Tuff (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "When Winston Foshay found himself on the hardwood floor of a Brooklyn drug den regaining consciousness, his reflex wasn't to open his eyes but to..." (more)
Key Phrases: campaign flyer, white bitch, Winston Foshay, New York, German Jordan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Fueled by the ferocious wit, outrageous comedy, and flat-out rage that made his debut novel, The White Boy Shuffle, one of the most passionately reviewed books of 1996 ("A blast of satirical heat from the talented heart of Black American life" --New York Times; "As much in the tradition of Richard Pryor as Ralph Ellison" --The Village Voice), Tuff unleashes Paul Beatty's verbal dazzle and nothing-sacred sensibility on the story of a young black man coming of age on the streets and stoops of Spanish Harlem.

Nineteen-year-old, 320-pound Winston "Tuffy" Foshay -- player king of a motley crew that includes his scheming, disabled best friend, Fariq, otherwise known as Smush; his Beat-poet, Black Panther father, Clifford; Inez, the unreconstructed Marxist revolutionary who raised him; and his bewildered mentor from the Big Brother program, the hapless African-American rabbi Spencer Throckmorton -- is ready to make a change. So when Inez offers him $20,000 to run for city council, Tuffy gamely embarks on one of the most outlandish campaigns in political history, one that topples both his vision of the world and his place in it.

Beatty's fierce gifts have never been more apparent: Tuff marks the return of one of this generation's freshest voices.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (May 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375401229
• ISBN-13: 978-0375401220
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,506,116 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you ask me, Beatty is batting 1.000, March 24, 2001

By	mateo52 "invisible man" (State College, Pa.) - See all my reviews

Evidence of a sophomore slump is nowhere to be found with TUFF. In my view, Paul Beatty has climbed a rung or two beyond THE WHITE BOY SHUFFLE.

The corpulent street-wise protagonist of TUFF, Winston "Tuffy" Foshay, is introduced as a young man without an obvious plan getting by with his wife and son through wits, brawn and an affinity for art house cinema. Immediately after a narrow escape from the hereafter while earning his keep as enforcer for drug dealers, Tuff surmises he needs an alternative future strategy. By default and convenience rather than commitment or geniune desire, he decides to run for City Council. Gradually, in spite of all of the numerable objections he is able to muster, you sense slowly but steadily Tuff is beginning to care about his environs.

As events unfold, you meet his eclectic assortment of friends, relatives and external influences, most prominently the multiply-challenged best friend Fariq, a hustler who under different circumstances would prosper downtown on Wall Street; Tuff's forever radical father; the opportunistic but incongruent "Big Brother" Rabbi Spencer Thockmorton; and surrogate mother/mentor Mrs. Nomuri.

At times farcical, primarily serious, and wholly relevant to any inner city - this time it happens to be NYC - TUFF is a "The Candidate" with a spin.

Beatty clearly understands sometimes less is indeed more, so the similes and metaphors so prominently dispensed in SHUFFLE are less evident, the erudite references are likewise diminished. However, from beginning to denouement the story has greater cohesion than his first novel with no loss of witticisms, sarcasm, cynicism or any shortage of astute observations.

Whereas SHUFFLE was a punch to the gut, TUFF is more of a tap on the chin.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Go buy it now, so he can keep publishing his books, May 29, 2000

By	Charles H. Jones (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Paul Beatty's first collection of poetry (Big Bank take Little Bank)is out of print, and god forbid any other of his great books should suffer the same fate. I just finished Tuff this morning and it's just amazing. I haven't been able to get through much fiction by men lately; they are either stupid or apolgetic in this super loser way. Both Beatty and Tuffy, his latest pro/antagonist show such honest bravado, if there is such a thing, that it makes this a rare joy to read. Tuff is worth two times the hardcover price, just for the main character's vision on underground and commercial movie making. I loved it and White boy Shuffle. Go buy it now; don't be a stupid motherfucker.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick witted, Funny, Honest Look at Life in New York, June 30, 2000

By	Booklover "LitforChics" (United States) - See all my reviews

Of course truth is stranger than fiction and with Tuff it's hard to distinguish between the two. The story is outlandish enough to be true with Winston waking up from a shoot out thankful to still be alive with no wounds and a new gun to boot. Walking in Winston's shoes, traipsing the streets of Brooklyn, Harlem and everything in between--He's an overweight lover, husband and father looking to survive the dense hole called life. By the end of the book I was just glad I made it out alive.