White Girls Paperback – August 5, 2014

I don't have a lot of time at the moment, but can't leave this page without raving a little about White Girls. I've never read another book like it, not quite like it, and I will read many, perhaps all of these essays again. I say essays, but Als does things with his essays that make them original. His use of personas such as Richard Pryor's sister is..what it is, engaging, compelling, and utilitarian; with those personas we see from unique perspectives, reflecting the times of people such as Malcolm X's mother. I like the Capote essay, the O'Connor essay, Malcolm, and Pryor essays. The first essay, totally original, and the last totally compelling, but really this entire collection is original and compelling. "It Will Soon Be Here" is a masterpiece, which, I'm sure will be anthologized in years to come. I'm very curious about Diana Sands, (Beneatha in my favorite American play) and I'm curious about Als' weaving Kafka's cockroach into the Pryor essay. This book is lyrical, written by someone in love with language, and compelling, written by someone digging for truth in himself and the world, though digging's not the word I want. White Girls is author-driven, not dollar-driven. It's against stereotypes, and is intensely political, and global. It blends fact and fiction, it risks, and succeeds. Hats off to Hilton Als. Thanks for this much needed book!

In White Girls, critic and essayist Hilton Als has assembled a remarkable collection of prose. Traversing a range of topics and figures, his analyses of gender, race, sexuality, and mass culture are alive, teeming with insight. “Triste Tropiques” is an extraordinary essay that mobilizes key structuralist principles to explore the nature of love and identity. Additional essays (such as the one on Richard Pryor), are balanced and highly engaging.

Als is a critic for the New Yorker, but that's barely relevant to White Girls, even if it includes some of his more traditional criticism. Al's is a whirlwind, a force of nature, a crazed intelligence absorbing and recontextualizing every last drop of America into something strange and probably more true. The book is about white girls in a metaphoric sense - I think Richard Pryor counts as one according to Als - but it's really about a unique person trying to understand themselves by understanding the world. There are parts that are filled with so much poetic insight that it seems impossible, and other sections that are so turgid with self-Indulgence that it almost seems like narcissism. And it doesn't matter because it's like a modern Walt Whitman deconstructing his mind in a performance piece. Hardly perfect, but genuinely compelling.

The power of Hilton Als writing is palpable. I'd never read him before. This book is a series of essays -- all engaging, some more relevant to me personally than others. But I recommend White Girls to anyone who is drawn to phenomenal personal non-fiction prose.

als has an interior voice, as if he were ageless,the same clarity from the moment he left the womb.the reader is brought inside andconnected to the writer's journey throughthe subject-- each commentary, critique, reflectionand short story live inside the reader as theyhave inside the author.brilliant, endearing, unsettling and enduring...als is a master of the personal essayand i'm really grateful for this collection.on a personal note, his investigation oftwinship in the first essay "tristes tropiques"has left me aching, so full ofbeauty and mystery and pain.als puts his insides on display,and sure, as with all of us, thereare elements of performance in the revealing--but the question is, is the performancetrying to get at something true--my reading is, in als' case, it is.

I think it is sad that a respected publisher like McSweeny's in San Francisco and one of the few intelligent choices in radio - NPR, not to mention the once great New Yorker Magazine, have given a voice to what I can only describe as bitter, angry tabloid fodder. After hearing an interview on NPR with Mr. Als about this book, I immediately ordered a hardback copy from Amazon. I found Mr. Als' diatribes on being black and homosexual full of anger and bitterness. Being white and homosexual myself and sharing the same geography and time frame as Mr. Als, my recollection of the time of the AIDS crisis was the only thing I could find that was common ground between us. There was much antagonism and injustice during those years, particularly from our government and from our straight counterparts, but we worked toward hope, education and understanding. I see nothing but rage and resentment in Mr. Als' words.As for his comments about some of the geniuses of our time - Eminem, Truman Capote, Michael Jackson, and the late, great Richard Pryor - I was disgusted by his claims and obvious disrespect, especially in the case of Michael Jackson. It is a shame Michael isn't around to defend himself. As a great fan of all of the accomplishments of the above slandered people, I am enraged.Shame on you, Hilton Als. I am sorry for you.

He's done it, again. Excellent writing and truly a master of his subject. I have been anxiously awaiting a second book from Als. The title here had me a little concerned but when I got it, I got it!! I will anxiously await his next book. My history with him began when reading his essays in The New Yorker years ago. The Women was a fantastic eye-opening read. I gave it as a gift to many friends. I will do the same with White Girls. Bravo, Als. I am your fan and so are those I turn you on to. If you are a person who evolves reading beyond the norm, I suggest you read Hilton Als.

Def interesting and even funny at times, but everyone should read it to really understand more about many lives and how we are all a little the same and a little different. And how svn this white girl got a lot out of it. Will def order his other book on women!!

I love to read essays it started out with an early Joan Didion crush and went on from there; so I was really looking forward to this collection, it didn't disappoint. Als writes regularly for 'The New York Review of Books' and 'The New Yorker'. He has that amazing ability to mix entertainment with erudition that 'New Yorker' writers share. His subjects often touch on issues of race and gender, for example his fascinating take on Michael Jackson. I enjoyed this immensely, although Eula Biss remains my favourite contemporary essayist.

Bought for my masters popular culture essay on Michael Jackson. This was a poignant and essential read for such an assignment.

Ho intercettato questo libro tramite Instagram e l'ho apprezzato tantissimo: Hilton Als è un professore universitario che, in 'White Girls', affronta il tema della discriminazione in modo davvero originale. Non è un romanzo, ma un collage di vicende private, storie di personaggi famosi e fatti di cronaca. Un mix tra saggio, racconto e molto altro. L'ho trovato commovente, divertente e anche irriverente. Da leggere, per capire al meglio il momento difficile che stiamo vivendo e liberarci di tanti pregiudizi che non sappiamo neanche di avere. P.S. Disponibile solo in inglese, ma speriamo che lo traducano presto in modo che possano leggerlo tutti.

Hello,dieses Buch ist nur für englischkundige. Ich habe es direkt zweimal gelesen und es isteine Offenbarung von Inhalt und Sprache.anderer Kommentar z.B."Effortless, honest and fearless"––Rich Benjamin, The New York Times Book Review…

Stunning. Never in my life did I think I would have the opportunity to experience a thing like this. I couldn't have even guessed it was out there. Effing magic. (Also, the cover photo is perfect.)