Crossing the Jordan Book

Terrific idea; so-so execution. I like Toure as a journalist, and that includes both his roles as music critic and defender of all-things-black. And I like the concept here of both celebrating and commenting on black culture through a series of references and symbols from pop culture, music, literature, and history. But I feel like, as symbols, most of them are underdeveloped, and not as clever as Toure might like to think. The characters are flat, the central narrative very loose, and the prose a little awkward, particularly as far as the dialogue goes. But the book's episodic nature means that, for every segment that falls flat, there's one that's rather enchanting, profound, or at least memorably weird, so the thing is definitely worth reading. Quick, too!