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joyceontheroad's review against another edition
4.0
Een mooi boek over een legendarische man. Maar ook een gecompliceerde man, aan het einde het boek ken je hem nog steeds niet.
katel1970's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely fascinating. There was so much that I learned about James Brown's life and the sad aftermath of his death.
devuvu's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.5
The author delves not just into James Brown but gives backstory into everyone that surrounded him and the context of the time. While the author was able to write a nuanced depiction of James Brown's struggle with money and alcohol, McBride was unable to do so when talking about Brown's relationships with women. This includes being dissmissive of assault claims. You might find excerpts in the subreddit r/men writing women.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Grief, Racism, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Moderate: Classism and Child death
ben_r's review against another edition
4.0
Everything McBride writes deserves to be gold plated. It shines.
nofinersteiner's review against another edition
3.0
James McBride is an excellent non-fiction writer, capable of making people and places of history three-dimensional and engaging. He tells the story of a person, a relationship, a community, a family in a rounded and considerate way. Sometimes, this requires backtracking: going to the origins of the abandoned Ellenton, SC, or the birthplaces of James Brown's bandmates, or his childhood best friend. McBride is patient when following each individual narrative strand.
This book takes the argument that James Brown can be understood through his relationships. Through his bandmates (Nafloyd Scott), his childhood friends (Leon Austin), the people he mentored (Al Shaprton). It's a refreshing way of writing about a man with such a tremendous cultural legacy.
That said, the book has two glaring flaws.
One, his relationships with women didn't come up until the very end. Feels like a massive oversight in a book that tries to reconcile with Brown's fading legacy. He was abusive. Yes, it was the music business in the 60s and 70s. Not exactly a friendly time. But, I wish this was given more exploration and time.
Secondly, what about the music?? I didn't know much about the key James Brown records or albums going into this book, and I don't know that much more leaving. It spent so much time drawing on his legacy, his image, who he was as a person, that it skipped an explanation of how this amazing music came to be. Live at the Apollo Theater, the single James Brown album that I know, his quintessential historical record of greatness, was not mentioned once. I did not leave this book with a grasp on early soul or R&B. Or even the ways that James Brown influenced generations of black artists. And that was sorely missed. McBride is a journalist, not a music critic.
Last issue: so much of the language was recycled over and over: the blood-sucking of his estate, the hidden vs. real James Brown, etc. Yes, these were key points of the book. But the redundancies became a bit too much.
Quotes I Liked:
To be added
This book takes the argument that James Brown can be understood through his relationships. Through his bandmates (Nafloyd Scott), his childhood friends (Leon Austin), the people he mentored (Al Shaprton). It's a refreshing way of writing about a man with such a tremendous cultural legacy.
That said, the book has two glaring flaws.
One, his relationships with women didn't come up until the very end. Feels like a massive oversight in a book that tries to reconcile with Brown's fading legacy. He was abusive. Yes, it was the music business in the 60s and 70s. Not exactly a friendly time. But, I wish this was given more exploration and time.
Secondly, what about the music?? I didn't know much about the key James Brown records or albums going into this book, and I don't know that much more leaving. It spent so much time drawing on his legacy, his image, who he was as a person, that it skipped an explanation of how this amazing music came to be. Live at the Apollo Theater, the single James Brown album that I know, his quintessential historical record of greatness, was not mentioned once. I did not leave this book with a grasp on early soul or R&B. Or even the ways that James Brown influenced generations of black artists. And that was sorely missed. McBride is a journalist, not a music critic.
Last issue: so much of the language was recycled over and over: the blood-sucking of his estate, the hidden vs. real James Brown, etc. Yes, these were key points of the book. But the redundancies became a bit too much.
Quotes I Liked:
To be added
allyoopadoop's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
3.8 stars rounded to four. I really like James McBride's writing. I liked that this was nonfiction. I liked that McBride made me care about James Brown and The Rev. I heard McBride really needed money and that drove him to write this book and maybe that explains why it's overly repetitive in parts. I liked knowing that McBride was invested in the story and had musical talents and ended up doing what he did with kids and music. I definitely enjoyed the book and I'm glad I read it.
alisonjfields's review against another edition
5.0
Is James McBride my favorite living writer?
Maybe.
Maybe.
krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/day-886-kill-em-and-leave-searching-for-james-brown-and-the-american-soul/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/day-886-kill-em-and-leave-searching-for-james-brown-and-the-american-soul/
cocoaqueenk's review against another edition
5.0
This was not a book on my ever-growing list of books to read. I would not call myself a James Brown fan. I know him, of course. I bet most of my generation can name a few songs. In a soundtrack of the Black experience, he’s got to be there with his howls, his grunts, his soul, and his funk. But could I state one personal detail about him? No. Have I ever played a single album? No. I didn’t even realize until reading this book that he passed away in the mid-2000s. In my mind, he had long been gone, which is sad.
I selected this book not because of James Brown, but because of James McBride....
Read more on Inside The Ink
I selected this book not because of James Brown, but because of James McBride....
Read more on Inside The Ink
adamrshields's review against another edition
3.0
Short Review: James Brown is a musical legend, but I wonder how long he will be remembered. Not because he wasn't important, musically and culturally, but because there are a lot of people that are important that end up forgotten.
James McBride is an author that has had real hit books. His first, Color of Water, a memoir about his mother, is probably still his biggest hit. Although at least one of his novels has been optioned for a movie. But as McBride wrote this, he was broke, recently divorce and basically starting over at the age of 55. McBride's self identification with Brown's late in life return to stardom can be seen in the book.
But you can also see that McBride needed to get this book out. He says in the book that he needed the money from a book, any book. And while the good really does outweigh the bad and I am glad I read it, this could be a much better book with some editorial help. It is full of repetition. Part of that is the method of circling around Brown trying to find a way in to understand. But part of it, I think, is getting it to press too early.
Brown is fascinating. He did come up in a racist world. The music world was just as racist and quite corrupt. And it took in and chewed up musicians which lead to those that stayed being hardened and distrustful. But he is also a quite flawed hero.
My full review (about 1100 words) is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/kill-em-and-leave/
James McBride is an author that has had real hit books. His first, Color of Water, a memoir about his mother, is probably still his biggest hit. Although at least one of his novels has been optioned for a movie. But as McBride wrote this, he was broke, recently divorce and basically starting over at the age of 55. McBride's self identification with Brown's late in life return to stardom can be seen in the book.
But you can also see that McBride needed to get this book out. He says in the book that he needed the money from a book, any book. And while the good really does outweigh the bad and I am glad I read it, this could be a much better book with some editorial help. It is full of repetition. Part of that is the method of circling around Brown trying to find a way in to understand. But part of it, I think, is getting it to press too early.
Brown is fascinating. He did come up in a racist world. The music world was just as racist and quite corrupt. And it took in and chewed up musicians which lead to those that stayed being hardened and distrustful. But he is also a quite flawed hero.
My full review (about 1100 words) is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/kill-em-and-leave/