Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption

For a biography to be a truly terrific read, it's best if the person's life story is itself interesting in some way, and that the biographer is a great writer. This meets both tests. His story is interesting partly because of the trajectory itself: how does someone "become" a thug, and how, why does he straighten out? It's also interesting in that Walker's journey away from the streets is marked by conscious choice making. It's refreshing to see a life story told in a way that affirms the human ability to be self-reflective and deliberative. Walker never portrays himself as a victim or a puppet: he honestly takes ownership of his bad choices as well as his positive ones. He confronts and is confronted by racism, but he doesn't use this as an excuse or a short cut - rather, he uses it as an opportunity for inquiry into the nature of race, and the nature of the self. Truly fascinating story, and beautifully written; highly recommended.

This book is truly enjoyable to read, and I felt as i was having a conversation with the writer as I read it. It is very easy to read and hard to put down. I enjoyed the writing style he used. The chapters alternated between his adult life and experiences he had growing up on Chicago's south side. It is a must read!

This book is excellently written. Each sentence in this memoir serves it's purpose and contributes to the creative good. I've read it numerous times since I've brought it because the author wrote each chapter with an honesty that I admire and he slapped it down on the pages in such an eloquent way that derives and demands enlightenment. This will move you and if it doesn't, check for a pulse. I have a feeling that we'll see a lot more from this encouraging writer.

I loved this memoir for its honesty and humor in dealing with issues race, rebellion, and especially introspection. The author discovers at some point that he simply isn't as downtrodden as he might be, and doesn't feel as persecuted as might, having come from the background that he did, but his perspective has merit, nonetheless. A very refreshing account of a challenging, but ultimately successful life.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book. I thought that, at the end, a wave of depression and discouragement regarding race relations in the USA would hit me. When I read books like this, it often does. Instead, I finished "Street Shadows" with a feeling of hopefulness. I was encouraged. Walker's prose and story are magnetic. I had huge reservations, and yet Walker pulled me in and I couldn't put the book down. I was a reluctant reader for a millisecond. After the first page I was a committed and compelled audience of one. One of my favorite chapters is "When Love Speaks". He ends the chapter with, "And even I, who knew so little about love in those days, knew all there was to know about it then." In the middle of the angry and self-destructive chaos of his life, someone gave Walker a glimpse of something beautiful beyond words. This chapter took my breath away. "Visible Man" is another wonderful chapter, but in a very different way. I love how it echo's Ellison's theme (Invisible Man) but with a twist. If others are telling you how to be visible and what visibility means, are you really visible or are you someone's shadow? There are many intensely frightening chapters in "Street Shadows". Those shadows are dispelled as Walker steps out of the scourge of drug abuse and cloud of victimization. But, even after the danger is past, those shadows can be intensely haunting because of the realization that so many young people are still caught in and dying in that land of shadows. In the end, this is a book of hope and healing in spite of those shadows on the street.