An Exceptional Spotlight on the Racial Tension in America

books:

	• Them: A Novel Nathan McCall Atria, 2007 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Awesome book for a discussion...

I read Mr. McCall's 'Makes me Wanna Holler' when I was a younger and still not yet a man. I read it and throughout the book I was saying "yeah", "that's right", and "exactly". It was very good for me to read something from someone who knew EXACTLY how I felt. When I saw he had a fictional book coming out I knew I had to read it.

This book is an awesome novel about "them". The question is who is "them"? Are you a "them"? Is your neighboor a "them"? Is your boss a "them"? Well, it all depends on who YOU are. Unlike other books on race relations this one gives us a view from both sides while slightly favoring one side. Entertaining, a little political, at times gritty, eye-opening, very well written, and a great book to read for your book club, to/with your kids, and discuss with co-workers.

Hopefully this won't be this authors last work of fiction.

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Love Thy Neighbor.

Barlowe Reed has been a long time resident of Atlanta's historic Old Fourth Ward. At the age of 40, Barlowe decides that he needs to make things more permanent in his life by trying to buy the home that he and his 20-year-old nephew are renting. But Barlowe soon finds out that it won't be that easy. The Old Fourth Ward is being hit with something that the neighborhood thought that it could escape: gentrification. Soon, black homeowners are being replaced with white ones and changes are happening fast. The long-time black residents suddenly feel angered and threatened by the influx of white residents. Battle lines are drawn creating very intense situations. When Sean and Sandy Gilmore, a young white couple, moves in next door, Barlowe has to face the conflict head on. Sandy tries to find out more about the neighborhood by having reluctant conversations with Barlowe over the backyard fence. Sandy is hopeful about the new neighborhood; but after a series of events, her husband Sean is now having second thoughts.

Them is an awe-inspiring debut novel by Nathan McCall. McCall masterfully told a story that will resonate with people from all walks of life. This story not only deals with gentrification but also how race relations can shape and change a community. McCall's expertly developed multi-dimensional characters is what really makes this novel soar. You get inside the minds of not only Barlowe but of Sandy and Sean Gilmore as well. Readers will also see how some key events transform the attitudes of the residents of the Old Fourth Ward. Them is an entertaining and insightful read that will definitely foster some enlightening book club discussions. Nathan McCall has seamlessly made the transition from a revered non-fiction author to an excellent fiction novelist.

Reviewed by Radiah Hubbert
for Urban Reviews

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An Exceptional Spotlight on the Racial Tension in America

I was very intrigued by this book because it seemed to cross the border from African-American fiction into general fiction. I say that because the synopsis grabbed me as a story about conflicting cultures, i.e. black and white, and I was interested into seeing how it would be narrated in neutral perspective.
As a White American, I was really interested in how the racial divide is in a place like Atlanta, Georgia. As a usual, I was initially annoyed by Barlow's anti-American bitterness in the beginning of the novel, but I accepted that as a foundation to understand his character. It seemed figuratively that this character was slightly shallow and lazily constructed. However, McCall does a terrific job in allowing the reader to understand the past and future of the kind of character Barlow is. By the middle of the story you begin to understand and almost sympathize completely with Barlow. The story begins with the abrupt relocation of Barlow from his girlfriend's apartment back to his rented home in the 4th Ward of Atlanta, GA. The historical significance of the 4th ward is that Martin Luther King Jr's home is located there. What was once, not necessarily quaint, but understood lifestyle of the block is under attack by the migration of real estate hungry "white folk." This is the point in the novel that the structure of the entire setting is completely rattled by the introduction of a happily newly wed couple, the Gilmores.
Personally, I thought the names, Sandy and Sean Gilmore was such a typical white couple and I got some amusement from the fitting of such names. Sean moves in with a drive to amount some investment while Sandy has this sort of politically liberal debt towards a community she knows little about. Within this point in the novel the clash of cultures begin. Sandy and Sean, being the minority, are the ignorant while Barlow and his roommate Tyrone become the paranoid watchers over their newly arrived neighbors. The numerous characters in the novel are introduced abruptly in the beginning of the novel which seems overwhelming but as you learn more about the neighborhood you realize that they produce a portion of the character that is the "neighborhood." It seems confusing at first, but you start to become redundantly aware of these characters. As the Gilmores try to make themselves more of a product of the neighborhood they actually start to begin a recession to it by changing every aspect. The Gilmores aren't the only white folk who move, but are only a fraction of interested investors. The newly arrived colonists begin to change every aspect of the well-understood culture that already existed in the 4th Ward. The change is met with much resistance from long sense settled residence of the neighborhood. McCall uses this conflict as an interesting spotlight on the morality of difference and ignorance. At this time, the question of what is right and what is wrong becomes a blur. Martin Luther King Jr's legacy is either referenced or exploited in this part as the black folk become more unsettled by their new neighbors and become resilient towards their ways.
McCall creates a setting and a story that almost feels as real as a newspaper article when these conflicts take place. The mass number of characters compensates their importance by presenting their unique perspective to such a diverse subject of racial culture. The novel presents itself as such a social narrative on racial indifference, but in actuality, it's really just a simple story of different people living in different circumstances. The story, on its own is very interesting and entertaining. At moments in the novel I was captured by the tension between the differently understood people of the 4th Ward. McCall doesn't waste time describing the setting in a slow Tolstoy craft, but gives you what you need to know to feel like you're there. The description goes so far to make you feel uncomfortable to even be present in that setting. Even though the subject of the novel becomes the underscore of everything that happens, don't expect some soapbox moment at the end where someone comes out and brings right in everyone. There is actually a moment in the end where someone stands on a crate and gives a moment of enlightenment, but that only presents awareness to a problem that requires more insight to understand, let alone fix.
It's difficult to describe the novel without spoiling it for the rest, but so much happens and every little thing matters. The subject matter of the novel is more important than the story, but the story itself is still entertaining and engaging. There are points in the novel that seem unrealistic from how the white people act like they're white to Barlow's future love interest being an almost act of God.
All in all, I was very entertained and captivated by this novel and I recommend it for everyone to read. I do think the subject matter in this book is well scribed. You, the reader, become very annoyed by how ignorant these people are, but that only makes you reevaluate your own perspective on you act and/or think.

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There Goes the Neighborhood

Nathan McCall's novel, Them, depicts the gentrification of Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. Barlowe Reed, a single, middle-aged loner, and his nephew Tyrone, have been residents of the Old Fourth Ward for several years. Barlowe is wary of Caesar in all forms: government, bureaucracy, law enforcement, even flags. His feelings of distrust are deepened with the influx of new, white residents into their neighborhood which is rich with the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The racial tension in the neighborhood escalates, pitting black residents against white residents.

One white couple, Sean and Sandy Gilmore, buy the house right next door to Barlowe. Sandy and Barlowe hesitantly begin chatting over the backyard fence attempting to find understanding and common ground amidst the growing confusion and resentment building in the neighborhood.

McCall pulls no punches in Them as he excavates the multiple layers of struggle, history, pride, and hope that the neighborhood holds for its' residents. Them poses many questions about the gentrification process, yet offers little in the way of concrete answers. McCall's use of dialect, well-developed characters and detailed setting encourages readers to become invested in the residents of the Old Fourth Ward. Them is an excellent choice for individuals looking for a thought-provoking read and a great catalyst for book club discussions.

Reviewed by M. P. McKinney
APOOO BookClub

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5

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