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A review by razishiri
Black White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker
3.0
Black White & Jewish is a compilation of compulsively readable memoirs by Rebecca Walker, who happens to be Alice Walker's daughter. I call them "memoirs" rather than autobiography because the author makes many stylistic choices which, astute though they may be, definitely mar the chronological format. The chapters are also artistically brief, sometimes mere vignettes, divided once again by theme. This singular style, compounded with Walker's direct but moving prose, is what makes her story so easy to fall into.
As for the actual content... from reading other reviews, I've seen some complaints about too much sex and relationships. I may just be a hormonal teenager, but this didn't bother me at all. There are many parallels to be drawn between sexual and racial identity, and while the author could have drawn these parallels more clearly, her experiences are still relevent. That's another reason I put this book under the category of "memoir" and not "autobiography"; it is primarily emotive and does not attempt much of an intellectual or moral message. This may leave the reader feeling unsatisfied at the end, for we leave Walker's world as abruptly as we dive into it. Even during the story, the reader is sometimes left floundering, unsure of where we are in Walker's life, deprived of a deeper understanding of characters as importance as her own parents. Still, Rebecca Walker has a lot of interesting things to say about being a biracial person, and her voice cannot be easily forgotten.
As for the actual content... from reading other reviews, I've seen some complaints about too much sex and relationships. I may just be a hormonal teenager, but this didn't bother me at all. There are many parallels to be drawn between sexual and racial identity, and while the author could have drawn these parallels more clearly, her experiences are still relevent. That's another reason I put this book under the category of "memoir" and not "autobiography"; it is primarily emotive and does not attempt much of an intellectual or moral message. This may leave the reader feeling unsatisfied at the end, for we leave Walker's world as abruptly as we dive into it. Even during the story, the reader is sometimes left floundering, unsure of where we are in Walker's life, deprived of a deeper understanding of characters as importance as her own parents. Still, Rebecca Walker has a lot of interesting things to say about being a biracial person, and her voice cannot be easily forgotten.