Kill 'Em and Leave

Short Review: James Brown is a musical legend, but I wonder how long he will be remembered. Not because he wasn't important, musically and culturally, but because there are a lot of people that are important that end up forgotten.

James McBride is an author that has had real hit books. His first, Color of Water, a memoir about his mother, is probably still his biggest hit. Although at least one of his novels has been optioned for a movie. But as McBride wrote this, he was broke, recently divorce and basically starting over at the age of 55. McBride's self identification with Brown's late in life return to stardom can be seen in the book.

But you can also see that McBride needed to get this book out. He says in the book that he needed the money from a book, any book. And while the good really does outweigh the bad and I am glad I read it, this could be a much better book with some editorial help. It is full of repetition. Part of that is the method of circling around Brown trying to find a way in to understand. But part of it, I think, is getting it to press too early.

Brown is fascinating. He did come up in a racist world. The music world was just as racist and quite corrupt. And it took in and chewed up musicians which lead to those that stayed being hardened and distrustful. But he is also a quite flawed hero.

My full review (about 1100 words) is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/kill-em-and-leave/