Disappointed only begins to describe my reaction to Darryl Wimberley's The King of Colored Town. I liked the premise: It's 1963, and in a small town in Florida the city officials have closed the separate-but-equal school for black kids. The next fall the students will be forced to attend the white school. Such subjects interest me, so I began the book ready to be entertained. And I was. I did, however, encounter two problems.
1) The following occurred to me only this morning. While the book was a page-turner and the story held my interest, I find myself asking a question. Wouldn't a book that contains rape, lesbianism, castration, other forms of mutilation, homicide, inadvertent incest, and a prisoner's eyes being gouged out with a spoon be considered a tad over-the-top? My answer is yes.. Now I notice the author is credited with being a novelist and screen writer. With the latter in mind, I hear this book screaming, "Turn me into a movie! Oh, please, turn me into a movie!" Watch for upcoming attractions and consider yourself warned.
2) This second problem is the case-closer for me, the reason why I will probably never read anything else by Wimberley. The female protagonist, the narrator, turns out to be a musical genius and winds up in the marching band in the newly integrated school. The following describes her musical growth: "I was studying piano and French horn side by side, graduating in the latter instrument from 'Oklahoma' to 'Singing in the Rain' to 'The Impossible Dream.'" (page 101) Oops. "The Impossible Dream?" 1963? I don't think so. A quick trip to google.com. Yep. The Man of La Mancha opened in New York in 1965. All right. Call me picky, but Mr. Wimberley failed the test. I'm not that smart about many things and musical theatre is far from a strong point, but I find it appalling that such an error made it past the writer, the editors and the publisher—particularly when at the book's end Wimberley thanks several people, starting with those in the Department of Music at Florida State University. Once again and finally: Oops!
