Magic City: A Novel (Paperback)

by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Author) "Joe Samuels had decided to quit dreaming..." (more)
Key Phrases: magic city, Lying Man, Miss Wright, Joe Samuels (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"A mystical tale, full of spirits . . . Rhodes's exciting and moving novel takes off at a vigorous, lively clip from the first page, plunging through complex ideas and relationships without neglecting any of them."
-- San Francisco Chronicle

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1921. A white woman and a black man are alone in an elevator. Suddenly, the woman screams, the man runs out, and the chase to capture and lynch him begins.

When Joe, a young man trying to be the next Houdini, is accused of rape, he must perform his greatest escape by eluding a bloodthirsty lynch mob. And Mary, the motherless daughter of a farmer who tries to marry her off to the farmhand who viciously raped her, must find the courage to help exonerate the man she had accused with her panicked cry. Based on true events, Magic City is a portrait of an era, climaxing in the heroic but doomed stand that pitted the National Guard against a small band of black men determined to defend the town they had built into the "Negro Wall Street."

Named by the Chicago Tribune as a Favorite Book of 1997

"Jewell Parker Rhodes's characters hover. They dance and sing and cry and whisper secrets in your ear."
--Emerge

About the Author
Jewell Parker Rhodes is the recipient of a Yaddo Creative Writing Fellowship and the National Endowment of the Arts Award in Fiction. She is professor of creative writing and American literature and Director of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at Arizona State University. She lives in Phoenix, AZ.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060929073
• ISBN-13: 978-0060929077
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,835 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening....and Sad......, February 1, 2002

By	Phyllis Rhodes (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Magic City (Hardcover)

Magic City: the novel is a work of historical fiction set in 1920's Tulsa, OK aka "the Magic City" due to its beauty and prosperity from the booming successes of the surrounding oil fields. Life is good for Whites and even better for African Americans in the small all-black section, Deep Greenwood, where black-owned banks, businesses, churches, and schools thrive for its middle-class citizens. A segregated but peaceful coexistence is interrupted by accusation of the rape of a white woman named Mary Keane. In a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the central character Joe Samuels, a misunderstood black son of a banker, runs for his life to the bosom of Greenwood. The townsfolk rally to defend their native son much to the dismay of the bigoted deputies and mayor of Tulsa.

In some respects, the theme echoed those in the movie "Rosewood". Only this time, the author lightens the story adding depth and dimension to Mary and Joe. Joe's fascination with his idols Harry Houdini and his older brother, Harry, adds an element of fantasy that reveals inner conflicts, family secrets, and other aspects of self discovery and healing for the character. The author shows us Mary's world and Rhodes' writing style actually allows us to feel for both characters that are caught in a downward spiral of cataclysmic events. The supporting cast of characters adds to the story appropriately without overwhelming the main characters. She uses their voices to share the history of how blacks migrated to the area after the Civil War. She conveys the frustration and disappointment that the African Americans soldiers experienced when returning home from WWI. And she paints an adequate picture of the organized, systematic destruction of Greenwood to intentionally disenfranchise and humiliate its black citizens. The reader also lifts from the pages the resolve and determination of an oppressed people--people who were tired of being treated as second class citizens, people who had fought for freedom overseas only to be denied it at home, people who sought justice and equality, and people who were willing to die to obtain it.

This was an easy read; the novel moves well and quickly. I was a little disappointed in the ending, but Rhodes allows the reader to "fill in the blanks" on their own volition by citing fictional resources in the Author's Notes to allow the readers to follow-up if desired.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, highly recommended, February 25, 2000

By	Fredi Smith (London, England) - See all my reviews

I have been haunted by this book. I found the story totally absorbing, the action gripping. When I discovered that Magic City was a fictionalized story based on a true event, I cried, and cried. I am not normally an emotional person, but there was a historical event documented here that I would have never known about, had I not read this book. I recommend Magic City to everyone. Read this book, and then go on to find out the truth of the 1921 Tulsa Riot.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Historical Fiction, May 18, 2003

By	Friends and Readers Bookclub (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

Magic City was a thought provoking, yet enjoyable read. The main characters, Joe Samuels, black, and Mary Keane, white, reared in two different environments with different values, yet had many similiarities. They both had domineering fathers and they both yearned to leave their clutches. They both had jobs that were totally against their fathers' wishes and they were both lonely in their own ways. After their initial meeting in an elevator sent Joe running for his life, Mary did all she could to prove him innocent of a blameless crime. The fact that this novel was conjured from actual events evoked many emotions and made it even more endearing.