Word: gospels
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Just Above My Head traces the emotional and spiritual journeys of Arthur Montana, a gospel singer, and Julia Miller, a child evangelist, as seen through the eyes of Arthur's older brother Hall. Hall recounts Arthur's involvement with the Civil Rights Movement, Julia's fall from the ministry and subsequent exploitation by her father, Arthur's homosexual relationship with Julia's pianist brother Jimmy, and Arthur's mysterious death at the peak of his fame. The novel reads as if authored by Hall in an effort to understand his brother's life as an artist, in order to legitimize...
Baldwin's handling of the gospel music motif, which he weaves throughout the novel to mark the changes in Arthur's life, also warrants some criticism: readers lacking any exposure to gospel music may find the references hard to follow. This is important, since Baldwin depends on the music to evoke an atmosphere rarely found outside black churches. Those who can't understand the gospel theme can ignore it; still, having worked to incorporate that bit of black culture, it is sad the author failed to make the device serve the readers who most need "clues...
...sadness of the young man makes us reflect. We could be tempted to think that many possessions, many of the goods of this world, can bring happiness. We see instead in the case of the young man in the Gospel that his many possessions had become an obstacle to accepting the call of Jesus to follow him. He was not ready to say yes to Jesus, and no to self, to say yes to love and no to escape...
...possibly one of the most contrived roles ever, Hogan's Heroes regular Larry Hovis does a suitable Dan Rather imitation as gospel-spitting Melvin P. Thorpe of Watchdog News. Melvin is "the eyes and ears of Texas." He has unearthed candy-bar scandals and sets out to prove that, yes, the Chicken Ranch of Gilbert is indeed a house of ill-repute. Melvin, a particularly cloying character who sports red, white and blue underwear, would be innocuous if not for his southern-Bible-Belt style of self-righteous reportage. The perpetuation of yet another overworked stereotype eclipses the attempted parody...
...sadness of the young man makes us reflect. We could be tempted to think that many possessions, many of the goods of this world, can bring happiness. We see instead in the case of the young man in the Gospel that his many possessions had become an obstacle to accepting the call of Jesus to follow him. He was not ready to say yes to Jesus, and no to self, to say yes to love and no to escape...