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Thread started 11/03/15 10:07am

domainator2010

Anyone read "Bailey's Cafe" by Gloria Naylor...?

....I'm just reading this book myself, and.... it's heart wrenching, the part I just read. Anyone else here read it? If so, what were your opinions?

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Reply #1 posted 11/03/15 11:53am

EmmaMcG

I never heard of it but I just looked it up on Wikipedia and it sounds interesting. I might buy this.
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Reply #2 posted 11/03/15 12:17pm

babynoz

I read Bailey's Cafe many years ago and also The Women Of Brewster Place. Great stories and excellent writing.

Gloria Naylor is one of those people that I wish would write more books.

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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Reply #3 posted 11/03/15 12:23pm

Empress

babynoz said:

I read Bailey's Cafe many years ago and also The Women Of Brewster Place. Great stories and excellent writing.




Gloria Naylor is one of those people that I wish would write more books.


Same here. It's been many years since I read Gloria Naylor. Her books are very good, but she doesn't write often enough. Mama Day was very good too.
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Reply #4 posted 11/04/15 4:28am

domainator2010

...the part that I was reading consistently kept reminding me of "Queen" by Alex Haley..... did anyone else feel that....?

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Reply #5 posted 11/04/15 9:14am

domainator2010

OK, I think I'm giving up. I've covered rape, paedophilia, prostitution..... I can't take any more of this... I got this book thinking it would be happy, which is what I need right now..... can any of you tell me how this book ends? If there's any more of what I just read, I don't think I'll be able to handle it......

babynoz, you've got a funny idea of what a "great" story is.....

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Reply #6 posted 11/04/15 9:16am

domainator2010

...also, out of curiosity, is Toni Morrison's writing anything like this....? Thank God I didn't try her then.....

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Reply #7 posted 11/05/15 6:18am

Empress

domainator2010 said:

...also, out of curiosity, is Toni Morrison's writing anything like this....? Thank God I didn't try her then.....


Toni Morrison is not easy to read. She has a very unique style and her stories are deep and not necessarily happy. If you can't handle Gloria, you won't like Toni.
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Reply #8 posted 11/05/15 10:10am

babynoz

domainator2010 said:

OK, I think I'm giving up. I've covered rape, paedophilia, prostitution..... I can't take any more of this... I got this book thinking it would be happy, which is what I need right now..... can any of you tell me how this book ends? If there's any more of what I just read, I don't think I'll be able to handle it......

babynoz, you've got a funny idea of what a "great" story is.....



lol You believe that all great stories are happy ones? Tell that to Shakespeare or Alice Walker.... lol

I think what you're looking for is light reading such as romance novels or perhaps a cozy mystery. Try Agatha Christie or Danielle Steel type books.

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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Reply #9 posted 11/05/15 10:12am

babynoz

Empress said:

domainator2010 said:

...also, out of curiosity, is Toni Morrison's writing anything like this....? Thank God I didn't try her then.....

Toni Morrison is not easy to read. She has a very unique style and her stories are deep and not necessarily happy. If you can't handle Gloria, you won't like Toni.



Ain't that the truth. lol

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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Reply #10 posted 11/05/15 10:49am

domainator2010

babynoz said:

lol You believe that all great stories are happy ones? Tell that to Shakespeare or Alice Walker.... lol

I think what you're looking for is light reading such as romance novels or perhaps a cozy mystery. Try Agatha Christie or Danielle Steel type books.

I am NOT!! I've done a lot of reading in my time, all kinds of books, but..... is it a crime to want something happy, as I said....?

Out of curiosity, is America actually like what's described in the book.....? Or at least, used to be....? I find it hard to believe that humans could simply survive in the middle of it all......

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Reply #11 posted 11/05/15 11:45am

babynoz

domainator2010 said:

babynoz said:

lol You believe that all great stories are happy ones? Tell that to Shakespeare or Alice Walker.... lol

I think what you're looking for is light reading such as romance novels or perhaps a cozy mystery. Try Agatha Christie or Danielle Steel type books.

I am NOT!! I've done a lot of reading in my time, all kinds of books, but..... is it a crime to want something happy, as I said....?

Out of curiosity, is America actually like what's described in the book.....? Or at least, used to be....? I find it hard to believe that humans could simply survive in the middle of it all......



It's no more of a crime to want to read something happy than it is to have a funny idea of what a great story is, right?

The horrors of life are not limited to American history but yes there were masses of people in this country who were subjected to horrific conditions.

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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Reply #12 posted 11/08/15 11:32am

domainator2010

babynoz said:



It's no more of a crime to want to read something happy than it is to have a funny idea of what a great story is, right?

My! What a charming personality!

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Reply #13 posted 11/08/15 2:11pm

babynoz

domainator2010 said:

babynoz said:



It's no more of a crime to want to read something happy than it is to have a funny idea of what a great story is, right?

My! What a charming personality!



I'm not the one who started out by calling other people's ideas funny.....that was you. You get what you give my dear.

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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Reply #14 posted 11/09/15 9:15am

Ottensen

Yes, gawwd!! Love Naylor's ability to take you into the bittersweet underworld of inner city urban life in the 60's and 70's. Similarly to Toni Morrison, she's also rather adept at placing you smack in the gut-wrenching heart of upper middle class suburban dysfunction in novels like "Linden Hills".
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Reply #15 posted 11/09/15 9:20am

Ottensen

Empress said:

babynoz said:

I read Bailey's Cafe many years ago and also The Women Of Brewster Place. Great stories and excellent writing.




Gloria Naylor is one of those people that I wish would write more books.


Same here. It's been many years since I read Gloria Naylor. Her books are very good, but she doesn't write often enough. Mama Day was very good too.


I forgot about Mama Day! Also one of my all time favorites next to the other two you all mentioned. It's been such a long time since reading them, they could be about due for a re-visit in the coming year. In hindsight, I could see myself going for Mama Day again, particularly to clear up my fuzzy memory on the hair branding incident towards the end....
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Reply #16 posted 11/09/15 4:51pm

babynoz

Ottensen said:

Yes, gawwd!! Love Naylor's ability to take you into the bittersweet underworld of inner city urban life in the 60's and 70's. Similarly to Toni Morrison, she's also rather adept at placing you smack in the gut-wrenching heart of upper middle class suburban dysfunction in novels like "Linden Hills".



I don't think I read Linden Hills. I need to order that one.

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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Reply #17 posted 11/10/15 9:10am

Ottensen

babynoz said:



Ottensen said:


Yes, gawwd!! Love Naylor's ability to take you into the bittersweet underworld of inner city urban life in the 60's and 70's. Similarly to Toni Morrison, she's also rather adept at placing you smack in the gut-wrenching heart of upper middle class suburban dysfunction in novels like "Linden Hills".



I don't think I read Linden Hills. I need to order that one.



It's a companion piece to Brewster Place. Remember the young character Kiswana/Melanie who moved from the suburbs to be "amongst her people"with her Shakespearean actor boyfriend, who was helping the next door neighbor with the Bay Bay's kids & infant fixation ? If you remember her story, there's a point when her mom visits and she starts moaning and groaning about her family's shallow life in the suburbs...the suburbs of [i]Linden Hills. I'll give nothing away other than to say the good, upstanding folks of Linden Hills have all the surpressed angst and quietly hidden horrors of a Toni novel, like the Morisson books "Family" or "Love". nod
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Reply #18 posted 11/10/15 2:04pm

babynoz

Ottensen said:

babynoz said:



I don't think I read Linden Hills. I need to order that one.

It's a companion piece to Brewster Place. Remember the young character Kiswana/Melanie who moved from the suburbs to be "amongst her people"with her Shakespearean actor boyfriend, who was helping the next door neighbor with the Bay Bay's kids & infant fixation ? If you remember her story, there's a point when her mom visits and she starts moaning and groaning about her family's shallow life in the suburbs...the suburbs of [i]Linden Hills. I'll give nothing away other than to say the good, upstanding folks of Linden Hills have all the surpressed angst and quietly hidden horrors of a Toni novel, like the Morisson books "Family" or "Love". nod



I recall something to that effect but it's been years. I need to refresh my memory. nod

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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