Ishmael Reed

July 15, 2009
Satire may be what closes on Saturday night, but it is nevertheless a powerful form of dramatic expression. In this first published collection of his plays, Reed takes on a half-dozen contemporary issues and causes, among them radical feminism (in "Mother Hubbard") and religious hypocrisy (in "The Preacher and the Rapper"), in his distinctive style. Over the last few decades, this award-winning writer has explored a variety of racial and political issues in more than a score of novels (e.g., "Mumbo Jumbo"), books of poetry (e.g., "Chattanooga"), and essays (e.g., "Airing Dirty Laundry"). In "The Oxford Companion to African American Literature", Reed is characterized as "one of the most original and controversial figures in the field of African American letters." He described his own work to Rebecca Carroll in "Swing Low: Black Men Writing" this way: "The main thing about my writing is that it is not like any other. I have always strived to be original." VERDICT Theatergoers, social critics, and fans of contemporary literature are natural audiences for this thought-provoking collection.Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2009
Noted author and social-critic Reed offers a collection of his plays written and modified over the years, reflecting his sharp observations on contemporary social hypocrisies on the political right as well as the left. In Mother Hubbard, he explores the stresses and strains of excessive feminism with misplaced rage. Savage Wild exposes a government so obsessed with bringing down a popular black mayor that its means border on criminality. Hubba City exposes the interest and beneficiaries of the illegal drug trade beyond street criminals to legitimate businessmen and the police, with minority communities suffering most. The Preacher and the Rapper inverts the image of rappers as Reed exposes negative objective social conditions and where rappers rise above misogyny and materialism. Body Parts explores the corporate greed that places human life at excessive risk as well as the practice of hiring blacks to facilitate right-wing political ends. Reeds work is biting, always in top form as he exempts neither the right nor the left from his wreckless eyeballing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)