From: Nick Glass <nick>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 00:01:41 -0500

I feel the need to reply to Jodie Wright's comment, "I feel very strongly that in these books race doesn't matter...."

How can race NOT matter. Back when I read adult books, I learned a great deal from Professor Cornell West's treatise Race Matters. It truly is one of a dozen books that changed the way I view the world. Maybe I'll dig it out tonight....

I find it provocative that Ms. Wolff doesn't clearly define the race of the characters, and think that some of the character names sound African-American (LaVaughn mostly) -- but what about the cover illustration of True Believer? What does this add to the conversation? Who defines these images, and what effect do they have on us readers? If you haven't seen the cover, you can see it at

 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689828276/o/qid?4827271/sr=2-2/re f=aps_sr_b_1_2/104u55583q14334

But as a former independent bookseller, I'd feel awful if you used this link to actually buy the book.


Nick
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Nick Glass TeachingBooks.net 722 Emerson Street Madison, WI 5371518

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Received on Wed 11 Jul 2001 12:01:41 AM CDT