I've been interested to read this book for some time. A college student from Amherst quits school and starts riding trains with hobos and tramps. He writes about all aspects of the trip- the excitement of catching and riding a train, the fear of getting caught, what it's like to live in such poverty.
I wouldn't take on such hardship. I don't really have the desire to challenge myself that way. But it's interesting to hear how it changes him.
I don't really agree with his views on our responsibility to tramps- I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think the answer is providing them with comforts. Many of the people he meets are just lazy or mean, and I don't know how to distinguish them from the ones who have actual problems and can't make a living.

I generally try to steer clear of Oprah Book Club books, but I really enjoyed this one. It was very depressing- none of the characters can get a break in their meager existence, and the shit just keeps piling up. Hard to believe this Kafka-esque existence is a reality rather than just a literary device to stretch the characters to their limits.
The one moderately well-off character, Maneck, is the one who is the most unhappy. He's got the most to live for, and his suicide seems nothing but selfish.
Difficult to read since it's so depressing, and more than a touch sentimental, but enjoyable and made an impression on me.

Nicely wove together so many different stories from different social, ethnic, and economic groups from turn of the century New York. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult to keep the stories strait, since they were distinct but connected. I was constantly checking online to see what was fiction and which parts were actual historic events. I was disappointed that the beating of workers and children to break a textile strike was true, but the black revolt over the vandalism of a car was not.
Overall, a good combination of historical and fictional events. Less of a cohesive story than The March, the other book I've read by Doctorow.

A black boy murders a white girl for no real reason other than his hatred of himself and everyone else. I found it hard to sympathize with the boy and his confusion at the end, since his character isn't likable. I think we're supposed to care for him because he's black and his life has been totally shit and he's had no reason to excel. I can understand that viewpoint, and I agree with it to a certain extent- but I still believe in personal responsibility.
I also think I've always been so goal-driven, I find it hard to care about a character that had no idea what he was doing when he killed a girl.

Read this book. It will stir up all kinds of emotions.

An adaptation/extension of Huck Finn, entirely based on the scene where Jim and Huck find his father dead in a broken, floating house, shot, with scribbles all over the walls. From there, Clinch creates a history and life for Huck's father and mother. Perhaps the strangest of these was that Huck's mother was black a former slave Finn takes up with and eventually murders. I'm not entirely sure why that development was necessary- I don't believe there's anything in Huck Fin that necessitates that explanation.
The three part timeline makes the book very confusing for the first three quarters, and only really comes together at the very end.
I found it hard to muster much sympathy for any of the characters. Drunk, or meek, or arrogant, or all of the above. Finn, of course, was the worst, and had virtually nothing redeeming about him. Well written, but it's hard to enjoy a book that's so universally negative.

This book is a collection of short stories, all independent of each other but centered around the theme of what it means to be black in DC. The stories include natives, transplants from the south, women, men, different economic classes and a century of life. It feels like a very comprehensive view of life.
My favorite stories were the ones centered on women. The last story about the trashy family was my favorite.

I was incredibly impressed by this book. Most short story collections are a bit hit-or-miss within the collection- usually one or two that I like and a few that are really off base. The theme really kept this one together and coherent. Each little story was a gem.

I don't normally follow sports history, but I thought Opening Day might be interesting, as Jackie Robinson broke many race barriers when he joined the major leagues. This book does a good job outlining the advances he made and the politics that went into them. Less interesting to me were the details of the games. Apparently Robinson was an exciting player to watch, but few of the blow-by-blow game descriptions held much for me.
I wonder more about how the Robinsons lived- how did his wife feel? How did his children react to having a famous father? Were they bitter or resigned that his white teammates got so much more than he did?
It still amazes me that racism in this country was so bad in living memory.