tells the story of a traveling circus group and their adventure in the Old West. The hero of the book is the Loop Garoo Kid, a hoo-doo gunslinger with quick wit, a cool disposition, and a silver tongue. He is traveling with the circus barker, a dancing bear 86-D, and Zozo Labrique, a hoo-doo\voo-doo princes from New Orleans who performs magic after being thrown out of her church. Upon arriving in Yellow Back Radio, which is the town's name, the group discovers their advance man dead, and strung up from a tree. The group gives him a proper burial and proceeds into the town. Upon arriving there they discover that all the adults of the town had been driven out, and the children are now in control of the town. The adults are currently camped out at the spread of the anti-hero Drag Gibson. Drag and his men poisoned the towns water supply with mind altering drugs that caused the adults to fear the children and sign their land over to him. There is not much more than can be told with out giving the plot and the intended surprise that are so delicately placed by Reed in this stirring piece of fiction.
Why Read This Book? First and foremost, Ishmael Reed takes an American institution, the Western Novel and takes a revisionist perspective in turning the piece into a beat novel. Using the beat characteristics of flowing verse dabbling with the occasional rhyme the entire novel, reads like an extended poem. If you are a fan of the Western, you should read this read this novel, for a new perspective on a genre that has strict characteristics and rigid guidelines. This however, is not a dimestore Louis L'amour Western. This is a revisionist Western that takes every stereotype that is common to the Western and turns them upside down For example the Indians are on the side of the children, helping them scout out the surrounding area, "Our Indian informant out at Drag's spread tells us the towns people haven't given in to Drag's conditions yet." Quotes one child's response to the question of where the people are now. To see the Old West through the eyes of a black cowboy will not only show you an unexplored angle probably unfamiliar to the advid Western reader, but will also show that Afro-Americans also had a role in the Old West. However, if you, like I, are not a fan of the Western, do not fear. There are redeeming qualities in this for you as well. This novel is only a Western in the fact that it happens to take place in the West. Aside from that, other areas that are explored by Reed are the role of the youth in society, "It's a plot. We decided that we wouldn't trust anybody graying around the temples", and their inevitable take over, the struggles of writers as their critics criticize them for the angles they don't approach the way the critic feels they should or at all. Conclusion The staggering part of this book is that there is something in it for everyone. No matter your background or personality there is something in this book that will appeal to you, and that you can take with you and pass along. Criticism of the book is that it is hard to follow, and too many issues are tackled at once. In response to that I say, yes, it is hard to follow, at first, but so is Shakespeare. It gets easier as you read, and by the end, it is almost unnoticeable. In response to the criticism that thinks too many things are tackled at once, I respond by saying that when you have a lot to say, a lot gets said. Ishmael Reed shows himself as a brilliant wordcraftsmen, and a philosopher of his generation.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tell It, Ish!, May 27, 2004
This review is from: Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down (Paperback)
Apart from all the slick tricks this book pulls on the very ill-attired, stumblebum Popcorn John that is the Wes-tarn genre, it's just plain lovely USA chin-music throughout. If you take the trouble to read this aloud to friends and loved ones, you will have living proof (once again, should you need it) that at *least* half of all authentic American culture was imported from Africa.
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