Using an interdisciplinary approach, this book argues that American artistry in the 1960s can be understood as one of the most vital and compelling interrogations of modernity. James C. Hall finds that the legacy of slavery and the resistance to it have by necessity made African Americans among the most incisive critics and celebrants of the Enlightenment inheritance. Focusing on the work of six individuals--Robert Hayden, William Demby, Paule Marshall, John Coltrane, Romare Bearden, and W.E.B. DuBois--Mercy, Mercy Me seeks to recover an American tradition of evaluating the "dialectic of the Enlightenment."

When art historian Nora Barnes returns to France for a Van Gogh conference in the charming medieval village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, she s expecting a vigorous debate about whether the famed artist s suicide was actually a homicide. But on the night before the conference, an elderly French woman who d promised to reveal important evidence is found face down in the village fountain, and her Chanel briefcase is nowhere to be seen. During a week of academic squabbling, dining, romance, and suspense, the quirky conference members, one by one, fall under police suspicion and the amused gaze of Nora s husband, Toby Sandler. But someone wants to stopNora and Toby s amateur sleuthing, and what happens next is no joke."

Twenty years after his murder at the hands of his own father, Marvin Gaye continues to define the hopes and shattered dreams of the Motown generation. A performer whose career spanned the history of rhythm and blues, from doo-wop to the sultriest of soul music, Gaye's artistry magnified the contradictions that defined America's coming of age in the tumultuous 1970s. In his most searching and ambitious work to date, acclaimed critic Michael Eric Dyson illuminates both Marvin Gaye's stellar achievements and stunning personal decline -- and offers an unparalleled assessment of the cultural and political legacy of R&B on American culture. Through interviews with those close to Gaye -- from his musical beginnings in a black church in Washington, D.C., to his days as a "ladies' man" in Motown's stable of young singers, from the artistic heights of the landmark album What's Going On? to his struggles with addiction and domestic violence -- Dyson draws an indelible portrait of the tensions that shaped contemporary urban America: economic adversity, the drug industry, racism, and the long legacy of hardship. Published to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of Gaye's death in 1984, and infused with the soulful prose that has become Michael Eric Dyson's trademark, Mercy, Mercy Me is at once a celebration of an American icon whose work continues to inspire, and a revelatory and incisive look at how a lost generation's moods, music, and moral vision continue to resonate today.

"Mercy, Mercy Me...A Journey of a Mad Man in Love" explores the depth of one man's perspective of love through charismatic storytelling built from real life situations. Written in a free narrative style, the reader is transfixed into Tony's world, experiencing an array of emotions throughout the read. "Mercy" becomes apart of the reality of its reader's life, leaving the reader thinking differently about the game of love.

Unable to get over the death of his wife, psychotherapist Dwayne Gradison meets former actress and Christian Nina Jordan but finds he is unable to pursue his feelings for her, a situation that is tested by his subsequent relationship with a scandalous evangelistic performer.

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If you are seeking perfect rhyme and meter, go no further because you are about to read the wrong book of poetry. If, however, you are seeking thoughtful introspection, reasoned thought and query, interrogatory and response, then proceed to read this book, for that is just what is in store for you in this first compilation of the poetic expressions of Richard Allen Brooks. No one can fully understand or appreciate the works of another person. We each bring to our interpretation our own set of experiences through which we must view the work. We have not lived the author’s life, tribulations, exalts, despair, disappointments, or jubilations. Our interpretation of the author’s work is thus a skewed vision of what the author intended in the original meaning of the work, even if only slightly, and it must be so in order to fit within the confines of our own personal experience, which must always be different from that of the author, if not in kind then in degree. Starting with “A Friend Indeed” that offers encouragement, “Your Name” tells of living your life but never obtaining the goals you’ve set for yourself, while “The Falling Snow” was a quiet time—after the loss of mother dear, “sitting on the steps of my younger sister’s home, just looking out the window at the flakes landing here and there.” Another one, “How Sad This Day,” expresses a loss after losing another loved one and then there is “Between Atlantic and Pacific,” an awareness of those who died during World War II and a memorial dedicated to them. Additionally, the reader must be advised that Mr. Brooks, throughout his life, has been a tireless giver of his time and energy to the advancement of mankind in every manner at his disposal. As much joy as his work has brought him, it has also contained bitter returns through many people who mistook his willingness to be of assistance as a weakness and, thus, resulted in significant pain and disappointment being experienced by Richard. There are many other themes running through this work. However, there are three predominant and recurring themes, which the reader will be confronted with—Richard’s profound sense of loss on the death of his mother, a search for direction, and the passing of time. This work should be read with deliberation. Much of what it has to offer cannot be appreciated through casual, mindless reading. However, if you take the time to think about not just what is being said, but why it is being said and the message that is being conveyed in each poem, you will come away from this book greatly enriched in your understanding of the significance of love, loyalty, commitment, compassion, and understanding not just for your fellow man but for yourself. —Marilyn V. Joyner

A powerful evangelism tool developed at Trinity Church of Morrisania in the South Bronx, the birthplace of hip hop. The Hip Hop Prayer Book offers a means of worship that draws in the young and speaks to those not generally spoken to by the church. Contains Bible stories, psalms, daily prayers, a variety of services (including a Eucharist, a marriage service, and burial rites), and a selection of powerful prayers from rappers and urban youth. Designed with the enlivening power of hip hop in mind, The Hip Hop Prayer Book is ideal both for personal worship and for use by church leaders looking for ways in which to broaden the reach of their congregations. It includes a wealth of contextualizing and instructive materials. Currently used in worship by a growing number of churches, it is accessible for those just learning about liturgy or about hip hop.

Listen to Soul! Exploring a Musical Genre provides an overview of soul music for fans of the genre, with a focus on 50 must-hear singers, songs, and albums that define it. Listen to Soul! Exploring a Musical Genre provides both an overview and a critical analysis of what makes soul music in the United States. A list of 50 songs, albums, and musicians includes many of the best-known hits of the past and present as well as several important popular successes that are not necessarily on the "best-of" lists in other books. Like the other books in this series, this volume includes a background chapter followed by a chapter that contains 50 critical essays on must-hear albums, songs, and singers, approximately 1,500 words each. Chapters on the impact of soul music on popular culture and the legacy of the genre further explain the impact of these seminal compositions and musicians. This volume additionally includes a greater focus on soul music as a genre, making it a stand-out title on the topic for high school and college readers.