In my teens and early twenties I was reading books like
The Catcher In The Rye,
Rubyfruit Jungle,
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo,
Sula and I even stumbled through
War and Peace. Now it seems that many African Americans in their teens and twenties are reading what has become known as ghetto lit. These are apparently novels that tell stories that mirror hip hop songs with violence, drugs, etc.
The only book of this so-called genre that I've read is
The Coldest Winter by Sister
Souljah. It was a quick and somewhat interesting read. Oh and I've read Zane (cough), I didn't finish the book though, there was too much sex and I found it redundant and trite. But I know a
lot of women who really like Zane's books. And I'm not a prude, it just seemed that Zane's sex scenes had no purpose other than to be sex scenes.
I came across this topic at the blog
HomelandColors. He opines on the subject of ghetto lit now and past. I also found on his blog links to a set of stories from National Public Radio on the subject. The second link includes author Terry McMillan's thoughts on the subject. They are both very interesting.
(Just click on the links below to listen)
I've been to the outer reaches of the internet so you won't have to and here is what I found. Enjoy!
