Receive Jazz Moon Narrated By Joe Okonkwo Format Kindle

MOON
I read to be a better writer, I read to be a better person, I read to better understand the human condition, and to understand history, I read to better open my mind, expand my imagination, and to go on a journey past my own lifes experience,
And all of the above reasons why I read are fulfilled in Joe Okonkwos stunning debut novel, Jazz Moon, I shed tears, laughed, was even enraged at times, and was deeply heartened by Okonkwos emotionally satisfying prose its as if my head, heart, and soul was being conducted by a confident bandleader as I moved through the pages.

Set in the lates, Jazz Moon follows the life of a poet named Ben, from his lateteens to his early twenties, and with flashbacks to his childhood.
It is a historical novel, love story, comingofage narrative that explores black life, and gay life along with Bens struggles during the Harlem Renaissance, and Paris, Ultimately, it explores how art is love, and love is art,
Okonkwos prose is both poetic and succinct he wastes no words, which gives the narrative the musicality of a jazz composition, As well, Okonkwo composes a highly easy to visualize worldfrom protagonist Bens time in Harlem, his journey to Paris, and even in the seamless flashbacks to his childhood in the South.

While reading Jazz Moon I was reminded of some other dynamic writers: Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Gustav Flaubert, Alice Walker, Langston Hughes, and even Gertrude Stein.
Also, just like my past experiences with reading the works of those mentioned above, the further I was drawn into Jazz Moons world, I found myself casting every single character with famous actors.
The reader and writer inside is so impressed with how vivid, truetolife, and dimensional Okonkwos characters are, and how expertly crafted their story arcs are fulfilled by novels end.

In short, read Jazz Moon, Im convinced that over the years, Ill read it again and again, because Im also certain that it will become a classic work of literature, Also, it serves as an important study of the struggles of Black life, Gay life, and the intersections of both during the lates Harlem Renaissance,
Below, Ive posted a link to a feature that appeared on Lambda Literarys website, and includes a sample read of Jazz Moon, When you read the sample pages, Joe Okonkwos remarkable prose speaks for itself,
sitelink lambdaliterary. org/feature Jazz Moon by Joe Okonkwo will make readers question everything they read and feel, Nothing like a novel about jazz that brings out the poetic side to everyone especially the characters, A debut novel that brings, to life, the action, drama, and passion of, Times where everything beckoned and called to those who hearts wanted more, Inside this title, readers will get a glimpse into a poet's lifestyle, He has a devoted wife but is angry with her, . . he soon find himself attracted to another who brings out the heat of raw animalistic desire deep within his blood, A stirring unlike any other, Paris is a place where art, passion, and desire come in abundance and that's where both Ben and his new lover find themselves, Joe Okonkwo brings readers the best world of fiction readers will find, Race, jazz, and travel are deep topics easily explored within this exciting wellwritten plot, Overall, I highly recommend this new novel, Jazz Moon, to readers everywhere, This was a Pride Month Read for one of my book clubs and it was unexpected that at least the first quarter if not the first half of the book is pretty much just erotica.
Be warned if you don't like sex scenes most of my book club probably doesn't, . .

I had assumed that this would be a historical fiction story but in the scheme of things there is little detailing the struggle of being black and gay ins America and this pocket of "anything goes" that is depicted to us seems like a fantasy world.
While it's clear that Ben is creating an accommodating lifestyle to appear to "fit into" society, there are few instances of the outright discrimination we know was happening simply for being black, not to mention for being "found out" as gay.
Ben is protected at every turn and the related incidents of hatred do not happen to the characters personally which makes the situation seem remote and unusual rather than the common occurrence history tells us was the case.


While the most interesting character is right out of a stereotype catalog, Ben, the main character, is as flat as a cardboard box, Nothing happens to Ben that is of his own doing, From his initial interaction with a young lover, to his marriage, to his relocation to France, he is not the driver of the plot but someone who happens to be there as things move forward.
Since we follow along with this character we really don't get to see the interesting side of Harlem and Paris backstage at the clubs, opium dens, etc.
except where Ben timidly follows in order to further the plot, And when he finally engages in interesting behavior onenight stands, running a club we get several dozen versions of the same work routine and the "off hours" stuff is glossed over.
Every time I had to read the details of the boyfriend dressing and leaving to do something interesting while leaving me stuck in a ship's cabin, or a boarding house room, or a club bar, with Ben having "feelings" I felt a little more hatred for Ben's passivity.


Ben is a poet so we get periodic verses and poems of his work, all of which are "love" related, none of which help set the scene so much as they reinforce his emotional state.


An entire "plot twist" at the last third of the book seems to be added merely to try to give some heft to the story line although not one thing comes of it the book ends midirrelevant conversation.
. . which makes me think my overall disappointment is that the book doesn't know if it wants to be erotica, romance, or a novel but a focus on one genre might have helped it out a bit.
Excellent novel set in a romantic age of Black creativity, discovery amp influence, I felt there were a few questions I would've loved to see answered towards the end but otherwise it was a fantastic read that I'll highly recommend.
The story of Ben Charles, a gay Black man trying to make his way in the world in thes, he moves away from his family and his first true love to New York City, where he tries to conform to everyone's wishes but his own, Eventually he meets and falls for a jazz musician, Baby Back, who convinces Ben that life will be so much better in France, And while some things are much better, the two still have so many issues to sort through that become insurmountable,

Okonkwo includes descriptions of and plot centered around jazz and jazz clubs in thes, creating a great atmosphere, He even provides some poetry to illustrate Ben's artistic life, Ultimately, though, the relationship between Baby Back and Charles becomes so tedious I just wanted Baby Back to leave the story for good! And I wished for a tighter plot, as the novel seemed to go on too long.
Still, a unique look into the jazz scene of thes,

“A passionate, alive, and original novel about love, race, and jazz ins Harlem and Parisa moving story of traveling far to find oneself.
”David Ebershoff, author of The Danish Girl and Theth Wife

In a lyrical, captivating debut set against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance and glittering Jazz Age Paris, Joe Okonkwo creates an evocative story of emotional and artistic awakening.


On a sweltering summer night in, beauties in beaded dresses mingle with hepcats in dapper suits on the streets of Harlem, The air is thick with reefer smoke, and jazz pours out of speakeasy doorways, Ben Charles and his devoted wife, Angeline, are among the locals crammed into a basement club to hear jazz and drink bootleg liquor, For aspiring poet Ben, the swirling, heady rhythms are a revelation, So is Baby Back Johnston, an ambitious trumpet player who flashes a devilish grin and blasts jazz dynamite from his horn, Ben finds himself drawn to the trumpeterand to Paris where Baby Back says everything is happening,

In Paris, jazz and champagne flow eternally, and blacks are welcomed as exotic celebrities, especially those from Harlem, Its an easy life that quickly leaves Ben adrift and alone, craving solace through anonymous dalliances in the citys decadent underground scene, From chic Parisian cafés to seedy opium dens, his odyssey will bring new love, trials, and heartache, even as echoes from the past urge him to decide where true fulfillment and inspiration lie.


“Jazz Moon mashes up essences of Hurston and Hughes and Fitzgerald into a heady mixtape of a romance: driving and rhythmic as an Armstrong Hot Five record, sensuous as the small of a Cotton Club chorus girls back.
I enjoyed it immensely. Frankly, I wish I'd written it, ”Larry Duplechan, author of Blackbird and Got 'til It's Gone A novel set in Harlem and Paris in thes, Ben is a young black man, a poet and a waiter, who lives with his wife Angeline in New York City, though they're both originally from the smalltown south.
He struggles with what he calls this thing eventually revealed to be his attraction to other men a problem which kicks into overdrive when Ben meets the handsome trumpeter Baby Back Johnston.
From there on out it's a matter of Ben figuring out who he is and who he loves, and the ensuing tangled mass of complicated relationships not just with Baby Back and Angeline, but also Glo, a singer and Ben's close friend Clifford, a rich, sophisticated black man with his own attraction to Baby Back and Sebastian, a white painter.


The prose attempts to mimic the rhythms of poetry many of Ben's poems are included in the text itself and jazz, which sometimes works well, and.
. . well, sometimes doesn't. For example:
The students smiled through their entire argument, then closed their topic with a chummy clinking of coffee cups, The Fitzgeraldendorsing student stood out, His tie askew. Longish hair falling in front of his eyes, A dash of scruff on his ruddy face,
Something in Bens pants smiled,
He went downstairs to use the lavatory, the basement dark and medievaldungeon cool, The Fitzgerald boy was at the sink when Ben came out of the stall, They studied each other through the mirrors reflection,
“Bonjour,” Fitzgerald said.
“Bonjour. ”
Silence. Studying.
“I need to wash my hands,” Ben said,
“What were you doing in that stall to make them dirty”
He stepped aside, Ben moved to the sink, As water poured over his hands, he felt a nice slap on his backside, Sharp and quick, the sound like a whip, Ben looked in the mirror, saw Fitzgerald at the stall cocking his head in its direction, renegade hair flailing, He went in, left the door ajar,
Ben finished at the sink and moved to exit, He looked back at the stall, felt the smile in his pants again, He hesitated, then hesitated some more, then walked toward

the stall with purpose, then reversed course and left,

THE SMILE IN HIS PANTS, THIS IS THE WORST METAPHOR FOR SEXUAL ATTRACTION I THINK I HAVE EVER READ,

But even if the prose isn't always the greatest, I really did enjoy this book, It deals with racism and homophobia in very smart ways and in a setting that I loved, the characterizations are welldone and complex, and the ending is happy if a bit bittersweet.
All around, it's a book that I'm very glad exists, and I wish there were more like it,

I read this as an ARC via NetGalley, .