Mambo Hips and Make Believe

by Coleman, Wanda

• ISBN13: 9781574230949
• ISBN10: 1574230948
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: Black Sparrow Pr

Summary

Wanda Coleman's powerful new novel chronicles the friendship between two women -- one from the black ghetto of Los Angeles, one from its white middle-class suburbs. Both are aspiring writers, both scramble to pay their bills by pickup jobs like waitressing and editing pulp magazines. For two decades they share each other's troubles and triumphs in and out of work and love. Coleman focuses primarily on the white protagonist's point of view; as the story unfolds and the character's roots are unearthed, however, we learn that there's no such thing as "pure" white -- only a mix of bloods concealed over time. As With Coleman's earlier books Mambo Hips is alive with her patented emotional energy and lyric heat.

Table of Contents

Whatever Happened to Sunnybrook Farm?	13	(7)
Honmon
Letter: Oakroot, California, June 28th 1976	13	(7)
Red Wagons & Argonauts	20	(26)
Inga Iji
Letter: In Exile, Redfish, California, July 24th 1978
Oracle Street	46	(24)
Kokudo
Letter: Redfish, August 5th 1978
Bright & Beautiful	70	(7)
Karma
Letter Redfish, August 6th or 7th 1978
Shakubuku This	77	(12)
Kuon Ganjo
Letter: Redfish, August 18th 1978
Kinship & Kenzoku Myo	89	(20)
Monsho
Letter: Slapjaw Junction, October 31st 1978
The Big Biscuit	109	(15)
Gensho
Letter: Redfish, December 12th 1978
Splashing Upward	124	(9)
Nijo
Letter: Redfish, February 26th 1979
The Pin & the Penwoman	133	(6)
Ga
Letter: Redfish, April 2nd 1979
Howlin' with the Woofdog	139	(12)
Eho
Letter: Redfish, July 6th 1979
Hollywood Confessions	151	(8)
Esho Funi
Letter: Collard Flats, U.S.A., August 16th 1979
Wide-Eyed & Brimming	159	(11)
Gaku
Letter: Collard Flats, August 29th 1979
Citizen Unrest	170	(13)
Gyo
Letter: Collard Flats, Toward the End of September 1979
Stargazer	183	(11)
Shin
Letter: Collard Flats, November 5th 1979
Of Presidents & Pollyannas	194	(7)
Risho
Letter: Dunsmuir, California, November 13th 1979
All Appleseed, No Johnny	201	(10)
Mappo
Letter: Collard Flats, November 20th 1979
The Nine Worlds
These Things Warm & Wonderful	211	(7)
Letter: Collard Flats, December 11th 1979
Borderlands South	218	(10)
Sansho Shima
Letter: Redfish, February 21st 1980
A Step Removed	228	(9)
Shiki-Shin
Letter: Redfish, March 15th 1980
Morgan Horse	237	(10)
Tenju Kyoju
Letter: San Francisco, June 11th 1980
A Human Revolution	247	(11)
Funi
Letter: Novato, July 11th 1980
Stars & Dayplayers	258	(10)
Sansho Shima
Letter: Novato, August 25th 1980
Hard, Holding & Empty	268	(7)
Sansho Shima
Letter: Murrieta Hot Springs, October 26th 1980
Xmas	275	(7)
Sansho Shima
Letter: Murrieta Hot Springs, August 3rd 1981
A Dreg of the Earth	282	(10)
Sansho Shima
Letter: Serenity Ranch, Redfish, November 16th 1982
What's New PuddyKat?	292	(6)
Sansho Shima
Letter: Redfish, January 4th, 1983
Valley of the Doll	298	(8)
Sansho Shima
Letter: Encino, California, January 15th 1986
Flagship Down	306	(5)
Esho Funi
Letter: Van Nuys, July 6th 1988
Being Davy's Sister	311	(11)
E
Letter: Van Nuys, August 9th 1988
The First Impurity
Spilling Over	322	(7)
Letter: Wordway Productions, Van Nuys, August 20th 1988
The Second Impurity
Wet Confessions	329	(11)
Letter: Wordway Productions, Van Nuys, September 22nd 1988
The Third Impurity
One Share of the Sky	340	(20)
Letter: Wordway Productions, Van Nuys, October 10th 1988
The Fourth Impurity
Gorgeous	360	(15)
Letter: Wordway Productions, Van Nuys, Mid-to-Late November 1988
Cloud Nine	375	(12)
Inga Guji
Letter: Wordway Productions, Van Nuys, November 5th 1990
The Fifth Impurity
Born Today	387	(3)
Letter: Orlando, Florida, Card and Photo, December 15th 1990
The Dreamboat Sails	390	(8)
Jo
Postcard: Salinas, California, May 26th 1991
Earth Moves	398	(6)
Ichinen
Letter: West Palm Beach, Florida, July 1991
Hossho (Enlightenment)	404