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Ace of Spades: A Memoir
by David Matthews

Ace of Spades: A Memoir Cover

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A take-no-prisoners tale of growing up without knowing who you are.

When David Matthews's mother abandoned him as an infant, she left him with white skin and the rumor that he might be half Jewish. For the next twenty years, he would be torn between his actual life as a black boy in the ghetto of 1980s Baltimore and a largely imagined world of white privilege.

While his father, a black activist who counted Malcolm X among his friends, worked long hours as managing editor at the Baltimore Afro-American, David spent his early years escaping wicked-stepmother types and nursing an eleven-hour-a-day TV habit alongside his grandmother in her old-folks-home apartment. In Reagan-era America, there was no box marked "Other," no multiculturalism or self-serving political correctness, only a young boy's need to make it in a clearly segregated world where white meant "have" and black meant "have not." Without particular allegiance to either, David careened in and out of community college, dead-end jobs, his father's life, and girls' pants.

A bracing yet hilarious reinvention of the American story of passing, Ace of Spades marks the debut of an irresistible and fiercely original new voice.

Review:

"The son of an African-American father and a Jewish mother, Matthews tells of growing up racially mixed in Baltimore, Md., during the 1970s and '80s. Soon after his birth, Matthews's mother, a victim of schizophrenia, disappears from his life, and his father, 'a prominent black journalist,' moves through a series of jobs and relationships as Matthews begins a lifelong struggle with the circumstances of his ambiguous racial heritage. Adults in various states of mental and emotional disarray pass through Matthews's life. Some of his father's girlfriends are abusive ('She passed her cigarette from her clipping hand to her mouth, and...plunged a dinner fork into the bony flesh between my shoulder blades'); some are kind. As his father spends more and more of his time at work, Matthews comes into the care of his beloved grandmother. Until her death, this kindly woman will be at the eye of the storm that is his life. Unsurprisingly, Matthews drifts — into drugs, petty crime and a general slackness — which is the central problem here. While Matthews piles up nicely crafted anecdotes and a list of intriguing characters, there is a lack of tension, leaving a flat narrative. This memoir is long on adolescent male observation ('Julie, an Art Institute coed with apple cheeks and honeydew breasts...') and rather short on resonant revelation. Matthews builds a lot of momentum through the course of his tale, but with little genuine payoff." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"This is a loving portrait of a close relationship between a father and son, one slightly delayed by the fog of race." Booklist

Review:

"Moments of exuberant power, but Matthews too often stumbles over his own sentences." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"In this stylish, astute, often frustrating memoir, Matthews examines the zigzags in his path between black and white identities before finally settling somewhere in between." New York Times

Review:

"[A] story of self-deprecation and, ultimately, self-empowerment....His lifelong search and the book come to a conclusion that is wrenching and redemptive." USA today

Review:

"Some of what he offers is provocative enough to invite book discussion or classroom debate, while much of his story clarifies a period and a place by personalizing them." School Library Journal

Synopsis:

Abandoned as an infant by his mother, David was left with the rumor that he might be half-Jewish. As he grew, he was torn between his actual life as a black boy in the ghetto of 1980s Baltimore and an imagined world of white privilege in this bracing yet hilarious American memoir.
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About the Author

David Matthews is a writer living in New York. He has appeared on The Tavis Smiley Show and the CBS Sunday Morning Show, and in People magazine.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
ruis2002, May 8, 2007 (view all comments by ruis2002)
Filled with both humorous and tragic personal anecdotes about growing up biracial in 1980s Baltimore when "black" and "white" were the only categories allowed, David chose, at a very young age & before he could even be aware of the implications of his decision, to pass for white. I read the entire book in one sitting, and slept through my alarm clock's ringing the next morning as a consequence, but it was so worth it. Throughout the book, Matthews addresses the episodes of racism he experienced, from the the off-hand comments of his peers to the incidents of violence (and yes, he was mugged a few times!), and his growing longing to find out more about the mother he never met, but whose Jewish identity he embraced like a life-preserver throughout his adolescence and young adulthood. Of the several new memoirs I have read recently, none is as emotionally gripping and heartbreaking as this book. The book ends on a cliff-hanger, which will leave the reader praying for the sequel to be released ASAP, to find out what happens next. This book should be a popular pick for book clubs everywhere. 5 stars, and highly, highly recommended!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780805081497
Subtitle:
A Memoir
Author:
Matthews, David
Author:
Matthews, David
Publisher:
Libri
Subject:
People of Color
Subject:
Jews
Subject:
Racially mixed people
Subject:
Jewish studies
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General
Subject:
SOC049000
Subject:
cultural heritage
Copyright:
2007
Publication Date:
February 6, 2007
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
303
Dimensions:
8.36x6.32x1.07 in. 1.07 lbs.
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