Juice!

American Literature Series

De: Ishmael Reed

Narrado por: Jimmy Garcia

A new novel from the most outspoken African American writer of our time.

In 2010, the Newseum in Washington D.C. finally obtained the suit O. J. Simpson wore in court the day he was acquitted, and it now stands as both an artifact in their "Trial of the Century" exhibit and a symbol of the American media’s endless hunger for the criminal and the celebrity. This event serves as a launching point for Ishmael Reed’s Juice!, a novelistic commentary on the post-Simpson American media frenzy from one of the most controversial figures in American literature today.

Through Paul Blessings - a censored cartoonist suffering from diabetes - and his cohorts - serving as stand-ins for the various mediums of art - Ishmael Reed argues that since 1994, "O. J. has become a metaphor for things wrong with culture and politics." A lament for the death of print media, the growth of the corporation, and the process of growing old, Juice! serves as a comi-tragedy, chronicling the increased anxieties of "post-race" America.

©2011 Ishmael Reed (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

magician writes laughter in hard, ridiculous world

Where does Juice! rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Juice! is among the best audiobooks I have ever had the pleasure to listen to, smiling, nodding, smirking, wincing, laughing, and chuckling as I trudged through the plant or drove the long road to work and home. I kept fearing that it would come to an end too soon. Thank god it ended at just the right time.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Juice!?

This format of questions is idiotic. I can write a review without being bossed around by your format. Give me an option, please. A good book deserves better. Be warned: grown ups with memories of media history and with juvenile yet sophisticated senses of humor will get the most from this book.

Which character – as performed by Jimmy Garcia – was your favorite?

Jimmy Garcia is the perfect narrator for this book. What an artist!

Who was the most memorable character of Juice! and why?

Ishmael Reed, of course. It is his sensibility that lifts the listener/reader out of the cesspool of what passes for media and deposits him or her on the grass of intelligence and wit, of glorious biases and frailties, such that we are able to breathe and laugh again.

Any additional comments?

Listen to this book and you will find yourself blissfully immersed in the truth about these times and this place--no bs! The narrator/main character is the perfect guide, a hero of this age.