Books, Bars and Literary Genius

The average American that has a crammed full Borders Books, a Barnes & Noble booksellers and the public library at their disposal scarcely realizes the pleasures of the printed page and leisurely reading. That is until they have been incarcerated in a Super Max prison or the local county pokey without the benefit of choice reading material.

According to literary lore, when transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson paid a visit to his friend and fellow writer Henry David Thoreau, who was in a New England jail for tax evasion, Emerson was said to have said: “Henry, what are you doing in there?” Thoreau was said to have said: “Waldo, the question is, what are you doing out there?” Thoreau’s act of civil disobedience and time in the slammer was short lived because someone (maybe his mother or aunt) subsequently paid his tax bill.

What true reader and would be author has probably not subconsciously longed for a week or so in jail—of course one probably with the creature comforts of home minus the real life attitudes, treatment and mores of Pelican Bay State Penitentiary—as a means to have some uninterrupted reading time. As the world becomes a busier and hectic place some enterprising entrepreneur may just develop a short-term book hotel or Bed, Bread and Books a take on the popular vacation oriented Bed and Breakfast accommodations.

In modern day America Jailbirds are looked at with much scorn and derision; however, many of the authors that have brought us great reading joy and intellectual stimulation were in fact criminals, crooks, sundry petty thieves and prison inmates. The novelist and short story writer Chester Himes served 7 ½ years in an Ohio prison for armed robbery. However, with much time on his hands and little else to do, Himes picked up a pen and started to compose short stories and later novels. Books such as If He Hollers Let Him Go, Cotton Comes to Harlem, A Rage in Harlem and The Real Cool Killers are classic Himes and no doubt owe their origin to his incarceration.

Another writer that honed his craft while in the joint and was beloved by legions of readers was William Sydney Porter. Porter who was later known by his pen name O Henry was a master of the short story genre. He was imprisoned for three years in an Ohio prison in 1898 after being convicted of embezzling money from the First National Bank in Austin, Texas where he worked as a teller. By the time he died in 1910 Porter had written over 300 short stories. Many stories such as the Gift of the Magi, The Furnished Room and The Ransom of Red Chief have been much anthologized over the years.

However, probably the greatest influencer of reading, literature and learning despite the odds and socio-economic condition is Malcolm X. Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X after becoming a minister in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam, details in his autobiography (The Autobiography of Malcolm X) his love of reading. Little became an eyeglass wearing Malcolm X as a result of his long hours of reading with poor lighting late at night in jail. According to Malcolm “from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading in my bunk. You couldn’t have gotten me out of a book with a wedge”. Many a former jailhouse scholar and jailhouse lawyer owes his or her love of reading to Malcolm X’s literary tenacity. Of course the person whose name dons many a public school and/or street sign or recreation center Martin Luther King, Jr. spent many nights in jail as a result of his fight for African American civil rights. Many people are imprisoned for one reason or another but how many follow King’s example and write a letter that becomes popular reading? King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail written in Birmingham, Alabama is classic reading.

Other popular books inspired by stints in jail or written by a jailed person are: The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli, Don Quixote by Cervantes, The Writings of Saint Paul by Saint Paul, In the Belly of the Beast by Jack Henry Abbott, Monster by Kody Scott and Blue Rage, Black Redemption by Stanley “Tookie” Williams.

But short of going to jail for that longed for literary experience why not just go to your local public library or independent book store.

Libraries, Literature and the New Generation of Readers

In his 1993 book What Black People Should Do Now deceased author/journalist Ralph Wiley includes a chapter entitled “Why Black People Don’t Buy Books”. Wiley’s chapter title, undoubtedly, is a reference to the often said phrase: “If you want to hide something from a black person put it in a book!” and the once-believed notion within the mainstream publishing industry that African Americans do not read. Wiley said that these editor’s pronouncements left him confused because all of the “black people he knew and kept up with over the years read books by the pound.”

Somewhere shortly after the aforementioned quote, Wiley states the most significant caveat of the essay: “Of course it depends on what you’re (the publishing industry) selling.” Mind you that Wiley’s referenced association to refute the notion that African Americans do not read books in quantifiable numbers was Terry McMillan’s http://www.terrymcmillan.com/mcmillan.html mega-hit Waiting to Exhale, which sold in excess of 700,000 copies.

According to Philadelphia Weekly reporter Kia Gregory in 2004 African Americans read $257 million dollars worth of urban fiction, e.g. ghetto fiction, a type of modern day pulp fiction peopled with unsavory pimps, crack heads and prostitutes, and erstwhile conniving, intelligent hustlers, thugs, drug dealers, crooks and thieves. The urban literature genre has been such a financial boon for the slumping, post-internet publishing industry that high brow publishers such as Kennsington, Simon & Schuster and St. Martins have developed urban fiction imprints.

 

These actions in and of themselves, are letting self-proclaimed literary purists and erudite bibliophiles in on a little secret—namely that the publishing industry is interested in the bottom-line. The bottom-line and cold hard cash are the mantra of the publishing industry these days. Instead of the former imprisoned crooks, streetwise hustlers and self-publishing first time writers making all the money off of their personal experiences, the Industry took a wise and strategic, “If you can’t beat em’ join em’ approach.”

 

Writing in the July 15, 2006, Library Journal, David Wright pointedly proclaims in the first sentence: “One of the hottest literary phenomena of recent years has been the explosion of what has been variously termed hip-hop, street, or urban fiction.” Wright also goes on to say that librarians and libraries are also hesitant to purchase the books due to discomfort with the genre and the tendency for the popular books to be stolen from the shelves—not a particularly good thing if the library is not a fiscally robust one.

 

The genre, which at times is not considered a well written one, has advocates and critics on both sides of the debate. Atria books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) editor Malaika Adero, a self-professed proponent of the genre, admits “calling the books literature may be a bit of a stretch.” But this wildly popular literature is being purchased by a demographic that is supposed to be fearful of books; thus, it will be marketed and promoted as though it were written by James Michener, Toni Morrison or any other celebrated author.

 

Is it disingenuous for the publishing cabal to promote and give book deals to urban fiction authors with names like Jihad, Zane and Joy but barely whisper the names of icons such as Ishmael Reed and Charles Johnson? I do not have a definitive answer, however, some publishing industry spokesmen tend to mouth the Mafia hit man phrase quite frequently: “Its nothin’ personal its just business.”

Or consider the trend of commercial bookstore giants like Borders Books to carry rows of urban fiction titles in their African American section but not carry Z.Z. Packer, Alice Walker, John Edgar Wideman or Octavia Butler. Interestingly enough, I have often had a tough time locating at least three titles by James Baldwin at any of the large commercial bookstores. Unfortunately, for the culturally ignorant or unread browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble or Borders, the historically vast range of African American has been defined by what they see—namely urban fiction.

Today the grandest celebratory recognition of African American literary achievement is the Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards. These legacy awards are given each year by the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation http://www.hurston-wright.org/. The 2006 winners in the fiction literature category were Clyde Ford (The Long Mile: The Shango Mysteries) http://www.clydeford.com/website/index.php, Nancy Rawles (My Jim: A Novel) http://www.nancyrawles.net/ and Denise Nicholas (Freshwater Road) http://www.nathanielturner.com/freshwaterroad.htm . But in all likelihood, their names are less-known in black America’s Hoods,’ than say Vickie Stringer http://www.triplecrownpublications.com/, Zane http://authors.aalbc.com/zane.htm, Omar Tyree http://www.omartyree.com/ or Teri Woods http://www.teriwoodspublishing.com/

I remember conducting a radio interview with the science fiction writer Octavia Butler http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler twenty years ago, and asking her why the cover art for the hardback edition of Dawn, a book heavily populated by genetically African characters, had an Anglo-American character on the front. At the time I thought Ms. Butler had a great deal of autonomy over her works. She responded that she had no control over what went on the cover of the book. But compare this with the shiny urban fiction book covers that sport provocative, scantily clad, black men and women.

Literacy advocates and librarians point out that these books bring a love of reading to the masses. If he were alive the Indian library progenitor (considered to be the father of modern library science) S.R. Ranganathan would probably weigh in on the debate by quoting the third of his famous five laws http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_laws_of_library_science of library science: Every book its reader. Should academic libraries, or public libraries for that matter, include urban fiction in their holdings? Maybe they have their place if library professionals consider Ranganathan’s third law.

 

It is strictly a personal choice. I never thought graphic novels, e.g. flashy, colorful comic books, would be used in college classroom settings but they are now a part of the required reading list for courses at colleges across the United States, Japan and Europe. For many people there is no gray area when it comes to urban fiction; either you like it or hate it.

 

The aforementioned literary dichotomy is very much like the one between the Kenny G. Smooth Jazz fans and the traditional jazz adherents that love Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gilespie and Charlie Parker. I prefer the traditional variety myself but the wispy, paper- thin melodies of Smooth Jazz, did take the idiom out of the smoky clubs and into the mainstream where there is greater exposure and acceptance. Or look at the chaotic creativity that ensued when a younger generation of jazz men such as Dizzy Gillespie put their stamp on big band jazz, and developed the rambunctious style later known as Be-Bop.

 

Most evolutionary artistic trends are a part of humanity’s cultural DNA and will continually buck all efforts to remain stagnant. All performing and visual art forms—like businesses and the African American church—have a starting point from somewhere, were influenced by some external or internal force, and eventually die or transmute into something else.

 

Maybe the new literary icons will take a page from the book of Hip Hop rappers and MCs. These musical poets frequently pay homage to old school musicians and seemingly have no problems trotting the “Old Skool” artist out on the stage to perform with them. George Clinton http://www.georgeclinton.com/ has literally had his legacy, career and bank account renewed thanks to the efforts of Rappers that sample his music from the 1970s and 80s.

However, I believe there is the question of quality that we must look at, which tends to be pushed to the back whenever critics begin to contextualize and scrutinize the impact of American popular culture on all artistic and literary forms. There is good sounding, expertly played music and there is horrible sounding and poorly played music. The same goes for literature, although, the average person may not be as discerning or objective about what they are reading.

At the end of the day, maybe there is no need to compare Baldwin to Zane or Angelou to Woods. Each author and book has its own reader. However, chronological time will ultimately be the great judge and decide urban fiction’s fate in the literary cannon.