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Summary: The Future Has a Past
Review: As with all of Coopers books, it is another page turner! Once you get started it is hard to put the book down. I have all of her books and in the process of reading Wake in The Wind. Each story in The Future Has a Past will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to turn the page! I would recommend any of her books to read! BRILLIANT!!!!
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Summary: The Furture Has A Past
Review: I am a solid J. California Cooper fan for life. And it goes without saying that I was not disappointed when it came to reading The Future Has A Past.I loved all four stories. However, A Filet of Soul and The Lost and the Found were my favorites. Ms. Cooper has a way of holding your hand as she introduces you to the people in her stories. She has the ability to pinch just the right nerve at just the right time to let you know that you could have lived the life that the character is living. I just hope that we don't have to wait very long for the next book. But then again...stories by J. California Cooper are like fine wine. Nothing before it's time.
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Summary: J. California Cooper Never Lets Me Down
Review: I have been an admirer of J. California Cooper's writing for years. Every book of hers that I have read (and I've read most of them), has left me feeling warm and satisfied. "The Future Has A Past" is no exception. I went through this book in one day. Although I enjoyed each of the four short stories in the book, my favorite was "A Filet of Soul." What a wonderful collection of stories about people who feel like family. But that's the feeling I get with each of Ms. Cooper's books. Like I said, J. California Cooper never lets me down.
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Summary: Wonderful
Review: I have completed one of the stories in The Future Has a Past, and I am still reeling at what an amazing story teller this woman (J. California Cooper) is. Yes, tears did flow a bit after completing her first tale; I have never seen anyone write so simply but with as much feeling as Ms. Cooper does. EVERY tale she relays will cause you to pause for a moment (or two) and think about your life and how you run it. You end up analyzing the way you handle your business--and everyone else's. There is no story without a gentle, yet intensely powerful moral. I love Ms. Cooper, she cares about what she places in her reader's souls; I have never read another author's works that were able to touch me in the way her writing does. She is purely magnificent.
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Summary: AMAZING
Review: I have read everything Ms Cooper has written and everytime I think she has done her best work she has proven me wrong.I learned a long time ago that reading can take you to new places and sometimes make you understand where you have been. In The Future has a Past I find myself wondering how she knows me so well when we have never met. The stories are real no matter what time or place they are centered around. As in the Matter is Life I related to the stories because I had lived the stories or knew someone who has.From her first novel Family to Wake of the Wind, Ms Cooper has again brought reality to real situations by telling a fiction story. The future has a Past will take you inside yourself and make you think about what life and love means to you. The women have all been friends of mine. Louella in the Filet of Soul makes you look at yourself and wonder how many times have someone told us something about ourselves and we believed it. How many time have you thought of yourself as worthless or unloveable. This book is a great read and the stories are fictional but the characters are so very real. Again I must wait for something even more amazing then The Future has a Past. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Ms. Cooper.
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Summary: If my Mother told me stories ...
Review: If my Mother was a story teller with the sensitivity and range of J.California Cooper she woulds tell stories like these. These are stories, of warmth, loss, love, family, hurt and healing. Some of the characters are sad, lost, empty, grieving and others are whole and triumphant, but they are all from the wonderous mind of J. California Cooper. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Cooper and it was enlightening - if you ever have the chance to attend one of her readings please do. Read this book, share it with your girlfriends, aunts, sisters, mothers, and if you have daughters who are of an age to understand, tell them the stories. peace and respect - Christie
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Summary: simply the best
Review: It seems to me that when this lady writes something, it is so good that you feel that possibly, she can't top it, and then she does. J.California Cooper must be one of the most underrated African American writers there is because outside of her fans, you don't hear much about her. But in my opinion, she is one of the best writers out here. Anyone that could take a story and just make you enjoy it as though you enjoy a good meal or a good movie, that is Ms.Cooper. I enjoyed especially "A Filet of Soul". Luella may have had a self-esteem problem, but she sure wasn't a total fool. And in the end, she triumphed. The story about Vinnie and her self-centered children will come next. These stories are about ordinary folks whose life become a bit sweeter or in some instances, worse (like Cool in "The Lost and The Found" though I tend to feel he was set up for his own undoing).And in them, you find a lesson, and feel better for it. I only hope that more would recognize the talent that Ms.Cooper has and read her works. You won't come away disappointed.
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Summary: Always Superb!
Review: J. California Cooper has a gift for good writing! I really enjoyed all these short stories as much as her other ones. I can't say that I have a favorite because I enjoy them all equally! This one has more of a theme in all four stories. All the women were hard, hard-working women with children to raise and doing with it no-good men. However, they all were able to find love and it was true love. That is what I like about Ms. Coopers stories, they may be stories of strength and struggle, but love always conquers. I will always be a big fan of Ms. Coopers and I hope she has many more stories and novels to come.
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Summary: The Best Short Story Teller I Have Ever Come Across
Review: Please read J. California Cooper's forward in this book. She speaks the truth. This book was such an amazing read as with all of her other books. She can tell a story like no other. Her short stories have always uplifted me. I am a better person for having read them. I hope the magic rubs off on all who stumble across this incredible book...
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Summary: A collection of Short Stories
Review: This is a collections of short stories. One girl goes through life knowing love by using her body. Mothers going without to provide for their grown children and receive nothing in return. One lady thinks she is in love for the first time but the person she mistaken thinks is the one is only after her money. A man bragging about the kids he thinks he has but, rarely visit them because he thinks the mother of his children will always be waiting for him.
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