cover image Soulfires: Young Black Men on Love and Violence

Soulfires: Young Black Men on Love and Violence

. Penguin Books, $13.95 (420pp) ISBN 978-0-14-024215-7

Seeing that it has contributions from some 30 black men-Michael Eric Dyson, Peter J. Harris, Brother Yao (Hoke Glover), Marc Nesbitt, Kevin Powell and others (among them the editor, and another son of novelist John Edgar Wideman)-one expects more than this book delivers. Soulfires, at more than 400 pages, is an abundant, though not necessarily rich, collection of essays, poems, drama and stories, all tied together by concern with the titular love and violence and by a distinct confessional tone. Each piece is marked by a desire to express passion and give voice to the story of black men. The style quality varies, though when it's good, it is very good. Nesbitt's ""Dog pads skid to stop and I can hear her tattoos standing over me. She hot pants on my neck, aims slobber drip into my skull cracks. Eyes on my thighs and she's drawn away"" hints at real promise. It is a thoroughly modern style that has learned much from rap and hip-hop music combined with the directness and clarity of James Baldwin or Chester Himes. Maybe the rubric under which these pieces were published is not entirely convincing, but anything that leads to the dissemination of these singular voices is worthwhile. One concern: Yes, this is ""young black men on love and violence,"" but throughout, even in stories about women and about honoring black women, one still feels one has overheard half of what should be a dialogue. (Feb.)