Synopses & Reviews
Asali Solomons characters are vivid misfitsa heathen at Jesus camp, a scheming prep-school student, a middle-aged mom pining for her salsa-dancing salad days, a scheming twentysomething virgin, a college stud in love with his weight-lifting partner, a lonely girl in love with a yellow dress. The kids in
Get Down are trapped between their own good breeding and their burning desire to join the house party of sex, romance, and bad behavior that seems to be happening on some other block, down some other, more dangerous street.
Get Down is, in the words of Edward P. Jones, touching and sensitively observed . . . from the first word to the last.”
Asali Solomon was born and raised in West Philadelphia. She received the Rona Jaffe Award for the stories in Get Down. She lives in Lexington, Virginia. Asali Solomon's characters are vivid misfitsa heathen at Jesus camp, a scheming prep-school student, a middle-aged mom pining for her salsa-dancing salad days, a scheming twenty-something virgin, a college stud in love with his weight-lifting partner, a lonely girl in love with a yellow dress. The kids in Get Down are trapped between their own good breeding and their burning desire to join the house party of sex, romance, and bad behavior that seems to be happening on some other block, down some other more dangerous street. The adults in Get Down are just trying to hold it together. Here is a debut that will make you laugh and cringe in equal measure. Set mostly in middle-class black Philadelphia during the Reagan years, the stories in Get Down will bring back memories for anyone who has ever stood in the corner of a darkened school gym wondering whether to dance . . . or duck for cover. They announce a new talent, a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop whose work has been featured in Vibe, Essence, and the anthology Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts. "Asali Solomon's stories are luminous and touching and are an important contribution to the serious literature about the urban lives of black Americans. Solomon's work is sensitively observed and should be applauded from the first words to the last."Edward P. Jones, author of All Aunt Hagar's Children
Get Down, Asali Solomons debut short story collection, humorously yet tenderly explores the African-American middle- and upper-class in and near Philadelphia . . . Get Down probes the entwined, yet frequently conflicting spheres of class and race. In Solomons collection, Black parents shake their heads at the Malcolm X projects, but frown on Black families who move to the suburbs; a wealthy Morehouse student obsesses over the fair skin of his ex-girlfriend; and a pre-teen girl pins a rumors origin on the only other Black student in her grade to protect a racially-ambiguous gossiper . . . Part of what contributes to the complexity of Get Down is that Solomon not only tackles race and class, but also gender, sexuality, and religion . . . In fact, what is most laudable and captivating about Get Down is Solomons precision of character. Solomons characters are inimitable, yet pleasantly familiar . . . These characters are our aunts, our best friends, our enemies, and our neighbors just around the blockSolomon has created a diverse community through which she explores the tensions between men and women . . . In this sometimes sad, often funny, and always bittersweet collection, Solomons characters struggle to understand and connect with their parents, their friends, their lovers, and most of all, themselves. Get Downs epigraph is a quote from rap artist Jay-Z: This cant be life. After finishing this collection, however, readers may realize that these storiesthe fragile people, the messy relationships, the intimate gestures and fleeting momentsare indeed accurate reflections of life. Solomons dialogue and humor are sharp and perfectly timed, her details stunning and precise, and her first literary effort is fresh and satisfying.”Chad B. Anderson, Indiana Review
"[A] funny mélange of characters in [this] sparkling debut collection."Patrik Henry Bass, Essence "Asali Solomon's stories are luminous and touching and are an important contribution to the serious literature about the urban lives of black Americans. Solomon's work is sensitively observed and should be applauded from the first words to the last."Edward P. Jones, author of All Aunt Hagar's Children "With a merciless eye and compassionate heart, Asali Solomon draws a nuanced world where pain and class and sex shimmer deceptively under perfectly pitched prose. There's danger hereand, occasionally, the quiet surprise of redemption. Brava!"Lorene Cary, author of Pride ContentsTwelve Takes TheaThe Star of the StoryThat Golden SummerParty on Vorhees!William is Telling a StorySave MeFirst Summer
Review
“American literature tends to offer its black characters only two moods to play: angry or mad . . . which is why Asali Solomons debut collection,
Get Down, comes as such a blessed relief. Angry and mad make appearances, but so do confused, awkward, hopeful and sincere.” —Victor Lavalle,
Paste “Fresh, intimate portraits of people trying to straddle contradictory worlds. While Asali Solomon writes with uncanny acumen about men, Get Down will resonate with anyone—male or female, black or white, young or old—who has ever felt like an outsider.” —Jennifer Egan
Synopsis
Set mostly in middle-class black Philadelphia during the crack and Reagan years, these stories are antic, poignant, and utterly universal--they'll bring back memories for anyone who has ever stood in the corner of a darkened school gym wondering whether to dance or duck for cover.
Synopsis
Asali Solomons characters are vivid misfits—a heathen at Jesus camp, a scheming prep-school student, a middle-aged mom pining for her salsa-dancing salad days, a scheming twentysomething virgin, a college stud in love with his weight-lifting partner, a lonely girl in love with a yellow dress. The kids in
Get Down are trapped between their own good breeding and their burning desire to join the house party of sex, romance, and bad behavior that seems to be happening on some other block, down some other, more dangerous street.
Get Down is, in the words of Edward P. Jones, “touching and sensitively observed . . . from the first word to the last.”
About the Author
Asali Solomon was born and raised in Philadelphia. Get Down, her first book, earned her a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award, was chosen as one of the National Book Foundations “5 Under 35” for 2007, and was a finalist for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.