Slice of life (and time) novel of St. Louis in the 70s. I grew up across the river and worked in St. Louis for a few years (actually, in the period the book is set within), so it was interesting to see familiar places and street names referenced. A little too slow-moving for me, with dialogue that didn't seem very realistic.
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I loved it. Only the Strong started out sounding like it was going to be a gritty gangster novel. It turned into a portrait of many aspects of mid-century African-American life in Gateway City, modeled after the author's native St. Louis. ( )

I loved it. Only the Strong started out sounding like it was going to be a gritty gangster novel. It turned into a portrait of many aspects of mid-century African-American life in Gateway City, modeled after the author's native St. Louis. ( )

I loved it. Only the Strong started out sounding like it was going to be a gritty gangster novel. It turned into a portrait of many aspects of mid-century African-American life in Gateway City, modeled after the author's native St. Louis. ( )

This Emerson College professor writes in the mode of Walter Mosley, but in a fictionalized of St. Louis in the late '60s-early '70s. Almost all the neighborhood folks are traumatized by their earlier lives down South and still, by Jim Crow.

From Guts, the enforcer for Ananias Goode, a gangster turned legit businessman; Goode's lover, the baby saver Dr. Artinces Noel, guardian of Charlotte, pre-med student and admirer of fellow student Percy Conway; Crenshaw, an MVP on the local baseball team; and Playfair, whose car trunk holds "everything a black man or woman would want" - each and every one has their internal thoughts and motivations powerfully laid bare.

There are many so strong characters and shifting points of view, making for a riveting read, and hopefully, a return to Gateway City. ( )