Manchild in the Promised Land

this book changed my life in a way... not that i have similar experiences or grew up in that time because i'm only 24. This was an excellent book all the way but it did a little more for me. This is one of those books that touched me and will always get praise. My mother was an addict and up until i read this book i held a grudge because she left me at the age of 5. This book made me understand the mind of an addict and that she would have probably the best mother in the world if it were not for the drugs. I understood the control drugs had over people and my mom. The book wasnt just about drugs but you can overcome and rise from the evils of the world. But for me this book made me forgive my mother.

Mr. Brown has written a novel that brings home to all that have been raised in a big city how some have it tougher than themselves. I was raised in the same era in Detroit but it was a different experience. Hard drugs had not arrived on the white streets yet. Crime was at the fringes of our society and some youths did, some didn't. At the conclusion of the novel I was sincerely touched as he thought of his friends that hadn't made it and the the ones that had. We all have surely had the same thoughts and I sometimes wonder of the few of us that did well in our lives how many of the others didn't receive the same breaks. They were still our friends, and would be today if we seen them. They live forever in our minds and hearts and we do hope for the best of a good life, at least close to what we have had but there are probably more sad storys than not,better we don't know the pain could be to great. A striking novel and I will recommend to all I know.

"Manchild in the Promised Land" is a rare achievement: an autobiography written in clear, lucid prose without an ounce of self-pity, self-justification, or moralizing. While Claude Brown's life was difficult, dangerous, and violent, and he shows all of that in unflinching detail, he also recalls much of his childhood with pleasure and a good measure of pride that he survived. Most of all, for me, Brown's memoir is filled with regret for the many from his Harlem neighborhood who died, victims of crime, poverty, alcoholism and drug addiction. Indeed, one could say that one of the major characters of his story is heroin, which Brown describes as the scourge of his generation. The power of heroin to destroy is most poignantly described in Brown's recounting of his relationship with his younger brother. Claude took his responsibilities as an older brother seriously, but his younger brother fell victim to addiction, and Brown was forced to admit that he had lost him.As the book develops, an interesting change occurs in Brown's narrative voice. In the early stages, he describes with a defiant pride his wild exploits as a child and adolescent, which landed him in juvenile homes, and nearly got him killed. As he describes himself getting older and he eventually leaves Harlem, Brown's voice takes on a mixture of affection and regret as he talks about going back to the neighborhood and seeing old friends, many of whom had fallen on hard times. In the end, Brown's story is one of achievement. While he escapes the poverty of his youth, he refuses to forget his roots. In this sense, "Manchild"'s spiritual descendant is Sandra Cisneros' great novella, "The House on Mango Street," whose main character realizes that one must "go away to come back." Brown forges an inspirational story that overcomes despair in its power to shape memory and find meaning in a difficult life.

This was without doubt the most important book I read as a teenager. I moved to NYC from California when I was twelve and was pretty naive in the workings of the city. Reading this book when I was 13 helped me immensely. It was a street-wise primer for survival at the time (we're talking 1964). But I would hold that the subject matter is just as relevant today. If you don't know about a "Jones" or what makes a three-card-monty mark want to come back for more, then I suggest you are just as vulnerable as I was. It's also one of the all-time cautionary tales (without being preachy) about drug addiction. I did a lot of drugs in the late 60's, early 70's, but never touched heroin, primarily from reading this book. The writing, while maybe not on the level of Richard Wright, surpasses Malcom X's and Eldridge Cleaver's memoirs, and that's saying something, as those were both powerful works as well.

This beautiful piece of work was written in 1965, but seems to flow from the pages of yesterday's NY Times. I've purchased adleast 30 copies and just given them away-It rivals anything done by Baldwin, Wright or Ellison. Manchild is an ideal introduction to the world of words and must reading for the planet Earth!