Rattlebone (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: tourist home, October Brown, Miss Brown, Kansas City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clair's debut, a collection of 11 short stories, centers around the coming-of-age of a young African American girl growing up on the outskirs of 1950s Kansas City.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Each of these related stories contains insight and intensity on its own; as a group they successfully create the African- American 1950s Kansas City (Kans.) community of the title as an insular world replete with detail and texture. In her fictional debut, Clair (Coping with Gravity, not reviewed) works from the outside in to show her characters, beginning with the way others see them and ending with their visions of themselves. Irene Wilson is the linchpin who connects them to one another, and the narrator of several stories. In ``October Brown,'' she observes her parents' marital problems and watches as her new teacher moves in on her father. ``Cherry Bomb'' has Irene recounting her early, awkward stabs at sexual contact with her cousin's friend Nick and the jottings she made in a diary, as well as her friend Wanda's revelation that she has gotten her first period. ``A Most Serene Girl'' follows Irene as she makes friends with Geraldine and visits her family's basement apartment in a ``tourist home''--which, Geraldine informs her, means that people can rent rooms there to have sex, and she and Geraldine establish an afternoon routine of peeking through keyholes. ``Secret Love'' explains why Irene's friend Wanda abruptly stops allowing Irene to read her own diary after her retarded brother Puddin'--who likes to eat mayonnaise out of a jar with his hand--is taken away. Other characters have their say as well. In ``The Roomers,'' the owner of a boardinghouse who has never been able to have children tells of asking unmarried schoolteacher October Brown to leave because of her pregnancy and chasing her husband away in the process. ``The Great War'' explores Irene's mother Pearlean's feelings about her husband as she sits on the front porch. Even greater than the sum of its admirable parts. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140248250
• ISBN-13: 978-0140248258
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,026,759 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is for you Emily!, February 11, 2000

By	Luis Yin (Lawrence, KS) - See all my reviews

I'm currently studying at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. Reading Rattlebone is one of the requirements for our English 102 class. I don't know if that has anything to do with the fact that the author, Maxine Clair, graduated from KU. Anyways, it is pretty much a thrill to be able to read about the past of a place where you're living right now. It's not only that, it kind of takes you back through time to the 50's and lets you experience or see a young African American girl's (Irene's) life back then. How family problems, social conflicts, and major political changes affected her life as she went through puberty and early teenage life. I think Maxine Clair does a pretty good job in using and creating different, but unique characters in Irene's life which influences her in their own unique manner. I think that if you're looking for a book to take you back into time, Rattlebone is a must-read book, especially if you live in Kansas or in the midwest. I know everytime I go down to Olathe or Kansas City, I will not look at it the same way I used to.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of answers and question, February 12, 2000

By	Gene Godding (Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rattlebone (Hardcover)

First off, don't think that the title of this review is referring to this as question and answer book, that would be incorrect. This is more of a book that gives an in-depth idea of what it may have been like living and growing up in 1950's as in African American, in an area of Kansas City. As far as the question part of my review title, I simply mean to a reader there might be a question of who is the nararator of each chapter. Don't look down on this aspect, it is what makes reading the book so enjoyable. You get a diffrent view from each person in the story, giving you even a more in-depth look on each situation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful narrative about life in the midwest in the 50's., September 22, 1998

By A Customer

I thought this was a wonderful book revolving around the life of African Americans in the Midwest during the 1950's. I enjoyed the format of intertwining stories as seen through the eyes of the differant citizens of Rattlebone. I think my interest was peaked since I was born and raised in Kansas City (MO) where the fictional town of Rattlebone was and where Maxine Clair, the author, is also from. I am anxious to read other books by this author.