Gorilla, My Love

Toni Cade Bambara is deep- her works cover issues that reflect the social climate, in particular, for people of color. Most of her works contain a sense of “black awareness” and she is well known for the dialogue and language of her characters. These dialogues are what give life to her characters. These characters, though fictitious, are raw and their stories provide insight into their lives and struggles.Gorilla, My Love is a collection of 15 short stories that remain true to Bambara’s style. I found I enjoyed the stories, when I took my time to read them and understand the tone and the message beautifully contained within Bambara’s colorful prose. At the first read, these stories can be challenging. They require the reader give them their due time and take in the scene, the characters and the symbolisms employed. Though this book is only 192 pages, which technically, is a decent quick read, I do not recommend it in the midst of a read-a-thon or aggressive end of year book challenge. I repeat, give this book time to really enjoy it.There are several good stories in this collection. Some of my favorites were the title story, Gorilla, My Love, Hammerman, and Basement.In Gorilla, My Love, the story is told from the point of view of the main character, Hazel, a sassy, tough, young kid, who holds people accountable for what they say. This is a significant theme for this story as things take a twist in the end, when she discovers that her uncle is preparing to marry. Her character is credible as young children are innocent and trusting of adults. They typically will believe what an adult tells them and take it as bond. This was a great read and I connected with Hazel at the end of the story.In Hammerman, issues such as mental illness and race are covered. The point of view is the main character, a young girl who is aware of her surroundings. She finds herself in a little dilemma after she fights Manny (also known as the Hammerman). He is unable to shake this physical altercation and so chooses to wait for our main character on the roof of her house so that he will have the opportunity to fight her again. However, he is not just waiting one day, he waits for several days. The reader learns that Manny possibly has a mental illness, though many of the people in his neighborhood just refer to him as “crazy”. The main character later bears witness to a confrontation between Manny and some police officers who try to remove him from a basketball court when he is caught there playing after hours. It is very likely the officers do not understand that Manny has a mental illness and that Manny does not understand them either. Things become quite chaotic as the main character tries to make sense of what is going on and tries to step in to defend Manny. I will not say anymore…but get the book and tell me what you think.Sexuality is the theme covered in Basement. We are introduced to this theme when Patsy, one of the characters in the story, reveals to her mother, the building engineer exposed himself to her and other kids while they were in the basement playing. This particular story is not extremely graphic, but there is a brief and basic description of what takes place in certain scenes. This particular story was interesting for me to read, as the dialogue was a child’s interpretation of the sexual behavior observed. This story is not traumatizing and should not discourage anyone from reading it—READ IT and appreciate the literary skills of Bambara.Overall, I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars. What can I say? I recommend it. There are so many reviews out there on it, many of them from literary professors and scholars. However, I would encourage you to read it and form your own opinion.

Ms Bambara has a place in the pantheon; she doesn't need my help. But here she demonstrates a gift I wanted to shout about. Many authors have animated the voices of children--Scout, Holden, Huck are three--but no one has nailed the restlessness, silliness, aplomb and verbal cadence of particular young people so economically as Bambara, and at the same time been so royally entertaining with it all. She has edited out the dull parts of their blather and left only the vivid idiocycratic behavior and mental lunacy of youth--in the cases I've read, of black female (usually) urban and economically depressed youth, by turns comic and poignant, but always bristling with life. Each of these very short stories--seven pages isn't unusual--has a narrative arc, a point, and reveals a complete world, and even if only one corner is described, it's convincing. I haven't finished the entire collection yet--they're not all spoken from the mouths of child narrators, but those are the most remarkable, moving and funny--but I had to stop and celebrate this truly remarkable writer. She has serious points to make sometimes, but such is her craft that they are so deftly made as often to sneak up on you.

Initially I was trying to see the connections between the stories. I soon leaned that they are separate short stories. Each story created a time and place. Some of the stories had unknown narrators. Definitely good to read about culture, racism, poverty, behavior toward mentally ill and more.

This book was good. Each story had its moments. Raymond's Run will always be my fave. I would definitely recommend this read.

Bambara is an excellent writer, a New Yorker, born in Harlem, whose stories still resonate, although much of her writing was published over three decades ago. Her short story, "The Lesson," known to most college freshman, is written from the point of view of a young Black woman--and it is not only hilarious, but is written in a vernacular which will still be familiar to Black Americans. The other stories in this collection are evocative of adolescence, of dawning racial and sexual identity, and of Bambara's home, and of an era, mainly the fifties and sixties. All are beautifully written. Every young woman, Black or white, should receive this short story collection for a birthday gift because Bambara's feminism, her socially conscious voice, and her often forgotten talent, will immediately appeal to girls and women.

These stories moved, entertained and enlightened me more than almost anything else I've ever read. Each story describes different aspects of African-American life. The characters are so vivid and strong that I felt I could see them and, eventually, understand them.Many of the stories feature young adults and are narrated by them. "Raymond's Run" is read in schools throughout America and the world, but many other of her stories are just as good. Although some of the language is strong, I think Gorilla My Love is suitable for children and will help them grow and understand the world they live in.I wish Toni Cade Bambara had continued to write stories like these. Her later writing was much more overtly political and maybe not as accessible to most audiences. She died too young, but Gorilla My Love will still be read 100 years from now.

The stories are really interesting and their told from points of view I don't get to read from often. I enjoyed this.

Good. Arrived on time

This was a bookclub read. Everyone, save and except the person who chose the book, agreed it was a thumbs down. No one finished the book. The language/voice seems to be the major issue. A secondary issue was the disjointed stories with no discernible plot.