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Book Review: The Confessional Heart of a Man by The Greatest Poet Alive

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JoeyPinkney.com Book Review
The Confessional Heart of a Man
by The Greatest Poet Alive
(iUniverse)
3 out of 5 Stars

The Confessional Heart of a Man is the debut poetry collection from The Greatest Poet Alive (GPA). Leading this collection of lyrical introspection is an intensely lusty poem cryptically entitled “A Thousand Times”. The mixture of word forms an enchanting imagery of an infinite desire. With the second poem, “Even In Death”, I was reeled into the power of GPA as a wordsmith. I could visualize his view on love with a bone-chilling clarity. Instead of keeping that momentum rolling with something like “Love Letter” or “Death of a Love”, GPA caught me totally off guard with a crack high in black-and-white entitled “Anticipation of My Love”.

There are many subjects covered in The Confessional Heart of a Man. GPA touches on “baby momma drama”, serving time in the penitentiary, the “n-word” and many others. But GPA is at his best when he expands the possibilities of love and lust with his vivid imagination and control over a vast vocabulary. Even poems like “Stolen Moments” and “Metaphor” are intriguing in their approach to the otherwise mundane or socially wrong. In “Stolen Moments”, the way GPA phrases the adulterous sentiments of a man speaking to his mistress is a lyrically beautiful as any marital bliss. “Metaphor” meanders through metaphors to express uninhibited lust taken out of a female suitor.

Throughout The Confessional Heart of a Man, GPA proves that he is much more than an erotic hustler of prose. The book has four main themes: love/lust, relationship problems, incarceration and black power. He covers each easily. Poems like “Dedication” and “My Thoughts as a Woman” stood out in the crowd because they showed the depth of GPA’s intellectual muscle. His openly discusses the difficulties of relationships gone awry. His love/hate relationship with the “n-word” is just as expressive as his thoughts on black nationalism. He even sheds an unapologetic light on Black genocide at the hands of the police.

It is easy to tell that GPA is a spoken-word poet. The words are there, but I knew that there is a unique way that the poems are supposed to flow. It was like reading a rapper’s lyrics without hearing the song. I’ve had the opportunity of hearing him perform, so I knew reading and witnessing were two different things.

The Confessional Heart of a Man was hard to read because the word order he chose is easier to hear and understand during a performance, but that same word order is hard to read. All in all it is a good book of poetry by an established and intelligent poet that any poetry lover will find something to love.

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african american author, african american authors, african american book, african american books, book reviews

Book Review: Real Thoughts by N.S. Ugezene

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JoeyPinkney.com Book Review
Real Thoughts
by N.S. Ugezene
(Lulu)
3 out of 5 Stars

I have to admit that when I started reading Real Thoughts by N.S. Ugezene, I was frustrated. Although the main character stayed true to the title by expressing his thoughts and feelings on various topics, I couldn’t  figure out why I should care about his “plight” as a reader. (And I never figured out why people called him Pascal and other times KP.)

Pascal was a twenty-something man surviving in Pamona, CA, the best way he knows how. His mother stayed on his case, his dad made him out to be the ultimate momma’s boy, his step-father didn’t like him and the female friends that he accumulated came and went. He wasn’t too much different than most people at that age in that respect. What piqued my interest was his use of words because I understood the gist but wasn’t used to the way Real Thoughts read.

With a stack of “dirty magazines” to ease the tension created by his string of girlfriends and other females, Pascal stumbles through the typical growing pains of a young man staying at home with his parents while pursuing a college degree and trying to make his money stretch from paltry check to paltry check. His musings on things like people being materialistic, generational gaps in attitudes and proper diet are not ground-breaking, but they show the depths of Pascal’s critical thinking skills.

As I traveled through the pages, the one thing I could gather from Pascal was the fact that he had tons of opinions. What made this journey difficult as a reader was the painstaking detail in which Ugezene plotted Pascal’s day-to-day activities. If Pascal’s thoughts were the meat of the story, his daily routine made Real Thoughts overweight with irrelevant fluff.

His girl problems, money  problems, mall visits and time with his boys annoyed me like  fingernails being scraped across a chalk board. That annoyance slowly  gave way to intrigue. I wanted to know more about his background. I wanted to figure out why I couldn’t easily wrap my mind around Pascal’s experience.

Half way though the book, it hit me. Ugezene, and by extension Pascal, is Nigerian-American, born to Nigerian parents and raised in the United States. From this standpoint, I became intrigued with getting an inside look into a sub-culture of Black America that I hadn’t really put much thought into.

It started to make sense why he “fragranced” himself after showering rather than “putting on cologne”. Pascal’s journey into manhood was framed in a duality. He was an insider and an outsider at the same time: he is a part of the African-American culture, yet he was looked at as being different by his older Nigerian family. Although I was curious to read more about Real Thoughts‘ Nigerian-American angle, I was not enchanted.

As a reviewer, I found myself at the crossroads with Real Thoughts. There was one thing that I simultaneously liked and disliked about this book. Ugezene’s use of Pascal to express thoughts about world events didn’t translate well when framed within Pascal’s mediocre life. Reading about his thoughts and his minute-by-minute twenty-something life was not enjoyable. On the other hand, Pascal’s use of the English language as a Nigerian-American was fascinating in and of itself.

Since Pascal’s life was repetitive, Real Thoughts seemed to end abruptly. It was like I was driving down long road only to fall off a cliff that came out of no where. Real Thoughts never got into a progressive flow, so the chapters could have been placed in any order to achieve the same effect.

I think Real Thoughts would have done better as a book of essays by Ugezene, since it became easy to figure that Pascal’s life closely resembled the author’s. But I also think there is a niche in the making with Ugezene helming a genre for a new generation of Nigerian-American readers that grow up with Hip-Hop and the Internet.

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Book Review: Go Into The House by Rodney A. Winters

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JoeyPinkney.com Book Review
Go In The House
by Rodney A. Winters
(Foghorn Publishers)
5 out of 5 Stars

Go Into The House is Rodney A. Winters’ first, and hopefully not last, gift to the literary world. The author journeyed through a daunting marriage only to emerge a divorced man with a powerful testimony. This book is not a book about deliverance. The author’s testimony is not hinged on God bringing him out of a horrible experience that he caused. Instead, the book shows the keeping power of God.

The duality of the title, the symbolism of the book’s cover and the message within impressed me with the overall cohesiveness. Winters breaks down the various meanings the phrase “go in the house”. One of most relevant meanings to his testimony is the author having the fortitude to live in the house regardless of the chaos his ex-wife caused for him and his children. The book cover directly ties into this. Taken from the ground level, you see  a man standing stiff in a rigid stance while his children are playing in the background.

The other, more spiritual meaning to “go into the house” centers around the parable of The Prodigal Son. Winters broadens the character of the older son. Most people portray the older son that stayed with the father as being selfish for questioning the lavish party enjoyed by the wayward son. Winters perfectly gives enough information and perspective to broaden the older son’s experience and possible next move in the name of the Lord.

Many times, we ask questions like, “Why me, God? What did I do so wrong to deserve this?” This book is a valuable asset to both men and women who can’t quite put their finger on how to exit a spiritually exhausting relationship and stay strong in spite of it all. Winters’ faith in the Lord’s Will and His Plan simply defied logic. The average man, and even above-average man, would have lashed out when faced with this blatant infidelity.

For those who love to read drama with seemingly impossible plot twists, Winters experience with his ex-wife is literally unbelievable. There are many moments he shares that will make you physically shake your head in amazement. Winters’ intention is not to villianize his ex-wife by detailing her indiscretions. Instead, the author’s openness gives him the room necessary to teach the reader a more fulfilling way to navigate the pain of being betrayed, misunderstood, disrespected and devastated by a person you love and thought loved you.

As an author, Winters is the master of the “give and take”. He gives you pieces of his life that are truly stressful to read, much less live through. Then he puts his literary arm around your neck, pulls you in close and takes you to a Christian way of letting go and letting God. Winter’s voice is crystal clear as he explains his situation and applies his understanding of biblical principles.

The lessons and perspectives present in this book can not be found in the churches’ Married Couples classes. There is a good reason for this. As pointed out in the book’s introduction, people who have gone through divorce are not usually deemed qualified to teach because of their failed marriages. Go Into The House is a valuable extension not only of Winters’ experience but also his teaching ability. What becomes easy to see is his ability to be open with the complexity of the adultery he went through and the simplicity of God’s solutions.

The back cover states that is “not just another book on marriage”. This is true. The perspectives Winters share in this book are broad but not vague. Winters states that his intention is to provide men with a means of better understanding their pain. As he shares his knowledge of the bible, his reflection on his life experiences and the lessons he learned, a reader can apply Go Into The House to any relationship. Whether it’s parent/child, husband/wife or employer/employee; Winters’ ability to teach and preach comes through brilliantly in written form. Go Into The House is not a self-help book; it is a conversation.

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