Makes Me Wanna Holler

Rating:
Summary: A moving masterpiece of modern life... on my 10 best list!
Review: McCall tells an incredible true life story with great style and honesty. His journey goes from a shocking and dangerous life on the streets as a young black criminal, to a rebirth in prison, to working as a journalist at a prestigious newspaper. He pulls no punches in the retelling, exposing all the warts of his past, but with a context that makes it understandable. He really gives a sense of the desperate struggles that face young black men in America, which is not only the continuing subtle and not-so-subtle racism of whites, but equally the failure of blacks to believe in themselves, leading to hopelessness and rage. A gripping book that I couldn't put down, and that made me want to get up and do something

Rating:
Summary: A true account of life in urban America for Young Black Men
Review: Makes me Wanna Holler is one of the truest accounts of life in urban America for young black men that I have read thus far. I laughed, I almost cried, and at some points made angry. Mr McCall is living proof that you don't have to live a "Ghetto Mentality" GREAT BOOK.

Rating:
Summary: A book every young man should read!
Review: McCall demonstrates in this book, that not only do kids from broken homes run afoul of the law, but kids with solid middle class upbringing.. He had most of the advantages of the middle class but strayed and led a dishonorable life. But redemption through prison and the Muslim religion turned him around. It also shows the value of reading and the comprehension that one receives from good books. There is hope in his message. Our kids(especially our black kids) don't have to end up on the scrap heap and become the dregs of society. Mr. McCall, give us another sermon

Rating:
Summary: A great book detailing the frustrations of black males.
Review: Nathan McCall has written a awesome book detailing the frustrations of being black and male in the 1970s and much of what he felt then, is the same frustrations that our males are still faced with in today's society. McCall gives more than enough realism as he depicts his life from the old Nathan to becoming the new Nathan. It is indeed a challenge and through the book he keeps hope alive and tries to do the right thing.

Rating:
Summary: A not so untypical account of growing up black and male
Review: Mr. McCall's work had me laughing and at times totally disgusted with how easily life can be turned into a nightmare. The scene's he describes could be any black neighborhood in America. I could almost see myself in the same situations 15 years ago in my very hometown. The place maybe different and the names also, but Mr. McCall explores the very being of being young, male, and black in America. As you are reading, you sit in amazement and say hey that's me you're talking about or my boy down the street. Let the lesson be that life without a vision is no life at all

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY RIVETING
Review: Nathan's powerful, graphic, AS-IT-IS journey from the depths of the streets and, more importantly, from his own internal struggles growing up in the "land of the free" - to his triumphant life today as a talented writer for the Washington Post. I learned much about Nathan, as an individual & as a symbol of what many young black males are faced with. Furthermore, I gained insight, wisdom, and a strong sense of SHAME toward much of White America & the role it has played in creating, providing, encouraging and, hence, perpetuating the self destructing lifestyles that so many of these men choose . A compelling and soul wrenching book... it doesn't get more "REAL" than this

Rating:
Summary: The stress of survival
Review: Nathan McCall's acoounts of his life are inspiring and terrifying all at once. He proves that not all, supposed, "bad" kids come from disfunctional homes. His parents were loving and supportive, yet he still found it easier to take another route. His telling of his treatment in different work environments brought to mind different incidences I have encountered, and how sad and dissapointed our society can make us fell. I applaud him for a book I couldn't put down, even when I tried. I just had to keep reading.

Rating:
Summary: Relearning Fundamentals
Review: As a white man who grew up in similarly violent circumstances, I struggled to overcome my own racism. Nathan McCall's book had a profound impact upon my life because he taught me a fundamental truth: I can never, ever know what it is like to be a black person in America. I can never assume that being successful in America is as easy for black people as for white because I can never know - an interesting twist on the uncertainty principle. We can only know our own experience and we should listen to others so that we may at least try to understand their experience.





Rating:
Summary: Makes Me Wanna Holler
Review: I think this book is a great way of for young people to understand how life was for a black men. I never really thought about the white mainstream until I read this book. I can just imagine just how hard it must have been. I know that I would get pissed off if I applied to a job and got rejected, and then the next day I see the same person who applied to same job and got it. I would also assume it was becasue of my color. Especially if it happend back then.

McCall talks about his life in his younger years and the things he did which include rape, robbery, and shootings. I'm glad that he changed his way of life while in prison and after. It was good of him to recognize that the things he did when he was younger were wrong. He told the story of his life and he kept it real.

I would definitly encourage people to read this book. Especially young people like me. It really shows you that you can do whatever you want if you set your mind into it. This book truly represents the quote "Life is what you make it." I would also like to point out that McCall may come of as if he hates white people, but I think thats is because of all the racist remarks he got. But he does get to know a few towards the end of the book.



Rating:
Summary: It wasn't racism, it was peer pressure!
Review: It was not racism that sparked Nathan McCall's violent hate-filled nature; it was his black hoodlum homeboys/gang peer pressure! Although he believes and wants us to believe it was rooted on racism, as you read his story, it all stems from gang related peer pressure.

In the first chapter, he gleefully recounts the brutal and savage beating he and buddies participated in just because the young white man rode his bicycle into their neighborhood. Now, regardless of blacks on white or whites on black-attacks, anybody who gangs up on one person is a coward. Simple as that....a coward.

Again, the hoodlums gang rape young black girls - they call it "trains" and he clearly admits that it is symbolic of hating his own kind as he says, "We thought we loved sisters, but we actually hated them. We hate them because they were black and we were black, and on some level much deeper than we realized, we hated the hell out of ourselves."

While hanging at 7-eleven, he admits that they stole just because they were too lazy to go home and have lunch. They graduated to selling drugs, breaking and entering, robbing people, stealing excessively from a large department store that eventually led to the demise of the store which evolved into a slew of out-of-work black people.

Throughout his life, he impregnated women he truly didn't care about and, like many irresponsible men, black or white, he rarely was a force in the childrens' lives.

The violence imposed on other black people for something as simple as disrespect was his downfall as he shot another black man, lied to the judge that it was self-defense and was lucky to get away without jail time. It was armed robbery at McDonald's that led him to prison.

From youth to an adult, McCall was steeped in anger and hate toward the white man so much that it "ate" at him. And my response to him is ... it's no wonder the white man watched you in the store or why a woman in the elevator was scared of you.... or why a person held tighter to their purse as you walked by. The black man did it to himself.

McCall has succeeded as a big-time journalist amidst that chaotic struggling hate-filled life he endured. The book is very well-written. Chapters are categorized with titles that provide a clear definition to aspects of his life. The chapters follow through his youth, women, work, prison, Islamic study, children, marriage, divorce, to the Washington Post.

This is a book that young men need to read. It is a clear example of "don't do what I did!" .....MzRizz.