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Customer Reviews (6)

Surprising!
From the book cover and the little bit I'd heard about Rebel Yell, I had expected a portrait of a Southern black marriage in the 60s maybe. I expected pearls, high heels, LINKS, Jack and Jill and all that bougie black folk Talented Tenth stuff. I got that and so much more. The time spans all the way up to the present. And there are spies in this book! And good humor, sadness and lots of mystery. Randall doesn't spoon feed you the story--this is ambitious fiction here--so there are a few pieces of the puzzle (and this book is a puzzle) that are vague enough that I'm not sure exactly what happened. But I'm okay with that. Randall has a way with words and a way with characters that kept me hooked from page one. Absolutely loved it!

Three Stars
Rebel Yell opens with Abel Jones Jr. passing away after eating at the Rebel Yell restaurant. After his funeral his first wife Hope reexamines their life together and puts together the pieces to discover the true Abel that she never knew. Both Abel and Hope grapple with issues of race and racial identity and I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. I also liked how the author weaved real historical events throughout. However, some parts of the book were too cryptic for me and I felt like I wasn't understanding everything the author was trying to say.

Rebel Yell has it all!
Alice Randall's "Rebel Yell" is a novel about love, race, sex, power, culture, family...just to name a few themes!
An ambitious novel that delivers page after page, Rebel Yell shows why Alice is one of America's finest writers.
This book was truly enjoyable to read. It was exciting and action packed, but also sweet and relation-ship driven.The world that Alice Randall creates here comes alive in full color.The characters are very real and interesting.The times and places that Alice sets the book are fascinating.The writing is intelligent and soulful. Bravo Alice!
PS Music lovers will also appreciate Alice's use of sound and song to tell this story.

Entertaining and Enlightening
Randall's third book is what a novel should be: entertaining and enlightening. 'Rebel Yell' takes the reader on a journey through the homes, lives and secrets of the black elite of Nashville, a group no other book has touched upon with such depth and honesty. Through believable characters and stirring writing, Randall brings to life the dreams, histories and contradictions particular to an oft-overlooked group of black Americans. During a year in which the United States has experienced its first black president, this book could not have arrived at a better time.

Inspiring Work
"Rebel Yell" is a novel about truth: its awfulness, its immensity, and
its rarity.With her careful construction of characters, setting, and
words that fall from the page with palpable emotion, Randall has
created a vibrant tapestry in "Rebel Yell," made of the very fabric of
this nation. The writing is complex, rich and decadent; but, it
takes a discerning palate to appreciate the nuance of her work.
Randall gives entrée to the often-overlooked world of affluent,
self-sustaining, African-American "royalty."DuBois often spoke of
the talented tenth; Randall has brought them to life.A revised birth
of a nation, Randall's novel shows what the Civil War and Civil Rights
bore into the future.Race here, however, is not black and white.
Randall has transformed the colors into even bolder emotions--fear,
strength, pride--and softens them with themes of family and goodness.

"Rebel Yell" reveals that the truth is redemptive and triumphant.
Randall, with her incredible grasp of history, literature, and
politics of the age, shows that there are no accidents in life.There
is no such thing as spontaneous generation.The evil of one era can
beget evil in the next.The only good writing is personal writing,
and this is a novel with the power to speak to every person who stops
to listen. ... Read more

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In this daring and provocative literary parody which has captured the interest and imagination of a nation, Alice Randall explodes the world created in GONE WITH THE WIND, a work that more than any other has defined our image of the antebellum South. Taking sharp aim at the romanticized, whitewashed mythology perpetrated by this southern classic, Randall has ingeniously conceived a multilayered, emotionally complex tale of her own - that of Cynara, the mulatto half-sister, who, beautiful and brown and born into slavery, manages to break away from the damaging world of the Old South to emerge into full life as a daughter, a lover, a mother, a victor. THE WIND DONE GONE is a passionate love story, a wrenching portrait of a tangled mother-daughter relationship, and a book that "celebrates a people's emancipation not only from bondage but also from history and myth, custom and stereotype" (San Antonio Express-News). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (243)

Bad on so many levels
Ohhh, where do I begin? First and foremost I would just like to say that this book is an absolute MOCKERY to one of the best and most beloved pieces of american literature ever published. That being said, it was just poorly written, plain and simple. The author did not stay true to the characters at all. I could not even imagine the charachters doing and saying half the things written in this book. Rhett and Cyrana were locked in Bonnie's playroom boneing while her dead body layed there?? Uh-huh...and how exactly did she get in there without anyone noticing? And I hardly believe that any parent who just lost a child, much less "baby crazy" Rhett Butler, would do this. Furthermore the jealousy of the main charachter was like an irritating itch throughout the whole novel. I guess that was supposed to be the theme anyway, but come on...it's like if Scarlett has a pimple on her left ass cheeck, Cyrana had to have a pimple on her left asscheeck too...it was just ridiculous and a little over the top. DISLIKE!!

Novel, But Blah
I really wanted to like this book.The synopsis described the book as having the elements of a really juicy read.However, I found the book to be rushed in places and somewhat trite overall.

While I did not expect it to have the exact same literary style as Gone With The Wind, I did expect the book to have more substance.

Wind done Gone review
I found this book's perspective startling and thought-provoking.While some may find the basic conceipt farfetched or the sexuality gratuitous, the reflections of modern perceptions of race and gender provided by this "dark mirror" of an American Classic allow us to begin to see those who are superficially different from us in a new light.Worth the read!

We need this point of view.
I agree with some of the reviews. This book is neither a parody nor a sequel. It is a perspective on a period of history that has generally been taught from only one point of view.Most historical accounts (fictional or otherwise) of the civil history of this country have been told from one important perspective.Gone With the Wind was a caricature of the traditional perspective.The Wind Done Gone is a clever, witty and an easy dose of another important perspective.This country still has a lot of race issues and we cannot begin to work through them without really listening to all perspectives represented throughout our entire history.This book will help you put yourself in the shoes of the faithful servants of the time and will help you to begin to understand their dignity and their predicament.It opens up the dialogue.

The "other" side of the story
This was my summer to read the stories that have until now been silenced, edited, or lost in the telling of southern history--this is one that should be on everyone's list. READ THIS BOOK!! Twice. Its better everytime.
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Containing 100 recommended playlists for downloading, this book is the best and most unique way to explore the Country music genre in a modern, easy, convenient way. Each playlist walks you through the history, culture, and relevance of Country music, revealing the authenticity and raw truth that represents Country.

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Though the novel is a little longer than it needs to be, readers whostay with Randall through the switchbacks and cul-de-sacs of her narrativewill be rewarded with stylistic fireworks and an unparalleled examination ofblack racism.--Regina Marler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Pushkin with a twist
The book arrived quickly. It was in very good condition. I just need time to read it well to fully appreciate the plots going on in the story.

Yet and Now, An Exceedingly Fine Novel
Much has changed since Alice Randall published Pushkin and the Ace of Spades in May of 2005.February 10, 2007, Barack Obama declared his candidacy for the presidency of the United States.Not much short of two years later, I stood in 23 degree weather on the Capitol Mall listening to him deliver an inaugural address, and as I wrote this, the first African-American president of the U.S. received the Nobel Peace Prize.Regardless of progress that has been made, and regardless of how much is left undone: Randall's book is timeless, and if total sales are a measure, vastly underrated.

The story is told through the eyes and the heart of an African-American Harvard educated woman, Windsor.With a PhD in Russian literature, and tenure at Vanderbilt, the wedding of Windsor's only child, NFL football phenom Pushkin, to a white Russian lap dancer is rapidly approaching.In 288 pages, a lush and potent story of maternal love, race, and family plays out.

Alice Randall is an author, an award winning country music song writer, and a cook (see some of her recipes on her website). No wonder then, that her book is rich in language, melodic and cadenced in its rhythm, and richly flavored. So many times, contemporary authors seem to feel that unless they pin the reader's ears back, or even flay the flesh from their bones, the point won't get across.Pushkin and the Ace of Spades takes a different approach.Though Randall can loft the F-bomb with all the aplomb than her son and gridiron star Pushkin can loft a football, and though she does not shy away from rape or graphic sex, her use of language and her description of sexuality are never gratuitous. Reaching deep into the nature of the mother/son relationship, into her love for friends and family, and into her reflections on racism, her voice is clear, never burdened by gushing sentimentality, and full of integrity rather than brutality.Pushkin and the Queen of Spades is an excellently written, highly informative, pleasurable read, none of which speaks to how important I think this book is.

I'm a white male, pushing sixty.By geography, rather than by choice, it turns out that I can't make that oft-mocked claim "Some of my best friends are blacks".I work, though, to stay informed.I haven't read all of Alice Walker, but at any given gathering of white late middle-aged males...few have read more.Toni Morrison's Beloved.....I read it and learned.I've lived with non-English speaking families in Mexico, worked in Southeast Asian immigrant resettlement efforts, and I've given lectures on cultural competence in multiple different settings.And here's the deal:Randall's Tale of Two Pushkins (the son, and the Russian literary genius) approaches the question of racism with such vibrant creativity and profound depth that I feel thoroughly schooled, and wonderful, both at the same time.Using a firm and strong hand enclosed in a velvet glove, Randall takes on racism far more potently than many before her that smashed away at the subject with ten pound sledge hammers.Late in the book, Randall makes a one line comment about humans and their focus on race that bowled me over and literally raised goose bumps.And I could quote that line, but then, that would spoil all the fun, wouldn't it?

Book clubs:both thumbs enthusiastically up.If your book group doesn't find plenty to savor and discuss in Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, your members need defibrillators to restart their flat-lined hearts, rather than a book recommendation.

Bravo, Alice Randall.Bravissimo!

I Had To Set It Down
Thought I'd try something different.The back cover gave me the impression of an exciting book that would touch on many issues of today, race being just one.I struggled through fifty pages.Then I scanned through another hundred pages or so to see if maybe another character, besides the main character narrating, had something to say.Nobody else did.This memoir-like story failed to keep my interest simply because it read like a one-person monologue, and to me that becomes boring after a while when reading a novel.If its a memoir say its a memoir not a novel.

A story can develop so much better if an author let's the reader hear and see how the characters talk, laugh, cry and even kill.Hearing one narrator describe how others do things begins to sound like gossip after awhile.Let me decide what I think of so and so by their thoughts and actions instead of having to go by the author's opinions of them.

I wondered how the author, who does show crafty writing skills in this book, would pull off a story about A pro football player, a lap dancer and the classic writer Pushkin.In my opinion, she had a platter of foods that didn't mesh well together and the buffet became intolerable to the palate.For my reading pleasure this book simply did not deliver the goods. My advice would be for the main significant character in the book, Windsor, to get over her past and/or get professional therapy.

Journey of Self Awarness
Pushkin and The Queen of Spades is about an African-American woman who finds out that her son is engaged to be married to a white, Russian lap dancer,named Tanya.She is not to thrilled about this.She thinks it is because Tanya is black and that it is a reflection on how he feel about her.But, as the story goes along, she finds that this is not the case.On the contrary, she finds that the very qualities her son, Pushkin, admires in his fiance, Tanya, are some of the same that his mother possesses.The story is Windsor's journey of finding this out and therefore, how she changes her attitude toward Tanya, from loathing to love.

Moreover, the book deal with the self-hatred that some African Americans feel toward themselves, when they measure their worth against the worth of other.Particulary, white people.In this case, the worth of white women compared with Black women.

That which is most vehemently denied is often most inescapably true.
"...And my parents did not give me a Russian name, for, other than a few dedicated Communists in the thirties and forties, what black parents ever did?"

That comment, posed by a fictional character in another novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park,is answered here by Alice Randall in the persona of this story's most significant presence, Windsor Armstrong, a Harvard-educated professor of Russian Literature at Vanderbilt University. We meet Windsor as she is about to commence an epoch of self-reflection and introspection brought on by the impending marriage of her son Pushkin to a Russian- born, blond-haired stripper with, as the story unfolds, the ironic name of Tanya.

Over a plate of grilled cheese and French fries in a seedy country western bar, over the next 200 pages or so, the reader is a rapt observer to intellectual self-vivisection as the professor examines exactly why she has arrived at this point of estrangement from her son, brought on by her palpable disenchantment with her son's choice of spouse as well as prior decisions (college choice, career) that failed to correlate to her aspirations for him, never mind the fact he has far exceededthe dreams most parents would ever entertain for their children. Circumstances are further complicated by the secret of Pushkin's parentage as Windsor has historically deflected, or just ignored any and all entreaties from her son regarding the name of his birth father.

Randall has infused enough thematic discourses to support a Doctorate thesis in American studies however, at the core this is a parent's paean to a child-man, an independent thinking and acting adult who has absorbed all of the lessons and knowledge any parent would hope to pass down but one who, while respectful of his elder, will not be hamstrung by any implicit requirement to live his life in accordance with another's vision.

Pushkin and the Queen of Spades is a tour de force exhibiting Ms. Randall's inestimable talents. Whereas her previous novel,The Wind Done Gone: A Novel, brought to mind the prose and style of Zora Neale Hurston, in this work one feels the influences of Joyce, Morrison, and Giovanni.WDG posed the question, "where were the mulatto children of Tara?""Pushkin..." asks the question, "What are the consequences of our inculcated values?"She demonstrates visceral aplomb in the style of the classicists, post- modernists, or rhythmic fluidity of the urban patois. Whilst the path of introspective reflection allows her to examine the psyche, cultural patterns and distinctiveness of Black Americans in a multiplicity of circumstance and to address the often conflicting objectives of inclusiveness and individuality, Ms. Randall unfolds a story that should foment personal assessment of how we interact with our children and what messages we send to them via our thoughts and actions, whether verbalized or implied.
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Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Silver, Burdett and company in 1896 in 136 pages; Subjects: Classicism; English poetry; Mythology, Classical, in literature; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology; Education / Curricula; Literary Criticism / General; Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Literary Criticism / Poetry; Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology; ... Read more

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Word count: 2522. ... Read more

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I No Longer Dance reveals an athlete's devastating physical and emotional struggle of enduring a painful and crippling disease.

The author, Alice Randall Cocca, suffered from degenerative disc disease, D. D. D., for almost 10 years before her untimely death. D. D. D. robbed her of the passion, "the absolute fire and zest", she once had for living.

Her poetry lays bare the incessant pain and ravaging emotional loss that changed her life drastically. This is her story. Her voice speaks to us on paper. As we turn the pages, we, too, "feel the pain, the severity of her tears, the agony of her walk; the pain that never went away."

"So here I am
Crying
Dying in pain
My body
My soul
BLEEDS
Hear my spine cry" ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more