Page by Page: Book Reviews

Class, Race, and the Formation of Urban Black Communities

Three rich histories give us the lived experiences of persons negotiating a racialized class system. These new narratives are instructive because Black Americans, despite class being violently raced in the United States, have had robust internal conversations within their own walls about what life as men and women, entrepreneurs, professionals, and essential workers mean in democratic conversation one to another.

Santa Claus is Back in Town

All of the men profiled in Ron Cooper’s book have been trained to be Santa, have been taught how to talk to children, to put nervous children at ease, and to make misbehaving children less truculent. They have been taught how to deal with difficult or awkward requests or wishes. It takes some dedication to be Santa. Maybe we all need to take a bit of instruction at a Santa school.

Getting Fighters to Pick the Right Battles to Fight

McClearen argues that the marketing and branding success of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in great part made possible by sociocultural, technological, and political conditions that provided an ideal landscape for realizing success in building the promotion. Fighting Visibilityis McClearen’s assessment of these conditions, showing how the UFC aligned itself with dominant ideological messages and neoliberal logic, as well as movements of identity activism, to create a powerful sports business enterprise.

The Diva Speaks—at Length

My Name is Barbra gives readers a peek into the multi-faceted world of this famous, yet quite private woman, along with glimpses of those in her orbit. If you can get past the length, lack of an index, and extensive back-patting, you will enjoy yourself and learn a great deal.

Thomas Sowell Is at It Again

If Amiri Baraka was the godfather of the 1960s Black Arts Movement, Sowell is the godfather of Black conservatism. And Black conservatism is as important to African American Studies as the Black Arts Movement no matter how disagreeable many of us in the field may find many of Black conservatism’s assumptions to be.

Does Anyone Still Care about Baseball?

Why We Love Baseball is an enjoyable book. It is well-written, tugging at the heartstrings one moment, being like Ripley’s Believe It or No” in another. There are lots of good portions here for St. Louis Cardinals fans, and aspects of the book could actually appeal to people who are indifferent to baseball. Still, this book is clearly for fans.