Reviews for A conversation with the Mann

The average rating for A conversation with the Mann based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-12-13 00:00:00 Karl Yu This is one of the best books I have ever read it reads like an autobiography so realistic that I almost looked the lead character up on Wikipedia

Review # 2 was written on 2020-05-12 00:00:00 Brian J. Lozoskie Who would expect an 83-year old white grandmother to love this story about a black comedian trying to make it in show business? Well I did! I believe I picked up this book a while back in a Dollar Store (for $1, what a bargain!) and I thought the author's name was familiar. I was pleased to discover who he is - in addition to being the author of several novels, John Ridley has a very successful background as the screenwriter of Twelve Years a Slave and the series American Crime. In this book I felt that I was inhabiting the wounded psyche of Jackie Mann, a young black man who tries to outrun his personal demons by telling jokes. His search to "become famous" is hampered by his own inability to take chances and say what he really wants out of life. Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Frank Costello, Ed Sullivan, Tammy Terrell and others play prominent roles in this book. How they are woven into the plot is a very interesting aspect of this novel, as the reader is left to try to discern fact from fiction.