Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights

Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights
Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights
Author: Susan Straight
ISBN-13: 9780385474344
ISBN-10: 0385474342
Publication Date: 5/1/1995
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 4

4.3 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: Anchor
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

3 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights on + 67 more book reviews
Great Read!
reviewed Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights on + 6 more book reviews
Given that this is fire season out west, this book is an especially good read. The main character is a seasonal firefighter for the state of California--and while he loves the work (which makes him odd, according to the other men on his team), he can't make a year round living doing only that. So he tries to find work that will support him, his wife and child, and will leave him with dignity--not a victim of the streets like so many of the men and women who live in his poor neighborhood on the edge of LA. His solution is to play the race card in reverse--to supply nervous white Angelanos with safe, "Asian" lawn care, keeping his own identity secret.

I really liked the way Straight presented race--complex rather than simple.
tommygirl avatar reviewed Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights on + 112 more book reviews
This is the story of a black firefighter and workingman trying to work the toughest turf of all: the straight and narrow. As his friends disappear around him - victims of the streets, of police dogs, of drugs, of an addiction to cheap thrills and guns - he struggles to establish his own business, facing a thousand midnights before he's home free, with a job that supports his young family. This search for balance in a dangerous world propels the quiet heroism of a beautifully evoked and very moving story.