I had to read this book for my CORE 104 class in TO, and I couldn't get into it. While there are parts that are interesting, and I guess I saw the point, I really couldn't get into the surreal narrative of the story.
I pretty much feel the same way rereading it 8 years later. While I've enjoyed many strange books in my time, there's something about the disjointed nature of his experiences- while the narrative flows, the protagonist experiences many completely different things with little time to transfer from one mode of thought to another.
I think the different stories it tells about race and the different ways of thinking about being African American are interesting and thought provoking. But I don't think I'll be coming back to this one.

Dark, frustrating and beautiful. Read it with "Native Son."

This book was very hard to read in the sense that I don't want to imagine people living that way, especially in recent American history. No food, nobody hiring, giant rats in the apartments, crappy schools, constant molestation... it's hard to imagine.
A well written, if sad, story.