J. California Cooper (1930–2014)
Auteur van Family
Over de Auteur
J. California Cooper was born in Berkeley, California in 1932. She was an award-winning playwright, novelist, and short story writer. She wrote 17 plays and received a 1978 Black Playwright Award for Strangers. She wrote several short story collections including A Piece of Mine, Wild Stars Seeking toon meer Midnight Suns, and The Future Has a Past. Homemade Love received the 1989 American Book Award and Funny Valentine was made into a 1999 TV movie. Her novels included Family, The Wake of the Wind, Life Is Short but Wide, and Some People, Some Other Place. She received the James Baldwin Award and the Literary Lion Award from the American Library Association in 1988. She died on September 20, 2014 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) J. California Cooper is the author of five collections of short stories, including Homemade Love, winner of the 1989 American Book Award, and the novels The Wake of the Wind, Family, and In Search of Satisfaction. She lives in northern California. (Publisher Provided) toon minder
Fotografie: Photo Courtesy of National Book Club Conference founder Curtis Bunn
Werken van J. California Cooper
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Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Gangbare naam
- Cooper, J. California
- Officiële naam
- Cooper, Joan
- Geboortedatum
- 1930
- Overlijdensdatum
- 2014-09-20
- Geslacht
- female
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Geboorteplaats
- Berkeley, California, USA
- Plaats van overlijden
- Seattle, Washington, USA
- Woonplaatsen
- Oakland, California, USA
- Opleiding
- University of California, Berkeley (attended)
- Beroepen
- playwright
author - Prijzen en onderscheidingen
- Black Playwright of the Year (1978)
American Book Award, 1989
James Baldwin Writing Award
ALA Literary Lion Award - Korte biografie
- Joan Cooper, known by her pen name, J. California Cooper, was an American playwright and author. She wrote 17 plays and was named Black Playwright of the Year in 1978 for her play Strangers.
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Life is short but wide door J. California Cooper
Set in rural Oklahoma, this American family saga spanning four generations is touching, inspiring and bursting with wholesomeness punctuated by misery inflicted on good, kind folks by thoughtless and hurtful people (and, spoiler: justice rarely prevails). It is very well-written, and I would definitely read more by Cooper, but there was a bit too much heartbreak and exploitation for reading this to have been an enjoyable experience.
All the characters in this book have hard lives. It follows several generations in a family. They work hard to try to survive and are often did wrong. They try to always do what's right and keep God in mind. It covers several family relationships and romances. You see several characters from childhood to death. Some die from old age. Others die too soon. Basically, I think the point is just how difficult yet fulfilling life can be and also maintain your faith.
Before (long before) there was "The LOvely Bones" there was this. And better.
each of these stories has a little life lesson in it (or nearly all of them do) which is nice. some of them are even important.
that's all the good i can say about this. (oh, except the little author's note that explains why she chose the title, that's nice, too. and that note shows me that the voice in these stories was a choice for her, and one that an editor really should have made her improve upon. i think she has more ability than these stories show, but if that author note wasn't there, i would think that she couldn't write above a 6th grade level.) each of these stories is so poorly done. each story has a different narrator, but the voice in each story is exactly the same, until the last couple that finally have a slightly different take. the use of exclamation points is insane. and the last story, that she says isn't meant to be taken seriously but is a "gift of humor" isn't funny but offensive (from a feminist perspective). i dislike this greatly.
an example of the overuse of exclamation points and poor writing, from the beginning of The Magic Strength of Need:
"There's magic in every life, I do believe! You just got to find it! I don't know how to explain it, but I do know it's not the kind of magic you read about that changes everything like for Cinderella. The real magic is something you got to think on, work on! It's a job! But it's the thing that brings your life through and you have some happiness. It's a hard job cause you don't never know which way the magic is going. You got to have some kind of good sense. Common sense!
Sometime, the magic fools you! It be setting there like a big unlucky, ugly...unwanted something! A person will walk over it, step on it, throw it out, beat it up, hide it! Drown it in alcohol! Send it into a coma with dope! Mildew it with tears or just kick it to the side as they go out to dance! Some folks never find it!
Now, I'ma show you what I mean!"
i'm annoyed all over again just typing that.… (meer)
that's all the good i can say about this. (oh, except the little author's note that explains why she chose the title, that's nice, too. and that note shows me that the voice in these stories was a choice for her, and one that an editor really should have made her improve upon. i think she has more ability than these stories show, but if that author note wasn't there, i would think that she couldn't write above a 6th grade level.) each of these stories is so poorly done. each story has a different narrator, but the voice in each story is exactly the same, until the last couple that finally have a slightly different take. the use of exclamation points is insane. and the last story, that she says isn't meant to be taken seriously but is a "gift of humor" isn't funny but offensive (from a feminist perspective). i dislike this greatly.
an example of the overuse of exclamation points and poor writing, from the beginning of The Magic Strength of Need:
"There's magic in every life, I do believe! You just got to find it! I don't know how to explain it, but I do know it's not the kind of magic you read about that changes everything like for Cinderella. The real magic is something you got to think on, work on! It's a job! But it's the thing that brings your life through and you have some happiness. It's a hard job cause you don't never know which way the magic is going. You got to have some kind of good sense. Common sense!
Sometime, the magic fools you! It be setting there like a big unlucky, ugly...unwanted something! A person will walk over it, step on it, throw it out, beat it up, hide it! Drown it in alcohol! Send it into a coma with dope! Mildew it with tears or just kick it to the side as they go out to dance! Some folks never find it!
Now, I'ma show you what I mean!"
i'm annoyed all over again just typing that.… (meer)
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