Ego Trip's Big Book of Racism!

by Sacha Jenkins and Elliott Wilson

Book Overview

Ferociously intelligent one moment, willfully smart-ass the next, ego trip's Big Book of Racism is a glorious, hilarious conflation of the racial undercurrents that affect contemporary culture at every turn. This one-of-a-kind encounter with the absurdities, complexities, and nuances of race relations is brought to you by five writers of color whose groundbreaking independent magazine, ego trip, has been called "the world's rawest, stinkiest, funniest...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060988967
• ISBN13: 9780060988968
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Sometimes you just gotta laugh about it!

The Big Book of Racism waxes philosophical on--you guessed it--RACISM. It analyzes and pokes fun at all the things that people think about other races, but would never say out loud. The book equal opportunity, with every race, including mixed-race people(In a section called Da High Yella Pages)being a topic of discussion. The authors of the book are of varying racial make-ups, so it's not like one racial/ethnic group making fun of all other groups. I'm a Black woman and this book had me laughing my @ss off!! Throw all PC notions out the window and just enjoy the book!

Buy this book.

Everyone who is remotely into music or film should own this. Gives a critical overview and insights into race and its place in popular American culture in the last twenty five years, especially in the Hip Hop culture. Very good book.

Bad Blood Brothers

White Man oh Black man oh Racially variegated man, and I thought I was the only person who wrote or spoke like these guys do in a public forum...insofar as a book is public. The covers sort of look like a public bathroom stall wall but don't mistake anything in this book for a load of crap(don't even go there), thought there is a touch of what could be percieved to be toilet humor in some spots where entirely appropriate. I just wish I knew if and when they were going to write a New Testament to this race-relations bible for the modern world so I can sign up as a disciple! Almost everyone gets equal play and gets equally played in this book save for maybe Eskimos but that's to their credit. A few minor gripes: Why is there no mention of the cult favorite comicbook BrotherMan or the action figure Sun-Man or the race distribution of the 1980s G.I.Joe team but they have a whole section on Muppet nationalities?

whoah

Very rarely does a book come along that can discuss something like race in a realistic manner... but, somehow this book does it. by being both tongue-in-cheek ("items in a chinese person's house not worth stealing") and deadly serious (listing various race incidents accross america from colonial times to the present on a state by state basis) this book actually delivers what it promises: a complete encyclopedia on race. By constantly mixing up it's tone and presentation (from dense factually based text to humorous cartoons), it manages to encompass so many viewpoints. Some of the things listed ("why hispanics steal?")are on that fine edge between parody and truth: are they kidding or are these the type of things that people may think but only say when drunk in the company of friends? As someone who is always glad to see the unspeakable said, I believe Ego Trip is operating in the tradition of Lenny Bruce: by speaking these thoughts and words, you are bringing them out into the open and thus demystifying them. Basically, race in america is a COMPLICATED issue to say the least. By coming at it from so many angles (and by always keeping a sense of humor), the authors may just come close to the truth.

Wow- a true culture gemstone

I, like many other watchers (not really active participants anymore) of cool, cutting edge culture, pride myself on staying in the loop on underground and mainstream happenings. And little truly impresses me, especially attempts at documenting the history of modern cultural trends. But, ..., this book blows me away. Not only is it smart, biting, and thick but it is also more thorough than Israeli airport security. I am amazed at the work and effort put into this book. This is some definitive work right here-- a modern day history book. You must have this. Morons will like the easy listsand graphics. Smarties will like that stuff too but, oh, so much more