To read these tales simply ease into them as you would sink into a surrealistic painting--enjoy them--and let them happen to you. Don't worry about following anything--just experience these tales and let go. "We build our emotions into blank invisible structures which never exist." Love it!

I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing. Thank you. ( )

Amiri Baraka is a poet and when he tries to write prose, he sounds like the mad prophet of poetry that he is. Some of the stories in this slim collection were difficult to follow, heavy on the stream of consciousness, rambling, defiant. The wordplay was excellent, but I much prefer Mr. Baraka's poetry. It's a nice book to have if you're a fan of Baraka's talents, he has a nice ear for the streets and this adds another nice title to the growing beat poet, bebop jazz lyricists' bibliography. ( )

I knew Amiri Baraka was known for angry, unapologetic poetry. I knew he was the poet laureate of NJ before people flipped out and the post was eliminated in order to remove him from being the poet laureate. I'd read a handful of his poems over the years, so I had some preconceived notions.

I hadn't read his short stories though and I'm not sure if it's because they were short stories - some bordering on a stream of conscious writing - that I didn't get what I expected. The mastery of the language was there, social consciousness and commentary and controversial phrasing and statements were sprinkled throughout, but the anger so obvious in his poetry wasn't really there. I think in the mid-'60s these stories probably hit like a bombshell in a fractured society, but compared to some statements in art and activism seen today, they seemed a little tame. It wasn't until the very last story, which started with a poem, that they ramped up to fury I expected. It was a worthwhile read for the historical value - getting an idea of where some of one of the most famous protest writers in America and the art was still inn abundance. ( )

I will echo some other reviewers here and say that this book simply wasn't for me. Baraka was clearly a very talented man, but this collection was too disjointed and abstract for me. I liked the narratives that were less cryptic and obtuse, but they were few and far between. Even in the more abstract narratives there were consistent glimmers of wonderful poetry, but as a whole, this book was a miss for me. Still, I will follow up and read more of his poetry to see what I think of his other work. ( )

This book wasn't for me. It is a collection of stories written in a cryptic black voice. The disjointed style got in the way for me, and required more effort and second readings than I wanted to put forth for the stories. The few stories that stuck out were those in which I could tell what was going on. The last story, Answers in Progress, was probably my favorite, centered around some benevolent alien invaders who love jazz music. My second favorite was probably the one in which Baraka describes himself wanting to be an intellectual and burying himself in books. ( )