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A review by monkeelino
Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down by Ishmael Reed
3.0
"I just married her cause I read in the Psychiatric Journal that evil can be passed on through the chromosomes so I decided to have some kids."
My first time reading Reed in a spanky new edition put out as part of the Dalkey Archive Essentials series (so new the edition isn't yet an option on GR). I daresay I enjoyed Julian Lucas's introduction more than I did the book itself (he likens Reed's "trolling" of the Western and white American culture with Little Nas X's "Old Town Road" and country western music, as well as tying together all the wonderful influences and references Reed employs throughout the novel). I don't think I have anything revelatory to say, so I'll keep it short:
- Strengths: Playful, bitingly satiric, experimental, funny, ridiculous, outlandish and memorable characters, historically/politically relevant
- Weaknesses: Plot/storyline (it works against the wonderful energy of the characters and the humor), borderline misogynistic (hard to say since Reed skewers everyone/everything, but still felt like the ladies were extra-one-dimensional; Lucas reminds the reader that "Satirists, like deities, risk taking on the flaws of their vessels."), meandering
For my next Reed, I plan to tackle [b:Mumbo Jumbo|761156|Mumbo Jumbo|Ishmael Reed|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348245753l/761156._SY75_.jpg|18658].
My first time reading Reed in a spanky new edition put out as part of the Dalkey Archive Essentials series (so new the edition isn't yet an option on GR). I daresay I enjoyed Julian Lucas's introduction more than I did the book itself (he likens Reed's "trolling" of the Western and white American culture with Little Nas X's "Old Town Road" and country western music, as well as tying together all the wonderful influences and references Reed employs throughout the novel). I don't think I have anything revelatory to say, so I'll keep it short:
- Strengths: Playful, bitingly satiric, experimental, funny, ridiculous, outlandish and memorable characters, historically/politically relevant
- Weaknesses: Plot/storyline (it works against the wonderful energy of the characters and the humor), borderline misogynistic (hard to say since Reed skewers everyone/everything, but still felt like the ladies were extra-one-dimensional; Lucas reminds the reader that "Satirists, like deities, risk taking on the flaws of their vessels."), meandering
For my next Reed, I plan to tackle [b:Mumbo Jumbo|761156|Mumbo Jumbo|Ishmael Reed|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348245753l/761156._SY75_.jpg|18658].