ego trip's Big Book of Racism! [Paperback]

Sacha Jenkins (Author), Elliott Wilson (Author), Chairman Jefferson Mao (Author), Gabriel Alvarez (Author), Brent Rollins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2002

Ferociously intelligent one moment, willfully smart-ass the next, ego trip's Big Book of Racism is a glorious, hilarious conflation of the racial undercurrents that affect contemporary culture at every turn. This one-of-a-kind encounter with the absurdities, complexities, and nuances of race relations is brought to you by five writers of color whose groundbreaking independent magazine, ego trip, has been called "the world's rawest, stinkiest, funniest magazine" by Spin.

Filled with enough testifying and truth to satisfy even the good Reverend Sharpton, ego trip's Big Book of Racism is a riotous and revolutionary look at race and popular culture that's sure to spark controversy and ignite debate.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Due to our strong personal convictions, we wish to stress that this book in no way endorses a belief in racism. We just hate everybody." So proclaim the folks behind this often funny, often offensive and appropriately bitter book(...) There are a few culls from the now-defunct ego trip magazine's pages, but most of the content is new and shameless: there's list journalism ("Professor Griff's Favorite Jewish People Some of Whom Also Happen to be Friends"; "60 Notable Moments in Interracial Luv 'N' Lust"), essays ("Fear of a Black Pool Party"), parodies of some easy targets (TV Guide, magazine quizzes) and some harder ones (MAD Magazine, which is itself an organ of parody), and digs at some others that deserve it (professional sports). The writing is sharp and to the point, and though there's plenty of silly stuff ("Who are the Black Muppets?"; the "hidden hate" in Wite Out and watermelon seeds), the underlying message is dead serious: racism pervades every aspect of culture, from travel books to television. Anyone who can call himself Chairman Mao must have a very thick coat of irony to protect himself-as should prospective readers, some of whom will remember ego trip's Book of Rap Lists, "hip hop's answer to the telephone book, you pity-party patsies." 3-color illus. throughout.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1 edition (October 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060988967
• ISBN-13: 978-0060988968
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a Look, October 24, 2002

By 

NappyGirl (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ego trip's Big Book of Racism! (Paperback)

This book is a frank & funny discussion on how race is lived from decidedly hip-hop perspective. It is a collection of lists, cartoons and essays published to skewer ALMOST every color of the rainbow. For the most part, it does a pretty good job.

The section devoted to sports was definitely the most thought provoking and informative, while the rest of the book was pretty hit ("Fear of a Black Pool Party" & the dictionary of new coined ethnic slurs) OR miss (the majority of the section on Asians was pretty weakly written, sorry y'all.)

I think the book could have been improved if the female perspective wasn't limited to one short piece on hair. For all the talk about what's wrong with everybody, women writers are almost completely left out. Except for a few scattered lists of women the writers found attractive (Brooke 'Doll Parts' Burke? Oh please!), this pop culture reference book doesn't have much to offer the ladies.

All in all I think the book is worth a look, it's far from perfect but still pretty entertaining.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars whoah, June 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: ego trip's Big Book of Racism! (Paperback)

Very rarely does a book come along that can discuss something like race in a realistic manner... but, somehow this book does it. by being both tongue-in-cheek ("items in a chinese person's house not worth stealing") and deadly serious (listing various race incidents accross america from colonial times to the present on a state by state basis) this book actually delivers what it promises: a complete encyclopedia on race. By constantly mixing up it's tone and presentation (from dense factually based text to humorous cartoons), it manages to encompass so many viewpoints. Some of the things listed ("why hispanics steal?")are on that fine edge between parody and truth: are they kidding or are these the type of things that people may think but only say when drunk in the company of friends? As someone who is always glad to see the unspeakable said, I believe Ego Trip is operating in the tradition of Lenny Bruce: by speaking these thoughts and words, you are bringing them out into the open and thus demystifying them. Basically, race in america is a COMPLICATED issue to say the least. By coming at it from so many angles (and by always keeping a sense of humor), the authors may just come close to the truth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book., December 22, 2005

By 

British Commentator (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ego trip's Big Book of Racism! (Paperback)

Everyone who is remotely into music or film should own this. Gives a critical overview and insights into race and its place in popular American culture in the last twenty five years, especially in the Hip Hop culture. Very good book.