Reviewed by Mr. Overeem (Language Arts)
Reed will make you think, laugh, and scream. In this essay collection, he will introduce you to the concept of the Negro-Saxon (descendents of W.E.B. Dubois' "Talented Tenth" who now front for white conservatism), remind you that Jews, Irish, and Italians were scorned in America until they "turned" white, obsess on the "conspiracy of silence" that keeps growing white-on-white violence, drug use, and out-of-wedlock birth out of the news, and argue that we are in a second Confederacy stage. That list should tell you whether you should pick the book up or not. Me, I loved it, even though Dr. Reed and I "got into it" this summer on-line over THE WIRE. (P. S. Black history nuts might want to know that Reed mounts an powerful defense of Booker T. Washington--often demeaned for being "Uncle Tom"-ish--in the best essay here.) ( )