Dem (French Edition) by William Melvin Kelley

Dem (French Edition) Reviews

• 
  Jonathan

  Kelley writes about the White Gaze like no one else I have ever come across. He writes its assumptions, presumptions, demands, its blindness to nuance and individuality, its arrogance and hatred. As other commentators have noted, this is perhaps why he remains under-read. He is rightly brutal and pulls no punches.
  
  The book is dedicated “to the black people in (not of) America” and, in a further indication of his intention, begins with an epigraph from an Ashanti proverb: “the ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people”.
  
  
  
  If this book does not quite reach the brilliance of his previous work, it is just because it feels at times like he is trying to do something but not quite sure how to, like it is trying to cohere but doesn’t quite get there. Which is not to say it is not an extraordinary piece of work.
  
  Interestingly one chapter turns out to be one of his short stories slightly expanded, and there are many characters from his previous stories that pop up again here. If I had not just read them, and so knew more about these people, I wonder if the novel would have worked less effectively for me.
  
  Regardless, he was a genius and you need to be reading him.
  
  Read this too:
  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
  
  And then someone needs to publish those two unpublished novels! Especially the metafictional one, which sounds amazing
• 
  Janet

  This book was a wild ride from start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised that the content wasn't an overbearing and overwhelming barrage of the typical view of race in America: namely, being Black. That is to say: the viewpoint was surprising, unique and completely realistic. I found myself thinking I knew what was coming next and being shocked and eager for more around every turn. Kelley is obviously a brilliant story teller with a voice that deserves to be listened to. I kept thinking: This would be a cool movie adaptation for Jordan Peele to get his hands on. If that ever happens...you heard it here first...
• 
  Trin

  Delightfully, viciously, righteously sharp -- but very, very broad, and unfortunately, rather scattered. I definitely recommend reading the recent
  New Yorker article about Kelley, which is fascinating and tragic. You can see a great deal of his talent even in this flawed novel, but it is clear he never got the editorial support he deserved.
• 
  Dave

  Like an ahistorical internet warrior misinformed to the hilt who suddenly discovers evidence contrary to his basic set of principles, I was finally in on the wide open secret hiding in plain sight throughout this novel. I had even read ahead, the subtext explicitly piquing my interest, and still…I was unsure afoot while walking deliberately through the set of circumstances here. Mitchell Pierce is a well paid urbanite but also a philanderer and a racist. He holds no regard for his wife and is aloof with women in general, what to do with them other than use them for personal gain. He is dismayed by people of color, judging them harshly for the smallest of transgressions, and when faced with his estranged wife giving birth to twins—one white and one black—he sets out on a quest for the real father of the black baby to alleviate himself of the responsibility of raising the child. Or, if you’re into symbolism, the responsibility of human dignity towards those who are different, an oft repeated but seldom justified or rectified behavior of the white patriarchy for centuries. Bizarre and stinging, this book, recommended by John Warner, the Biblioracle, is as advertised, an ahead of its time classic.
• 
  Andi Chorley

  An excellent fable of race relations by the author who first put the word Woke to print in a New York Times opinion piece.
  
  A section featuring characters from the long-running US soap Search for Tomorrow did make me wonder if Gil Scott-Heron was inspired by this book when he wrote the lyrics to The Revolution Will Not Be Televised:
  
  "And women will not care if Dick finally got down with Jane
  On Search for Tomorrow"
• 
  Fred

  satire of white folks
• 
  Irfan

  jeez the cover on this site sucks. the original on the edition i have is amazing.
  
  There is something to be said about hwo sharp Kelley replicates the schizo-neurotic "White Gaze" that seems still to inhibit most western men till this day, and is at it seems to me to be at least related to the many weird and oppresive ways politics, media etc. function in these weird,western, white societies.
  
  Sadly, seen from a literary standpoint, this novel is not as "complete" or focused as it at many points felt like it could be, still urgently worth a read for anyone that can get their fingers on it.
• 
  Mostly on Storygraph

  These publishers have done a good service by publishing this 1967 work, a vital addition to the literary production of the Black Arts Movement. I'd only read William Melvin Kelley’s other book, A Different Drummer, and was so taken by this author and his beautiful and accessible prose, even when he is describing difficult subjects. With this book (and with A Different Drummer), I recommend reading the recent New Yorker article about the author's fascinating and tragic life:
  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
• 
  Mikhaila

  This is Black excellence. William Melvin Kelley’s writing is deeply insightful, complex. It makes you truly question the relationships you are involved in and the ways that your actions contribute to the feelings of the people you love. Kelley is brilliant at developing his characters with nuance. To write a story about the complications between race while telling such a profound story is a skill in and of itself but Kelley does so much more with the great narrative.
• 
  Jewell

  Written by an African American author in 1967 I was enthralled with his story about racial perceptions and expectations. Was not, however, ready for the ending which really had me going wow!! The second book that I've read by this new-to-me author, I have two more by him and look forward to reading them both.
• 
  Kelly

  Wow that’s a terrible cover photo. This was really interesting and good - but also sometimes so disturbing I had to put it down for a couple nights.
• 
  Ellen Smith

  I think I liked it enough? It was really strange. Thought provoking, though.
• 
  Charlie

  White guy voice: I neEd To gO to WoRk!! mY WiFEE!!!
• 
  Kimia

  3.5
• 
  Dave

  Not a fun story, but I think it is worth reading and thinking about as I have tried to.
• 
  Morgan

  Odd little book. Superb introduction that goes very deeply into the cultural context
• 
  death spiral

  A very good episode of Mad Men
• 
  Dan Hamilton

  A burning, dizzying novel that will leave you with deep questions to answer.
• 
  U. Teresa

  After having read William Melvin Kelly's A Different Drummer (one of the best novels I've ever read), I am left desiring more from dem. This novel is not a bad novel; seemingly, it's just a poorly written satire. I think the author does not adequately developed Mitchell Pierce or the demise of his charmed American dream life well enough from beginning to end. As a reader, I am left to fill in many blanks regarding the satirical nature of his privilege in terms of race, class, and sex. There are laughable moments throughout the novel, which makes one consider the blindness of Pierce; however, I don't think the novel fully lives up to the Black Arts Movement powerful statement on racial stereotypes and other entrenching issues of the 1960s. The naïveté of Pierce is almost too comical to take his cognitive dissonance seriously in a novel of satire. I would recommend reading the novel and getting to the heart of some of the stereotypes explored in the plot; however, I could also recommend other novels from the same time period that would do a much better job of uncovering the race and class issues of the 1960s.
• 
  Talha Saeed

  ok