Known for his appearances in Rolling Stone magazine, his contributions to CNN and as the host of MTV2’s Spoke N’ Heard, Toure’ makes his fictional writing debut with Soul City.
The title, set as a fictional town, is a microcosm of cultures reminiscent of Harlem, Utopia and musical The Wiz. The book circles around Cadillac Jackson, a magazine writer from Chocolate City Magazine covering the mayoral election of the city.
While in Soul City, Jackson encounters Mahogany Sunflower, a part-time disc jockey at the local bakery, who possesses strange and dark secrets. Then, in walks John Jiggaboo, a local shampoo mogul who has tried to introduce Soul City citizens to his homemade shampoo that has a strange effect on its users and Jackson finds that the city is not what it’s cracked up to be.
The novel, although thought-reveting and funny, is also shallow as it depicts characters that the reader is forced to identify.
Other citizens that revolve around the lead character are mayor candidate Cool Spreadlove, a man who slightly resembles a former American president and Granmama, the 300-something-year-old who has no trouble cursing out the mayor and anyone else who she has a problem with.
Though Toure’s first attempt at fiction leaves much to be desired, he makes up for it through his humor and ability to show Blacks for what they really are…people.
His attempt to show the reader the characters’ lack of concern for their own personal traits and flaws makes up for the lack of depth he uses to describe the characters themselves.
The 184 pages that Toure takes you through are not nearly worth the $19.95 suggested retail price. However, if it ever goes down to $10 or www.amazon.com starts selling the book, you too should get a taste of soul.
