Bittersweet

by Freddie Lee Johnson III

Book Overview

Clifford has two wonderful young sons, a fast-track career and a loving wife, but his marriage is about to fall apart. Street-smart Victor's love 'em and leave 'em philosophy has never failed him,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345445961
• ISBN13: 9780345445964
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: One World
• Length: 372 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

THANK YOU MR. JOHNSON

Thank you for crafting a novel that does not insults my intelligence and makes me want to keep turning the pages. Thank you for taking the time to explore all your characters are about and aren't. Thank you for taking the craft of writing seriously and sharing it with the world. You have breathed new hope into the world of black fiction and that is an important andpowerful thing.Peace,Margaret Johnson-Hodgeauthor of Some Sunday

A Good First Novel by a Promising Author

"Bittersweet" dealt with issues that can help or break a marriage. Mostly divorce was done more than once in this book to each of the brothers. You have three completely different brothers. One was street smart(Victor),one was book smart(Clifford), and one was religious(Nathan). Now, I don't know about you, but that Demetria was a skeezer from the word GO. How could Nathan and his mother not see that from Day One?? Victor had her number from day one, yet he let things be for the sake of peace. Then, when ol' girl wants to leave, she wants to take ol'Clifford to the cleaners. Now, that wasn't fair at all. She wanted to leave, handle your own business. This foolishness about "love,excitement, and all that" was a bunch of crock, But thank God for Victor and Al to help him on the road. Now Nathan had real good intentions, but he wasn't prepared for Beverly, and she just wanted someone to make her feel good, and at a great expense. Brenda was the salt of the earth, and I am glad she asserted herself though I wondered if she went too far with her demands on Nathan. Then you have Victor. I understood bro' from the get go. No, I am not down for playas', but I understood why he got there. At first I was not feeling him, but as time went on, he redeemed himself with me. I can say that he was a true family man, and he loved his child, and it was pure cruelty what Lynette did(and what's with "Your Judge-ness"? Girl must had slept her way through school) But this was a good one. It kept you laughing, on your toes, and I heartily give it the stars it gets. Look forward to your other work Mr.Johnson.

Fantastic!

I felt that Mr Johnson did an excellent job with this book! I really enjoyed it! The characters were very well developed. He also explained the feelings of each brother in a way that made them very real. The interactions between them and the women in their lives were written so well that I felt I was actuallythere with them! One could really relate to the situations and understand what was going on. By the end of the book I felt as though I really knew all the folks in it!

Run and get this book

Cliff, Nathan, and Victor are three brothers who are battling their way through marital and/or female problems. Demetria, Cliff's wife of nine years, wants out - but Cliff wants another chance. He questions why Demetria is so hell-bent on divorcing him and breaking up their family structure - one that consists of their two adorable young sons, Braddie and Bear. When Demetria makes Cliff understand that she is hardly kidding, he's forced to seek new methods to handle what life is dealing him, and at times his sorrows cause him to turn to his brothers: Nathan, a pastor and family man who's caught inside his own web of frustrations, and Victor, AKA "Ice", a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is, brother with a heartfelt appreciation for large breasted women.Bittersweet is filled with much thought-provoking issues as it examines the challenges men face when they want to either (1) stay married, or (2) maintain custody of the children. Although some men may have noble intentions, their desires seem to be secondary to a system that doesn't favor participant dads. And there's plenty of educating going on in Bittersweet as Cliff, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, tries to maneuver his way back into a relationship with a wife who fights his reconciliatory attempts every step of the way.The laugh-out-loud, streetwise philosophies of Victor, however, are what make Bittersweet an entertainment smorgasbord. Victor, a fellow who never holds his tongue when it comes to voicing his opinion, is nurturing and protective of his baby brother Cliff and warns him to not continually gripe about his woes to other people because, "...half the suckas don't care about your problems, and the other half is glad you got `em."Victor's voice is one of the strongest to emerge from fiction in recent years and may remind some of Franklin, the main male character in Terry McMillan's Disappearing Act. But don't despair. Writer Freddie Johnson isn't duplicating what's already been done, instead his success may lie in the fine way he brings a fresh voice to a literary arena that's thirsty for writing that can be streetwise, contemporary, compelling, and lyrical with lessons learned by the time the book comes to a close. Bittersweet should be one of the most memorable and beloved reads of 2002 and is highly recommended.