Quincy Troupe

I liked this book, but beware, the movie this book is not.

Mr. Gardner had a hard upbringing. He was in and out of foster care or living with relatives. When he did live with his biological mother, he had to endure a insanely emotionally and physically abusive step-father. My heart broke for him during those periods of his life.

Later in life, Mr. Gardner became homeless and a single father. This period was also heartbreaking, yet Mr. Gardner kept fighting. I think that's the ultimate message show more of this book - never give up. Gardner bettered himself through education and hardwork and overcame. Every story is different, but this is definitely a case study on rising from the ashes.

Luckily for Gardner, his mother instilled in him a fortitude to continue and wisdom to survive. This book may be an inspiration for other people going through similar experiences. If Mr. Gardner can make it, so can you.

I hear many reviewers complain about the coarseness of this book; they say the profanity and situations are too much to stomach (sigh). I disagree. Mr. Gardner's life was no "tip toe through the tulips". Occasionally, using profanity as a descriptor is the best way to convey mood and setting; It isn't a lack of intelligence; it isn't depraved; it's keeping it real. It's a way to relate. I do not think the book should be judged on how clean of a life Mr. Gardner had; It wasn't clean; it wasn't pretty.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It's an inspiration, and in these pages, Mr. Gardner just let's it go and always keeps it real. show less

Seduction: New Poems, 2013-2018 by Quincy Troupe is the poets latest collection of poetry. Troupe is an award-winning author of ten volumes of poetry, three children’s books, and six non-fiction works.

Troupe offers a unique perspective on African-American life from Jazz to the shootings of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Trayvon Martin. Troupe plays heavily on two themes. The first is the substitution of "eye" for "I." The "eye" is all-seeing whereas "I" is open to interpretation and our show more own prejudices. The eye is everyone. We see the news. We see the violence. We see the racism. The eye is also the key to seduction. It is what draws us in. We live in an age of visual stimulation and Troupe uses that to draw the reader into his poetry.

The second theme is seduction in its various forms. Troupes connection with jazz and Aretha Franklin offers positive temptations. Seduction, too, offers a current and relevant examination of society. We are seduced into our own world through electronic devices. We are seduced by politicians that do not serve our interests. We are seduced into action movies at theaters, and sometimes become victims of the violence that is being glorified.

The "eye" is all of us which makes this collection, not just an African-American poet speaking but, collectively all of us. We all see the same things. We are seduced by many things from jazz to the "orange face doofus." We must join the eye with the seduction and examine what is really seducing us because there really is a difference in quality and consequences between a singers voice and racist politics. show less

this is a great example of those books that prove that just having a good story, or a story worth telling, is enough. there are a few good sentences here and there throughout, but in general it isn't well written and is missing just about everything that makes a book a good read. certainly i'm impressed by his work ethic and ability to do so many different things so well, including navigating homelessness with a toddler. but that alone doesn't make a good rags to riches story. he went show more through a lot, and i'm glad that he's successful and giving back, but that doesn't automatically make for a good book. show less

I was uneasy going into this book. The movie made Gardner to be an American hero, moving up from homelessness into riches. The full story as Gardner tells it is much more grim. I won’t itemize Gardner’s list of crimes, but it’s enough to say, I think, that the movie omits or glosses over most of the shadier events of his life. And, no, as you might expect, even with a writer helping him, Gardner is not good at setting down the story of his life. I was left with the feeling that Gardner show more is just a man who wanted to become rich and did so. His greatest accomplishment was to do this without tossing aside his kids when it would have been easy to do so. show less