Coming up down South - Memoirs of a Sharecroppers Son : A Memoir of a Southern Childhood
By Cecil BrownIn this engrossing memoir, novelist Cecil Brown, author of the highly acclaimed The Life and Loves of Mr. Jiveass Nigger, has written a lively and poignant account of his childhood in the small farming village of Bolton, North Carolina.Raised by a loving aunt and uncle, Brown evokes a lost world of rural southern America in the late forties and early fifties as he mischievously romps with his brother Cornelius through the cotton fields, churches, and houses of the tiny community populated by such vivid characters as Uncle Sugarboy, Geechie Collins, June Bug, Juicy Belle, and Miss Commie.But beyond the seeming small-town innocence and the insular bonds of his extended family, a growing awareness of prejudice and institutional racism leads young Cecil to a painful confrontation with his father's tragic past and his desire for Cecil to stay home on the farm. Finding respite and encouragement first in the simple illusions of magic, which provide valuable insights into surviving in the white man's world, then in jazz, in which a saxophone becomes a ticket to New York City, and, finally, in higher education, he struggles to break free of his family's violent history and from the land that was for so long their salvation.Reminiscent of Richard Wright's Black Boy and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Coming Up Down Home is an evocative personal odyssey that mirrors this country's larger struggle with racism and violence that culminated in the marches and boycotts of the early 1960s. Steeped in the rich traditions, vivid folklore, and brutal history of rural African-Americans, it documents the coming of age of a young man as he sorts through dignity to arrive at a deeper understanding of the black identity in America.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 222 pages
- English
- 0880012935
- 9780880012935
About Cecil Brown
More Books By Cecil Brown
People who bought this also bought
One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth
New Book
The Automatic Millionaire : A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
New Book
The Way of Truth in a World of Fiction (The Way of Truth in a World of Fiction : Beyond The Da Vinci Code)
Used Book
Breakthrough Copywriting: How To Generate Quick Cash With The Written Word
Like New
The South Beach Diet : The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss
Used Book
Every Man a Hero: A Memoir of D-Day, the First Wave at Omaha Beach, and a World at War
Used Book
Journey Through the Bible-Job-Psalms-Proverbs-Ecclesiastes-Song of Solomon
Used Book
A Voice of Our Own: Leading American Women Celebrate the Right to Vote
Used Book
A Twist of Faith: How Feminist Spirituality is changing the church and betraying the women it promised to heal
Used Book
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time book by Keith Ferrazzi
New Book
The Daily Laws: 366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy and Human Nature
New Book
An Ideal Critic: Ciceronian Rhetoric and Contemporary Criticism
Used Book
Are You Kidding Me? : My Life with an Extremely Loud Family, Bathroom Calamities, and Crazy Relatives
Used Book