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Summary: Bailey's Cafe sees it all
Review: Bailey's cafe in 1940s Chicago is not your typical cafe -- there is no menu. You get whatever item they're serving any day of the week except Saturday, when you can have ANYTHING you want. But if you order it --- even peanut butter with pickles --- you have to eat it. Many different people pass through Bailey's, and each has a sad story to tell. There's Miss Maple, a straight man who enjoys dressing in women's clothing, and he tells you why in a story about how he looked for work after getting a PhD from Stanford. There's Eve who runs a boardinghouse that some would call a brothel. Beautiful Peaches who couldn't stand what her beauty did to her. Jesse Bell, who married into a family of snobs. And mariam, a girl from Ethiopia who may well be giving birth to a miracle. The stories are written in a straightforward and conversational style to make you feel you're there in the cafe talking to them. I was sorry when I got to the last page, because you know the characters have just told you about their lives thus far --- and that there is a lot more to be lived. Makes you wish you could keep going to Bailey's Cafe to find out the rest.
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Summary: The novel's a compelling mixture of suffering and redemption
Review: Bailey's Cafe is a compelling (if disturbing) mixture of suffering and redemption in a variety of African-American women's lives. Naylor once again weaves intricate stories of abused yet often innocent/optimistic victims looking for shelter and individual identity in a world that denies or negates them. Naylor bases many of her female characters on prominent biblical women, but readers may find her reshaping of those roles painful (uncomfortable at best). Possible indignation with Naylor's explicitly sexual and/or violent descriptions within her characters' lives could cause readers to miss seeing all-important underlying themes of self-empowerment and redemption. At the end of the novel, however, one must respect both Naylor's complex writing style and her characters' will to survive.
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Summary: Bailey's Cafe
Review: Bailey's Cafe is a mixture of suffering and redemption shown through a number of African-American women's lives. Nalyor does a great job explaining the characters and their backgrounds. It has wonderfully descriptive portrayals of each character and no one character is alike. The stories easily saddened me, but it is clear that hope, respect and recovery are important themes throughout the novel. There were also times when I was a bit lost as to what Naylor was trying to say . But, by the end of the chapter, I would figure out what it was that she was trying to depict. At the end of the novel, you realize that Naylor's complex writing style and all her characters will to survive just make this book that much better. I especially love the way Naylor connects her books. This is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of Gloria Naylor. I first got into her books because of my teacher, and now i have read all but "Mama day", which i look forward to reading. But Bailey's Cafe has been my favorite so far.
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Summary: Insiteful
Review: Bailey's Cafe is full of life and change. The one constant in life is change and the characters of this book have gone through several changes. This book depicts very honest descriptive portrals of each character and no one character is alike or even simular. Over the past seven years, I have read the book twice, it is a very easy read. Since Bailey's Cafe, I've been waiting for the next Gloria Nalor book. Until then, I'll keep enjoying my favorites Mamma Day and Bailey's Cafe. I hope that those reading this review will purchase or borrow this book, you won't regret it. I've learned some interesting ways to prepare desserts!
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Summary: A REAL PAGE TURNER
Review: BAILEY'S CAFE WAS MY FIRST GLORIA NAYLOR BOOK AND I ENJOYED IT THOROUGHLY. AFTER I READ IT I LOVED IT SO MUCH THAT I WENT ON TO READ EVERY OTHER BOOK SHE HAD EVER WRITTEN. I LOVE GLORIA'S WRITING STYLE AND I CANNOT WAIT FOR HER NEXT NOVEL.
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Summary: BAILEY'S CAFE needs to be renovated.
Review: BAILEY'S CAFE would have been better if the characters and situations had not been described to death! The people that frequently this establishment were interesting enough, but when they are described to the last atom, then it takes away from the book and it becomes lackluster. This was almost like reading a Stephen King novel, except the monster was not in the book, but in READING the book. Not my cup of tea.
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Summary: Too Bad
Review: I did not care too much for this book. I closed it wondering if I perhaps missed the point of it all. It seemed more like a character profile than a novel.
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Summary: Sexual details are very explicit and grotesque
Review: I found this novel to be extremely explicit in the description of the sexual experiences which each women partook in. Personally, I thought that "Bailey's Cafe" was going to be a good ol' down home kind of book, but I was greatly surprised. Literature nowadays is depressing, and often filthy.
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Summary: Wow! I missed that..
Review: I loved this book from start to finish. I love Ms. Naylor's writing, her development of character and ability to look at the difficult parts of life without being depressing is one of her hallmarks. Heads in the sand don't cut it with Gloria.
But, reading the reviews, I don't remember all the characters were dead at the end (?) and I didn't realize some of them tied in to her other books. Fascinating. Now I have to go read it again--goody!
The thing I DO remember most from this book was the way one of the characters was taken off heroin. That method is brutal, but you know I think it would work. Not without compassion, nonetheless.
Add Gloria Naylor to your list of best authors if you like well developed characters, and meaningful writing.
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Summary: Should've Made A Movie Based On This Book
Review: I read this book about a year ago and I must say that this was one of the best novels I've read and my first of Gloria Naylor's. I plan on reading it again and I am sure to get something new out of it. As other reviewers have commented, the stories of the customers of BAILEY'S CAFE are sad, inspirational and funny at the sametime. I've heard that all the customers are actually dead, ghosts caught in bewteen life and death. There was a hint of this when I first read it but I didn't quite pick up on it. Well, I have yet to any other novel from Naylor. This novel talks about issues of racism, class status and there's a little religion and philosophy intertwined in the mix. A great read!
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