BOOKSHELF - author goes on a cruzade - Interview

Ebony, Oct, 2001

ALICE Randall had no idea that she would stir up such deep emotions when she set out on a literary crusade to repair the emotional damage she felt had been done to countless Black women subjected to the demeaning stereotypes in Margaret Mitchell's antebellum novel Gone With the Wind. "I knew I had been hurt by this book and its depiction of Black women," Randall says, "but I had no idea that there was so much hurt out there--worse hurt about that book than even I knew."

Nor did Randall suspect that Mitchell's defenders would mount such a vigorous campaign to stop the publication of her book once word seeped out that she planned to set Gone With the Wind on its ear in a blistering parody of the work. But the publication of Randall's first novel, The Wind Done Gone (Houghton Mifflin, $23), touched off a legal and literary firestorm that pit the Mitchell estate, arguing that the book was plagiarism, against such literary luminaries as Toni Morrison and Henry Louis Gates, who argued that the book was indeed in the tradition of African-American parody, not unlike the cakewalk, a dance that satirized White pretense and ostentation and the Uncle Remus Tales.

Says Randall, who graduated from Harvard with honors and a degree in English, and whose other career is as a successful country and western songwriter: "I did come from an educational background where I knew about extended parody, not just TV parody. I knew that I was working strongly in the tradition of political parody and political criticism. And since it was my understanding that you are free in America to do that, I planned on exercising my freedom."

In the end, Randall prevailed (a federal judge in Atlanta ruled that the book did indeed meet the literary and legal test for parody) and the novel has soared up the best-seller list, thanks largely to the legions of grateful women who gravitated to Randall's topsy-turvey treatment of Mitchell's work, one in which the slaves are wise and the White folks are foolish.

But don't call her book a retelling of Gone With the Wind. "It's not a retelling of their tale," she says emphatically. "In my mind, to retell their tale is to validate. I have not retold it, I have attempted to explode it."

New York Times and Blackboard best-selling author Omar Tyree returns with Just Say No! (Simon & Schuster, $24), his latest novel about a pair of talented young men--lifelong friends--whose ascent in the music industry sets them down a dangerous path littered with big money, fast women and recreational drugs.

The Red Moon (Villard Books, $22.95) is the debut novel of actor and director Kuwana Haulsey, who has crafted a compelling coming-of-age story set in modern-day Kenya.

The latest offering from Donna Hill, author of more than a dozen novels, is Rhythms (St. Martin's Press, $23.95), the story of three generations of women and the secret that haunts them from the Mississippi Delta to the speakeasies of Chicago to the night dubs of New York.

Living Through the Meantime: Learning to Break The Patterns of the Past and Begin the Healing Process (Simon & Schuster, $13) is new daytime talk show host and spiritual guru Iyanla Vanzant's program of meditation, self-care and self-examination, designed to help you gain a greater understanding of your motivations and desires.

In Patti's Pearls: Lessons In Living Genuinely, Joyfully, Generously (Warner Books, $19.95), R&B diva Patti LaBelle offers insights, inspiration and witticisms that encapsulate the principles she has lived by. Written with Laura Randolph Lancaster.

Police Brutality (Norton, $14.95), edited by Jill Nelson, is a collection of essays by 12 prominent writers, social activists, historians, and an ex-New York City police lieutenant who trace the sociological roots of police violence and grapple with solutions to curb it.

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The Ties That Bind: Timeless Values for African American Families (John Wiley & Sons, $22.95), a guide to instilling in children the respect, responsibility and perseverance of the African-American value system, by Joyce A. Ladner, Ph.D.

Let Mt. Zion Rejoice: Music in the African American Church (Judson Press, $12), a guide for choosing, training and developing music directors in African-American churches, by James Abbington.

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The 50 Most Influential Black Films (Citadel Press, $19.95), an illustrated guide to the most powerful and socially significant films made for, by and/or about African-Americans, by S. Torriano Berry and Venise T. Berry.

Embracing the Fire: Sisters Talk About Sex and Relationships (Plume, $12), straight talk from Black women about everything from dating to child-rearing, by Julia A. Boyd.