Black, White & Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca WalkerMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I'm almost done, and honestly, looking at the finish line. It quit being interesting about 100 pages ago, but I'm too stubborn to put it down without finishing.
I think what frustrates me the most is I don't feel like I ever know where she is, or anything about the people she's with. Not a lot of character development, except for her own person and her parents (who are awful, and I'm truly sorry for that). Her friends, her boyfriends -- no idea. There's not much navigational data in the book, and I find that annoying.
It seems less about the Black/White/Jewish aspect and more about her parents doing a horrible job. I do not think their race or religion played into their parenting; anyone could have made the mistakes they did. I'm sure those things helped the divorce along, but I don't think they contributed to their parenting. I think their individual self-focus made them awful parents -- again, nothing to do with race or religion. I think the stepmother did the best job of any of her parental figures.
I do enjoy the tidbits (few and far between) that highlight her struggle with her own mixture of origins. THAT is why I picked up the book in the first place.
Yes, I'll finish it, but can't wait until it's over.
Sorry to be so negative -- and I certainly don't mean anything against the author herself -- but it's just not well-structured.
**UPDATE**
I lied. I couldn't finish it. I'm so sorry, Ms. Walker. It became a dread to read and I had something exciting waiting on my bookshelf. :(
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