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A review by jilliebeanreads
Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White World by Cole Brown
4.0
“Greyboy” is part memoir, part journalistic storytelling and part essay collection. The debut author, Cole Brown, comes from a life a privilege. Despite being raised in a mostly white world, he is often ostracized by his friends and teachers for his choices and the color of his skin. Sometimes Cole is too white, sometimes he’s not black enough. Sometimes his friends see his skin color, sometimes they don’t. We witness how he gets stuck in the unknowing. Is he comfortable where he is, straddling both worlds, both colors? Or, should he choose differently? This is the question he grapples with, among others.
The essay topics are what you might expect from a young person: insecurities; revelations of racism; “the talk”; young love; alcohol and drugs; friendship; death; political injustice; police brutality; and family life. As a reader, I found that Cole’s most impressive essays were his takes on relationships, especially whether to choose for love or skin color. I appreciate his vulnerability, his approachable, narrative prose; and his intellect. One of his more powerful essays are of about his “reveal” moments. Those times when he absolutely feels his “otherness,” when reality cannot be unseen. In an early essay, we learn a good lesson from Cole’s father that was taught to his by his mother: “Black people in America don’t get the luxury of making mistakes, so be careful.”
Because “Greyboy” was written over a number of years—starting while Cole was still a teen—I found the level of writing and some of his stories to be disjointed and inconsistent. It’s for this reason that I rate this book four stars instead of five. That said, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading Cole Brown’s future works. I think he’s on his way to becoming one of the gifted storytellers from our next generation.
Special thanks to NetGalley, Skyhorse Publishing and Cole Brown for a gifted electronic copy of “Greyboy” in exchange for my honest review.
The essay topics are what you might expect from a young person: insecurities; revelations of racism; “the talk”; young love; alcohol and drugs; friendship; death; political injustice; police brutality; and family life. As a reader, I found that Cole’s most impressive essays were his takes on relationships, especially whether to choose for love or skin color. I appreciate his vulnerability, his approachable, narrative prose; and his intellect. One of his more powerful essays are of about his “reveal” moments. Those times when he absolutely feels his “otherness,” when reality cannot be unseen. In an early essay, we learn a good lesson from Cole’s father that was taught to his by his mother: “Black people in America don’t get the luxury of making mistakes, so be careful.”
Because “Greyboy” was written over a number of years—starting while Cole was still a teen—I found the level of writing and some of his stories to be disjointed and inconsistent. It’s for this reason that I rate this book four stars instead of five. That said, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading Cole Brown’s future works. I think he’s on his way to becoming one of the gifted storytellers from our next generation.
Special thanks to NetGalley, Skyhorse Publishing and Cole Brown for a gifted electronic copy of “Greyboy” in exchange for my honest review.