Like good eatin in New Orleans, this book was "good readin"

books:

	• Reaching Up for Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America Geoffrey Canada Beacon Press, 1998 - 176 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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powerful read

In Reaching Up for Manhood, Canada effectively mixes personal history and policy analysis to describe a very serious problem facing a large segment of the U.S. population. He describes the trends, performing the difficult task of describing the difficulties without blaming the victims. While the victims are not blamed, neither are they left off the hook. The description of the young men who thought serving food at their community center was beneath them, and the consequences that followed, was particularly powerful. Canada is almost certainly correct that work and school must become a more expected part of life for the young men (and women) at risk. I'm concerned how this will be accomplished, however, with the manufacturing and similar work becoming more and more scarce as producers move overseas for cheaper labor and similar "benefits." While it is no means a solution, somewhere I would suggest for job training is within the field of developmental disabilities. There are many entry level jobs, and there is a career path. Every new avenue helps. Canada is also correct in calling for more responsible media conduct. I think it would be nice if the misogynistic thug-like actions of performers and athletes were not held up as "cool," but were instead treated as despicable by the media.

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Fine addition to gender studies literature

Reaching Up for Manhood is an excellent guide for the layperson as to the psychology behind the "cult of macho," by which so many youth are raised. Just as the author, Geoffrey Canada, points out, that today's fashions, be it sneakers or designer clothing, often originate in the inner city, so, too, has the inner city become a trend-setter in attitudes, which eventually pervade our entire culture. Consequently, this book is also important for those who are either parents of, or work with, middle class youth. Although the book is about boys, it is important reading for those concerned with girls to better understand the interaction between the sexes. The weakness of Canada's book is that it is too concerned with life in the "street" during his own adolescence, some 25 years ago. It would have been preferable to eliminate some of his own reminiscing and include more current anecdotes. On the other hand, Canada's style renders the book very intimate, as well as easily and quickly readable

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Like good eatin in New Orleans, this book was "good readin"

At first glance, the potential buyer of this book may not be attracted to the simple book cover. That will immediately change when you pick it up and start to read it. I was hypnotized by the simplicity of the reading. This book can be read in one day and unlike many books, memorized. Geoffrey Canada does an excellent job of putting in words what some of the problems are that are plaguing America's young boys. Though his book leans heavily toward the "growing up" problems of African American boys, the lessons that he put out, apply to all American boys. Teenagers refusing to work at the soft drink table during a function (too beneath them), a young man who fights off a thug who is attempting to steal his jacket(he thought the guy was a friend of a friend), a young man who tries to kill himself, are just a couple of the real life examples in this book. This is all stuff of the real world of America's adolescents. I say this because I grew up in the neighborhood that the Rheedlen Center caters to, and reading Canada's book was like taking a step back into time. And he is so right when he says "we" have to get involved in the lives of America's boys who need support.

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Uncommonly sensical

The author has amazing insights which, after reading or hearing, one says, "I should have known that before. It makes such good sense." I believe this is the kind of book that has the ability and sense to change and save lives. Terry Gross featured the author on her NPR program, Fresh Air, recently

The author of Fist Stick Knife Gun brings powerful new insight to the lives of boys in America today: "More and more I have become concerned with what boys think they should be, and what they believe it means to be a man." He lays out the little-understood history of drugs and their marketing to inner-city boys and takes a hard look at the issue of too-early sex, showing us, through a pointed story of his own sexual education on the streets, how the combination of age-old urges with new cultural forces and mores has created a volatile sexual terrain for boys. Canada writes indelibly of the young boy he once was and of the crucial issues ófatherhood, healing, mentors, self-esteem, faith, and more óthat must be negotiated as boys in America reach up for manhood.

Boys are conditioned not to let on that it hurts, never to say, "I'm still scared." I have come to see that in teaching boys to deny their own pain we inadvertently teach them to deny the pain of others. . . . We must remember to tell them, "I know it hurts. Come let me hold you. I'll hold you until it stops. And if you find out that the hurt comes back, I'll hold you again. I'll hold you until you're healed."

"Reaching Up for Manhood took me by surprise, because it is so tender, and so unpretentious, and so personal. It's a beautiful story, simply told óhonest, deeply sensitive, and morally empowering óby one of the few authentic heroes of New York and one of the best friends children have, or ever will have, in our nation."

?Jonathan Kozol

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