Fiction_L Archives "street" fiction Dates: 1/3/05,7:21 PM  through  1/8/05,10:20 AM  (14 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to January 2005 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: Mary Knapp <[removed]@scls.lib.wi.us>
REC'D: 1/3/05, 7:21 PM

I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly for the staff to use in
readers advisory situations, of authors who write gritty "street"
fiction. This is what I have so far, I would appreciate additional
suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly popular with our
patrons. I have also included some popular African American authors who
may not exactly be exact genre fits.

Donald Goines
Iceberg Slim
Omar Tyree
Nikki Turner
Shannon Holmes
Teri Woods
Erica Kennedy
Kimberla Lawson Roby
Valerie Wilson Wesley
Tracy Brown
K'Wan

Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library

FROM: "Marx, Charleen, JCL" <[removed]@jocolibrary.org>
REC'D: 1/3/05, 9:00 PM

Ernesto Quinonez wrote a fantastic street fiction called Bodega Dreams. It is the only book he has written so far. I am always on the lookout for this guy to see if he is going to write more.

Another one is The Digital Hood and other stories by P.J. Rondinone. This one reads like a mix of short stories but they are all somehow intertwined. This is another single work.

~Charleen



Charleen Marx
Information Services
Lackman Library
Johnson County Libraries
15345 W. 87 St. Pkwy.
Lenexa, KS 66219
913-495-7540
[removed]@jocolibrary.org


________________________________

From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org on behalf of Mary Knapp
Sent: Mon 1/3/2005 7:14 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: "street" fiction

I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly for the staff to use in
readers advisory situations, of authors who write gritty "street"
fiction. This is what I have so far, I would appreciate additional
suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly popular with our
patrons. I have also included some popular African American authors who
may not exactly be exact genre fits.

Donald Goines
Iceberg Slim
Omar Tyree
Nikki Turner
Shannon Holmes
Teri Woods
Erica Kennedy
Kimberla Lawson Roby
Valerie Wilson Wesley
Tracy Brown
K'Wan

Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library

FROM: "Gelissen, Mary-Lou" <[removed]@city.windsor.on.ca>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 8:21 AM

Walter Dean Myers and Paul Beatty would be two to add to that list. For
African American writers I would also recommend the newest release by
Christopher Paul Curtis Bucking the Sarge. It is a fantastic read.

Mary-Lou Gelissen
Windsor Public Library
Windsor On.
-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org [[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]
On Behalf Of Mary Knapp
Sent: January 3, 2005 8:14 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: "street" fiction

I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly for the staff to use in
readers advisory situations, of authors who write gritty "street"
fiction. This is what I have so far, I would appreciate additional
suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly popular with our
patrons. I have also included some popular African American authors who
may not exactly be exact genre fits.

Donald Goines
Iceberg Slim
Omar Tyree
Nikki Turner
Shannon Holmes
Teri Woods
Erica Kennedy
Kimberla Lawson Roby
Valerie Wilson Wesley
Tracy Brown
K'Wan

Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library

FROM: Candice Michalik <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 8:48 AM

"Clockers" by Richard Price.


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search.
http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250

FROM: Cynthia Orr <[removed]@cpl.org>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 9:16 AM

I'm definitely no expert on this subject, but it brings up something I've fretted over a bit in the past, and I hope someone who knows more about it will help me out here.
First of all, as a disclaimer, I think we all know that just making readalike lists of author names is a very short shortcut and that authors write very different books sometimes, so just because one book might be similar, it doesn't necessarily follow that others by the same author will be.

I think also that we know that if you don't read a particular genre, then that distance you have from it tends to make all the titles seem alike. If you do read a particular genre, then you can see LOTS of differences between authors and titles and you see subgenres and nuances that others don't see. For example, if you don't like mysteries, then you would tend to see a wall of books labeled Mystery and think "the mysteries are all over there," and pretty much lump them into one category. If you are a mystery reader, you would never assume that a Miss Marple book by Agatha Christie would be anything like a Burke mystery by Andrew Vacchs, for example.

Having said that, though, I think that the list of readalikes that we have in the archives for Sister Souljah's Coldest Winter Ever might be a place to start, though I have major doubts about several of the titles on that list. I think that most readers who are looking for "street" fiction are looking for just that. Putting A Lesson Before Dying on the list just because it deals with a young African American man in prison does a disservice. We wouldn't put Danielle Steel's Ransom on this list just because it's about a drug dealer. And just because an author is an African American, it doesn't necessarily follow that his books should be lumped in with other African American authors--unless you're just looking for a list of African American authors, of course.

I don't think Valerie Wilson Wesley falls at all into the category of street fiction, for example.

Could someone else with more expertise provide us with a good updated list? This is a question that comes up in many libraries I'm sure, and publishing has boomed in this category since the last list was done. For example, there are the Triple Crown publications.

Thanks. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I just think that "street" fiction readers deserve good lists too! After all, they shouldn't have to apologize for their reading tastes either.

Cindy

Cynthia Orr
Collection Manager
Cleveland Public Library
17133 Lake Shore Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44110
Phone: 216-623-2906
Fax: 216-623-2977
http://www.cpl.org

----- Original Message -----
From: Mary Knapp <[removed]@scls.lib.wi.us>
Date: Monday, January 3, 2005 8:14 pm
Subject: "street" fiction
> I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly for the staff to
> use in
> readers advisory situations, of authors who write gritty "street"
> fiction. This is what I have so far, I would appreciate
> additional
> suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly popular with our
> patrons. I have also included some popular African American
> authors who
> may not exactly be exact genre fits.
>
> Donald Goines
> Iceberg Slim
> Omar Tyree
> Nikki Turner
> Shannon Holmes
> Teri Woods
> Erica Kennedy
> Kimberla Lawson Roby
> Valerie Wilson Wesley
> Tracy Brown
> K'Wan
>
> Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>
>

FROM: Barry Trott <[removed]@mail.wrl.org>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 1:25 PM

I think that Cindy makes a very good point here. I was looking around at
Agatha Christie readalikes on library web sites, and found several sites
that offered Sara Paretsky, Elmore Leonard, Tony Hillerman, Sue Grafton,
and Mickey Spillane as readalikes for Christie. Now a reader of Agatha
Christie may very well like any or all of these choices (I do myself). But
I would be reluctant to offer these authors to a reader without a lot of
discussion of how they differ from Christie in many of the areas of
appeal. These are authors that you might recommend to a reader with whom
you have been working for a while, and who had expressed an interest in
branching out into a new area of mysteries.

Perhaps a good new year's resolution for the RA community would be to go
back and look at what we are offering to our readers through our web pages
and make sure that we really like the choices that we have suggested. I
know that this requires time and effort, but an Agatha Christie reader who
picks up Mickey Spillane on the recommendation of a library web page and
is fails to see a connection between the two may not feel much confidence
in seeking further recommendations either from that web site or from the
librarians. If we want RA to be taken seriously by patrons and library
administrators, we have to take our role as recommenders seriously as
well.

Well, I am off to review our web suggestions. Happy New Year, all

Barry

*******************************************************************************
Barry Trott 7770 Croaker Rd.
Adult Services Director Williamsburg VA 23188
Williamsburg Regional Library Phone: 757-259-4053
http://www.wrl.org/bookweb FAX: 757-259-4079
*******************************************************************************

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005, Cynthia Orr wrote:

> I'm definitely no expert on this subject, but it brings up something I've fretted over a bit in the past, and I hope someone who knows more about it will help me out here.
> First of all, as a disclaimer, I think we all know that just making readalike lists of author names is a very short shortcut and that authors write very different books sometimes, so just because one book might be similar, it doesn't necessarily follow that others by the same author will be.
>
> I think also that we know that if you don't read a particular genre, then that distance you have from it tends to make all the titles seem alike. If you do read a particular genre, then you can see LOTS of differences between authors and titles and you see subgenres and nuances that others don't see. For example, if you don't like mysteries, then you would tend to see a wall of books labeled Mystery and think "the mysteries are all over there," and pretty much lump them into one category. If you are a mystery reader, you would never assume that a Miss Marple book by Agatha Christie would be anything like a Burke mystery by Andrew Vacchs, for example.
>
> Having said that, though, I think that the list of readalikes that we have in the archives for Sister Souljah's Coldest Winter Ever might be a place to start, though I have major doubts about several of the titles on that list. I think that most readers who are looking for "street" fiction are looking for just that. Putting A Lesson Before Dying on the list just because it deals with a young African American man in prison does a disservice. We wouldn't put Danielle Steel's Ransom on this list just because it's about a drug dealer. And just because an author is an African American, it doesn't necessarily follow that his books should be lumped in with other African American authors--unless you're just looking for a list of African American authors, of course.
>
> I don't think Valerie Wilson Wesley falls at all into the category of street fiction, for example.
>
> Could someone else with more expertise provide us with a good updated list? This is a question that comes up in many libraries I'm sure, and publishing has boomed in this category since the last list was done. For example, there are the Triple Crown publications.
>
> Thanks. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I just think that "street" fiction readers deserve good lists too! After all, they shouldn't have to apologize for their reading tastes either.
>
> Cindy
>
> Cynthia Orr
> Collection Manager
> Cleveland Public Library
> 17133 Lake Shore Boulevard
> Cleveland, OH 44110
> Phone: 216-623-2906
> Fax: 216-623-2977
> http://www.cpl.org
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mary Knapp <[removed]@scls.lib.wi.us>
> Date: Monday, January 3, 2005 8:14 pm
> Subject: "street" fiction
> > I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly for the staff to
> > use in
> > readers advisory situations, of authors who write gritty "street"
> > fiction. This is what I have so far, I would appreciate
> > additional
> > suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly popular with our
> > patrons. I have also included some popular African American
> > authors who
> > may not exactly be exact genre fits.
> >
> > Donald Goines
> > Iceberg Slim
> > Omar Tyree
> > Nikki Turner
> > Shannon Holmes
> > Teri Woods
> > Erica Kennedy
> > Kimberla Lawson Roby
> > Valerie Wilson Wesley
> > Tracy Brown
> > K'Wan
> >
> > Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library
> >
> > ......................................................................
> > Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> > Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
> >
> >
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>

FROM: "Myra Emmons" <[removed]@metrocast.net>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 2:12 PM

Can't remember the author, but "Orange Laughter" is excellent.

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
[[removed]@maillist.webrary.org] On Behalf Of Barry Trott
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 2:17 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Re: "street" fiction

I think that Cindy makes a very good point here. I was looking around at

Agatha Christie readalikes on library web sites, and found several sites

that offered Sara Paretsky, Elmore Leonard, Tony Hillerman, Sue Grafton,

and Mickey Spillane as readalikes for Christie. Now a reader of Agatha
Christie may very well like any or all of these choices (I do myself).
But
I would be reluctant to offer these authors to a reader without a lot of

discussion of how they differ from Christie in many of the areas of
appeal. These are authors that you might recommend to a reader with whom

you have been working for a while, and who had expressed an interest in
branching out into a new area of mysteries.

Perhaps a good new year's resolution for the RA community would be to go

back and look at what we are offering to our readers through our web
pages
and make sure that we really like the choices that we have suggested. I
know that this requires time and effort, but an Agatha Christie reader
who
picks up Mickey Spillane on the recommendation of a library web page and

is fails to see a connection between the two may not feel much
confidence
in seeking further recommendations either from that web site or from the

librarians. If we want RA to be taken seriously by patrons and library
administrators, we have to take our role as recommenders seriously as
well.

Well, I am off to review our web suggestions. Happy New Year, all

Barry

************************************************************************
*******
Barry Trott 7770 Croaker Rd.
Adult Services Director Williamsburg VA 23188
Williamsburg Regional Library Phone: 757-259-4053
http://www.wrl.org/bookweb FAX: 757-259-4079
************************************************************************
*******

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005, Cynthia Orr wrote:

> I'm definitely no expert on this subject, but it brings up something
I've fretted over a bit in the past, and I hope someone who knows more
about it will help me out here.
> First of all, as a disclaimer, I think we all know that just making
readalike lists of author names is a very short shortcut and that
authors write very different books sometimes, so just because one book
might be similar, it doesn't necessarily follow that others by the same
author will be.
>
> I think also that we know that if you don't read a particular genre,
then that distance you have from it tends to make all the titles seem
alike. If you do read a particular genre, then you can see LOTS of
differences between authors and titles and you see subgenres and nuances
that others don't see. For example, if you don't like mysteries, then
you would tend to see a wall of books labeled Mystery and think "the
mysteries are all over there," and pretty much lump them into one
category. If you are a mystery reader, you would never assume that a
Miss Marple book by Agatha Christie would be anything like a Burke
mystery by Andrew Vacchs, for example.
>
> Having said that, though, I think that the list of readalikes that we
have in the archives for Sister Souljah's Coldest Winter Ever might be a
place to start, though I have major doubts about several of the titles
on that list. I think that most readers who are looking for "street"
fiction are looking for just that. Putting A Lesson Before Dying on the
list just because it deals with a young African American man in prison
does a disservice. We wouldn't put Danielle Steel's Ransom on this list
just because it's about a drug dealer. And just because an author is an
African American, it doesn't necessarily follow that his books should be
lumped in with other African American authors--unless you're just
looking for a list of African American authors, of course.
>
> I don't think Valerie Wilson Wesley falls at all into the category of
street fiction, for example.
>
> Could someone else with more expertise provide us with a good updated
list? This is a question that comes up in many libraries I'm sure, and
publishing has boomed in this category since the last list was done. For
example, there are the Triple Crown publications.
>
> Thanks. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I just think that "street"
fiction readers deserve good lists too! After all, they shouldn't have
to apologize for their reading tastes either.
>
> Cindy
>
> Cynthia Orr
> Collection Manager
> Cleveland Public Library
> 17133 Lake Shore Boulevard
> Cleveland, OH 44110
> Phone: 216-623-2906
> Fax: 216-623-2977
> http://www.cpl.org
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mary Knapp <[removed]@scls.lib.wi.us>
> Date: Monday, January 3, 2005 8:14 pm
> Subject: "street" fiction
> > I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly for the staff to
> > use in
> > readers advisory situations, of authors who write gritty "street"
> > fiction. This is what I have so far, I would appreciate
> > additional
> > suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly popular with our
> > patrons. I have also included some popular African American
> > authors who
> > may not exactly be exact genre fits.
> >
> > Donald Goines
> > Iceberg Slim
> > Omar Tyree
> > Nikki Turner
> > Shannon Holmes
> > Teri Woods
> > Erica Kennedy
> > Kimberla Lawson Roby
> > Valerie Wilson Wesley
> > Tracy Brown
> > K'Wan
> >
> > Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library
> >
> >
......................................................................
> > Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> > Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
> >
> >
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>

FROM: "Dillie, Thomas" <[removed]@gcpl.lib.oh.us>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 2:40 PM

Mary,
I think Sapphire's two novels, Push, and American Dreams (which combines poetry and prose) should be on your list. And Chester Himes would be another author to add, not as raw as Goines or Iceberg Slim, but certainly as hard.

Tom Dillie, Head Librarian
Cedarville Community Library
Greene County Public Library
P.O. Box 26
74 N. Main St.
Cedarville OH 45314
[removed]@gcpl.lib.oh.us

"'Under consideration' means we've lost the file. 'Under active consideration' means we're trying to find it."
--The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister, by Jonathan Lynn

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
[[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]On Behalf Of Mary Knapp
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 8:14 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: "street" fiction

I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly for the staff to use in
readers advisory situations, of authors who write gritty "street"
fiction. This is what I have so far, I would appreciate additional
suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly popular with our
patrons. I have also included some popular African American authors who
may not exactly be exact genre fits.

Donald Goines
Iceberg Slim
Omar Tyree
Nikki Turner
Shannon Holmes
Teri Woods
Erica Kennedy
Kimberla Lawson Roby
Valerie Wilson Wesley
Tracy Brown
K'Wan

Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library

FROM: Mary K Chelton <[removed]@optonline.net>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 7:01 PM

I agree with Cindy Orr that street fiction readers deserve good,
well-analyzed and well-constructed readalikes, too. Be careful of
descriptors, though, in the absence of a good analysis of appeal
factors. "Gritty" and "street fiction" mean different things to me and
possibly many readers, and are not synonyms for each other. I think
Push by Ramona Saffire should possibly also be on a street fiction
list, but I've seen J. D. Robb books on "gritty" lists.

Mary K.

******************************************************
Mary K. Chelton, Ph. D.
Professor
Graduate School of Library & Information Studies
Queens College
254 Rosenthal Library
65-30 Kissena Blvd.
Flushing, NY 11367
Voice: (718) 997-3790 GSLIS office;
3667 direct/voicemail
Fax: (718) 997-3797
*******************************************************

FROM: David Wright <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 1/4/05, 7:30 PM

It could do with some new titles - Solomon
Jones, Nichelle Tramble, Shannon Holmes and
others here all have more recent stuff, and there
are a handful of other writers that have emerged
since, but our 'If You Like Donald Goines' list
isn't bad:

http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=collection_readinglists_category_detail&cid=1063985231765

Some of the old school writers are harder to come
by, but they just reprinted John A Williams 'The
Man Who Cried I Am.' It is as different from
Goines as Chester Himes' social novels are from
his crime thrillers, yet the message and the
anger and the rawness is all there...

David Wright

--- "Dillie, Thomas" <[removed]@gcpl.lib.oh.us>
wrote:

> Mary,
> I think Sapphire's two novels, Push, and
> American Dreams (which combines poetry and
> prose) should be on your list. And Chester
> Himes would be another author to add, not as
> raw as Goines or Iceberg Slim, but certainly as
> hard.
>
> Tom Dillie, Head Librarian
> Cedarville Community Library
> Greene County Public Library
> P.O. Box 26
> 74 N. Main St.
> Cedarville OH 45314
> [removed]@gcpl.lib.oh.us
>
> "'Under consideration' means we've lost the
> file. 'Under active consideration' means we're
> trying to find it."
> --The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a
> Cabinet Minister, by Jonathan Lynn
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
> [[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]On
> Behalf Of Mary Knapp
> Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 8:14 PM
> To: Fiction_L
> Subject: "street" fiction
>
>
> I am trying to compile a list of authors,
> mostly for the staff to use in
> readers advisory situations, of authors who
> write gritty "street"
> fiction. This is what I have so far, I would
> appreciate additional
> suggestions. This genre is becoming
> increasingly popular with our
> patrons. I have also included some popular
> African American authors who
> may not exactly be exact genre fits.
>
> Donald Goines
> Iceberg Slim
> Omar Tyree
> Nikki Turner
> Shannon Holmes
> Teri Woods
> Erica Kennedy
> Kimberla Lawson Roby
> Valerie Wilson Wesley
> Tracy Brown
> K'Wan
>
> Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library
>
>
......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> archives?
> Everything Fiction_L:
> http://fictionl.webrary.org
>
>
......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> archives?
> Everything Fiction_L:
> http://fictionl.webrary.org
>
>

=====
David Wright - Seattle Public Library Fiction Dept.

"Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
-G.K. Chesterton


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do?
http://my.yahoo.com

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/5/05, 12:24 AM

In a message dated 1/4/2005 7:57:34 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[removed]@optonline.net writes:
I think
Push by Ramona Saffire should possibly also be on a street fiction
list, but I've seen J. D. Robb books on "gritty" lists.
I'd concur. Also possibly qualifying as gritty are some of the recent
thrillers by Kay Hooper, Erika Spindler, Mariah Stewart, and Maggie Shayne (The
Gingerbread Man).

Binnie Syril Braunstein
Romance novelist/former librarian

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/5/05, 12:17 PM

George Pelecanos books take place in the gritty streets of DC and its suburbs.

Right As Rain
Hell To Pay
Soul Circus
Hard Revolution
King Suckerman
The Big Blowdown
The Sweet Forever
Shame The Devil
Down by The River Where The Dead Men Go

I hesitate to mention that a certain bookstore in Silver Spring plays a
prominent role in one series. Natalya may chide me for it. <G>

Cynthia Parker
Silver Spring Treasurebooks

FROM: Kaite Mediatore <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 1/8/05, 10:03 AM

Barry,
Great comments. I'm saving this email, along with
Cindy's! You brought up a few points of contention I
hae when I try to compile a Readalike for NoveList. My
training leads me give a reader of a particular book
other BOOKS rather than other AUTHORS. I sometimes
feel I may be doing the authors a disservice by
claiming they write just like someone else.

Just some points to ponder,
Kaite
See you in Boston!
--- Barry Trott <[removed]@mail.wrl.org> wrote:

> I think that Cindy makes a very good point here. I
> was looking around at
> Agatha Christie readalikes on library web sites, and
> found several sites
> that offered Sara Paretsky, Elmore Leonard, Tony
> Hillerman, Sue Grafton,
> and Mickey Spillane as readalikes for Christie. Now
> a reader of Agatha
> Christie may very well like any or all of these
> choices (I do myself). But
> I would be reluctant to offer these authors to a
> reader without a lot of
> discussion of how they differ from Christie in many
> of the areas of
> appeal. These are authors that you might recommend
> to a reader with whom
> you have been working for a while, and who had
> expressed an interest in
> branching out into a new area of mysteries.
>
> Perhaps a good new year's resolution for the RA
> community would be to go
> back and look at what we are offering to our readers
> through our web pages
> and make sure that we really like the choices that
> we have suggested. I
> know that this requires time and effort, but an
> Agatha Christie reader who
> picks up Mickey Spillane on the recommendation of a
> library web page and
> is fails to see a connection between the two may not
> feel much confidence
> in seeking further recommendations either from that
> web site or from the
> librarians. If we want RA to be taken seriously by
> patrons and library
> administrators, we have to take our role as
> recommenders seriously as
> well.
>
> Well, I am off to review our web suggestions. Happy
> New Year, all
>
> Barry
>
>
*******************************************************************************
> Barry Trott 7770 Croaker Rd.
> Adult Services Director Williamsburg VA 23188
> Williamsburg Regional Library Phone: 757-259-4053
> http://www.wrl.org/bookweb FAX: 757-259-4079
>
*******************************************************************************
>
> On Tue, 4 Jan 2005, Cynthia Orr wrote:
>
> > I'm definitely no expert on this subject, but it
> brings up something I've fretted over a bit in the
> past, and I hope someone who knows more about it
> will help me out here.
> > First of all, as a disclaimer, I think we all know
> that just making readalike lists of author names is
> a very short shortcut and that authors write very
> different books sometimes, so just because one book
> might be similar, it doesn't necessarily follow that
> others by the same author will be.
> >
> > I think also that we know that if you don't read a
> particular genre, then that distance you have from
> it tends to make all the titles seem alike. If you
> do read a particular genre, then you can see LOTS of
> differences between authors and titles and you see
> subgenres and nuances that others don't see. For
> example, if you don't like mysteries, then you would
> tend to see a wall of books labeled Mystery and
> think "the mysteries are all over there," and pretty
> much lump them into one category. If you are a
> mystery reader, you would never assume that a Miss
> Marple book by Agatha Christie would be anything
> like a Burke mystery by Andrew Vacchs, for example.
> >
> > Having said that, though, I think that the list of
> readalikes that we have in the archives for Sister
> Souljah's Coldest Winter Ever might be a place to
> start, though I have major doubts about several of
> the titles on that list. I think that most readers
> who are looking for "street" fiction are looking for
> just that. Putting A Lesson Before Dying on the
> list just because it deals with a young African
> American man in prison does a disservice. We
> wouldn't put Danielle Steel's Ransom on this list
> just because it's about a drug dealer. And just
> because an author is an African American, it doesn't
> necessarily follow that his books should be lumped
> in with other African American authors--unless
> you're just looking for a list of African American
> authors, of course.
> >
> > I don't think Valerie Wilson Wesley falls at all
> into the category of street fiction, for example.
> >
> > Could someone else with more expertise provide us
> with a good updated list? This is a question that
> comes up in many libraries I'm sure, and publishing
> has boomed in this category since the last list was
> done. For example, there are the Triple Crown
> publications.
> >
> > Thanks. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I just
> think that "street" fiction readers deserve good
> lists too! After all, they shouldn't have to
> apologize for their reading tastes either.
> >
> > Cindy
> >
> > Cynthia Orr
> > Collection Manager
> > Cleveland Public Library
> > 17133 Lake Shore Boulevard
> > Cleveland, OH 44110
> > Phone: 216-623-2906
> > Fax: 216-623-2977
> > http://www.cpl.org
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Mary Knapp <[removed]@scls.lib.wi.us>
> > Date: Monday, January 3, 2005 8:14 pm
> > Subject: "street" fiction
> > > I am trying to compile a list of authors, mostly
> for the staff to
> > > use in
> > > readers advisory situations, of authors who
> write gritty "street"
> > > fiction. This is what I have so far, I would
> appreciate
> > > additional
> > > suggestions. This genre is becoming increasingly
> popular with our
> > > patrons. I have also included some popular
> African American
> > > authors who
> > > may not exactly be exact genre fits.
> > >
> > > Donald Goines
> > > Iceberg Slim
> > > Omar Tyree
> > > Nikki Turner
> > > Shannon Holmes
> > > Teri Woods
> > > Erica Kennedy
> > > Kimberla Lawson Roby
> > > Valerie Wilson Wesley
> > > Tracy Brown
> > > K'Wan
> > >
> > > Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library
> > >
> > >
>
......................................................................
>
> > > Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> archives?
> > > Everything Fiction_L:
> http://fictionl.webrary.org
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
......................................................................
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> >
>
>
>
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FROM: Kaite Mediatore <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 1/8/05, 10:20 AM

In the January/February issue of Pages there's an
article on Street Fiction.

Kaite
--- David Wright <[removed]@yahoo.com> wrote:

> It could do with some new titles - Solomon
> Jones, Nichelle Tramble, Shannon Holmes and
> others here all have more recent stuff, and there
> are a handful of other writers that have emerged
> since, but our 'If You Like Donald Goines' list
> isn't bad:
>
>
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=collection_readinglists_category_detail&cid=1063985231765
>
> Some of the old school writers are harder to come
> by, but they just reprinted John A Williams 'The
> Man Who Cried I Am.' It is as different from
> Goines as Chester Himes' social novels are from
> his crime thrillers, yet the message and the
> anger and the rawness is all there...
>
> David Wright
>
> --- "Dillie, Thomas" <[removed]@gcpl.lib.oh.us>
> wrote:
>
> > Mary,
> > I think Sapphire's two novels, Push, and
> > American Dreams (which combines poetry and
> > prose) should be on your list. And Chester
> > Himes would be another author to add, not as
> > raw as Goines or Iceberg Slim, but certainly as
> > hard.
> >
> > Tom Dillie, Head Librarian
> > Cedarville Community Library
> > Greene County Public Library
> > P.O. Box 26
> > 74 N. Main St.
> > Cedarville OH 45314
> > [removed]@gcpl.lib.oh.us
> >
> > "'Under consideration' means we've lost the
> > file. 'Under active consideration' means we're
> > trying to find it."
> > --The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a
> > Cabinet Minister, by Jonathan Lynn
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
> > [[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]On
> > Behalf Of Mary Knapp
> > Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 8:14 PM
> > To: Fiction_L
> > Subject: "street" fiction
> >
> >
> > I am trying to compile a list of authors,
> > mostly for the staff to use in
> > readers advisory situations, of authors who
> > write gritty "street"
> > fiction. This is what I have so far, I would
> > appreciate additional
> > suggestions. This genre is becoming
> > increasingly popular with our
> > patrons. I have also included some popular
> > African American authors who
> > may not exactly be exact genre fits.
> >
> > Donald Goines
> > Iceberg Slim
> > Omar Tyree
> > Nikki Turner
> > Shannon Holmes
> > Teri Woods
> > Erica Kennedy
> > Kimberla Lawson Roby
> > Valerie Wilson Wesley
> > Tracy Brown
> > K'Wan
> >
> > Mary Knapp, Madison Public Library
> >
> >
>
......................................................................
> > Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> > archives?
> > Everything Fiction_L:
> > http://fictionl.webrary.org
> >
> >
>
......................................................................
> > Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> > archives?
> > Everything Fiction_L:
> > http://fictionl.webrary.org
> >
> >
>
>
> =====
> David Wright - Seattle Public Library Fiction Dept.
>
> "Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
> -G.K. Chesterton
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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