what are you reading today?

[Felix]

[OldSoul]

ABOUT BRONZEVILLE

To look at the neighborhood today you'd never know it, but if you were African American and living in the first half of last century, the place to be was on Chicago's Southside, a place known to ethnic Whites as the Black Belt for it's Negro population. But to those who lived there, and to their friends and family abroad, it was called Bronzeville. It was a thriving mecca of economic and political power, seated in the city's 2nd, 3rd and 4th wards, the promised land of socioeconomic opportunity and prosperity for the emancipated African American.

In a word, Bronzeville was great. What made it great were the people who lived, worked and played there: business and civic leaders with vision and clergymen who carried on the founding principles and traditions of our first Black churches. It's where the nation's first Black certified public accountants were working and supporting their families. There were great writers with a sense of the past, powerful political bosses with powerful allies, respected Pullman porters and longshoremen, doctors, lawyers, dentists, hotel owners and restaurateurs. Bronzeville was a place where great things were happening: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the world's first successful open-heart surgery, Jesse Binga built America's first Black-owned and operated state bank, and Rube Foster founded the Negro Baseball League. It was a place where a Black kid could grow up to be anything he or she wanted to be-- even mayor...

For all of the prosperity associated with the legacy of Bronzeville, the era had strong roots in what the world today knows as the "Lottery." But make no mistake about it, in the first half of last century the lottery was known by its true name, "Policy", and flourished, albeit illegally, in nearly every Black community in the United States. It is a significant chapter in African American history-- little known and less talked about.

Policy became the biggest Black-owned business in the world with combined annual sales sometimes reaching the $100 million mark and employing tens-of-thousands of people nationwide. In Bronzeville, Policy was a major catalyst by which the black economy was driven. In 1938 Time magazine reported that Bronzeville was the "Center of U.S. Negro Business", and more than a decade later, Our World magazine reported that "Windy City Negroes have more money, bigger cars and brighter clothes than any other city…. The city which has become famous for the biggest Policy wheels, the largest funerals, the flashiest cars and the prettiest women, has built that reputation on one thing, money". Those attributions, however, were largely due to Policy, a business conceived, owned, and operated by African American men known by many names including "Digit Barons", "Numbers Bankers", "Sportsmen", "Digitarians", and "the 1-2-3-4 Guys"; but more often than not they were called "Policy Kings".

From: 'KINGS' The True Story of Chicago's Policy Kings and Numbers Racketeers

An Informal History by Nathan Thompson

Published by The Bronzeville Press

[ordo]

Just finished Murakami's Kafka on the Shore and have begun South of the Border, West of the Sun - the man's a genius.

[jeepster]

just started Ordinary People by Judith Guest

pretty fucked up all ready. i like it. last book for my Search for Self class. last book was the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, which i was not digging what so ever. this one seems like a more messed up extension to Catcher in the Rye, which is an amazing book.

still reading Britpop and other assorted goodies.

[nettiemoore]

girls for breakfast by david yoo

[ThugLife]

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Steven King

[alex_844]

Rip it up and start again: post punk 1978-84 - simon reynolds

and the republic-plato for school ggggggaaaaaaagggggggggg

[ruach]

After a couple brief breaks; the other day I finally finished reading Celine's Death on the Installment Plan. That was followed by restarting/finishing "Lexicon Devil: the Fast Time and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs" and today I began Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year.

[bronsnine]

1984, not too sure how I feel about it yet, but I haven't had the chance to read it yet..

[nettiemoore]

just borrowed this yesterday.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

^ philly rep

just read cosmopolis by delillo

just starting swanns way - proust

[mmfood]

New to Superfuture

The Acid House

Animal Farm

1984, not too sure how I feel about it yet, but I haven't had the chance to read it yet..

I just finish reading 1984. Very Interesting. You should definitely read it.

[viv1984viv]

Man I wish people would elabourate a bit about the books the are reading, cmon people gives some opinions, or details about why you picked it up or what you think of it or something.

Im reading Dostoevsky's "notes from the underground" ( still, cant remember if ive already mentioned it ) its great, so existentialist I think, I really love the lead character, hes so bitter and thinks himself round into holes of laziness, great stuff.

Its kinda got me in the mood to go back to camus......but "the most beautifull woman in town" by bukowski is in the Royal Mail service for me....mmmm

On 1984, someone said something to me the other day, he studies classics but has read a few recent books, he mentioned 1984 and asked me if I read it ( I said yeah and mentioned to him fahrenheit 451 is similar but with a optimistic ending ) and we were with this other guy (who is 16) and the "Classics Guy" said "ha! yeah, you can tell he hasnt read 1984, he doesnt have that dead look in his eyes yet"

It kinda stuck with me, I think its the book that really injects cynicism and pessimism into people that really stays, more than any other book maybe..

[buffalocloud7]

New to Superfuture

The Acid House

when you finish the book check out the movie! some crazy stuff

[ordo]

Just finished South Of The Border, West Of The Sun and am beginning this:

Can't stop reading Murakami right now.

[djrajio]

Just finished South Of The Border, West Of The Sun and am beginning this:

Can't stop reading Murakami right now.

Good book.

More technical trading books. This kid made 31 million in profits at the age of 19...

And my bible for the next 6 months....

[tweeds]

when i am bored i often read children's stories.

today i drifted through roverandom and other tales

by tolkien

i've always found these little snippets, along with the hobbit, much more enjoyable than the mahabharata-esque silmarillion and lord of the rings.

i have also set aside revolting rhymes and esio trot by roald dahl aside for a rainy day

[buffalocloud7]

when i am bored i often read children's stories.

the little prince is one of my favorites. sadako and the thousand paper cranes too! classic stuff...

[nettiemoore]

went to the libary and borrowed these today

[denimdestroyedmylife]

been reading john ashberry poems on the train

[tweeds]

gasp

diddy takes the train

now we know

[C0C0]

started reading this again recently...madd jewels in here

[ordo]

gasp

diddy takes the train

now we know

Is this a big shock since half of his WAYWT shots are done on train platforms?

[tweeds]

^

e-stalker!

buffalocloud i like your children's story choices

i actually also like enid blyton alot

[Corbin Law]

labyrinth

by jorge luis borges

i think the circular ruins is the greatest short story ive ever read.

great stories in there.

[hazel]

Camus - the fall

half way through

[denimdestroyedmylife]

started reading this again recently...madd jewels in here

i love the first half when he's hustling

labyrinth

by jorge luis borges

i think the circular ruins is the greatest short story ive ever read.

great stories in there.

thats the volume that got me into borges

been trying to get my lady to read library of babel for years now

the complete fiction/non-fiction/poems set is indispensible

Camus - the fall

half way through

judge-penitent is the waywt dynamic, yeah?

and the dynamic of the superconfessional

[viv1984viv]

So I finished Dostoevkys "Notes....", amazing book, super great critism thru parody, made even more potent and effective in the books structure. Such a simple thing to put the old underground man first and the young underground man second but it really emphasized the inherent flaws in the philosophys he embodied ( that Dosto was parodying ).... so it did get me onto camus again, I read "the fall" although its a great book, I cant say I found it as stunning as the other 2 famous novels, guess I ought to re-read it after a while...

I also read Bukowskis "the most beautiful woman in town and other short storys" for shits and giggles although it really showed me a much more political, macabre and metaphorical side to his writing..... as well as the usual Chinaski antics.

I also read Boris Vians "I spit on your graves" there is a whole hoax/stunt that is behind the book and also that the book is part of. Its a pretty readable book, similar to Bukowski in some ways, but a much more innately (sp?) metaphorical work altogether...

So im reading Dostoevskys "the double" now, looks much more readable than "Notes".... i dont know if it will have the same intellectual or philosophical weight and potency as "notes", its a much earlier work but ill see.....

[kert]

"killer elite" by Michael Smith. interesting stuff.

[kert]

^^ a little info on the book. it's about an intel organization that was set up after the failed hostage rescue of US citizens held captive in Iran back in the late 70s. the hostage rescue failed because the US had bad intel by CIA in Tehran. After this, it was decided that the US needed a special intel organiztion for Delta and Seal Team 6 operations. This book is about that organization known as "the acitivity",