The Color Midnight Made

by Andrew Winer

Book Overview

This critically acclaimed debut is a modernHuckleberry Finn, a heartrending tale of wit and grace that charts the coming of age of a color-blind white boy struggling to find meaning in a world divided... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743439902
• ISBN13: 9780743439909
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A Moving Modern Coming of Age Novel

I met the author of this novel, who spent much time in New York City, and writes with the passion of experience and the knowledge of life in the streets. The hero of this novel is a young white man living in a primarily black community in a shipyard town near San Francisco. He goes from foster home to foster home and attends Christian churches attended by blacks. While its about identity, its also about friendship (he befriends a blind man who draws a new color thats symbolic of the soul). It's also about tolerance, humanity and a boy's journey into manhood. It's a modern coming of age novel. It's well-written and soulful. Dickens, while not in an obvious way, directly influenced some of the characteristics- the waif who is taken in by a "family" and taught good values. The book is very modern and contains language that is very realistic and down-to-earth, like its tone. I look forward to a sequel if it is ever written.

Good book

I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of some aspects of my own childhood (parents not getting along, father getting drunk and swearing, feeling alone in the world, unhappy about family life). At first I thought it was a bit slow but then it picked up (not too far into it) and never lost my attention after that. The author keeps an even pace between hardship and humor so one does not get depressed reading the book. The part I remember the most (and still gives me a chuckle) is when Conrad is in church (forced to go my his mother who does not attend with him). Apparently the church choir is predominately white (if not all white) and a black church choir comes to visit. Conrad is bored and not very interesetd in the strained singing of the white church choir but when the black church choir comes in with their own unique way it makes Conrad sit up and pay attention and he thinks to himself "We have a situation!" If you didn't get a chuckle out of that you'll have to read the book and see how the author described it. It is poignant.I recommend this book. It is an easy and relativly fast read. I loaned it to my 15-year-old nephew. He has to do several book reports for school and needs something that he can read that isn't too long. I felt this was a good balance between not too long but would also hold his attention and be a pleasure to read.

Innocence and Truth

Conrad Clay, the ten-year-old protagonist of "The Color Midnight Made" is the center of his own universe...one that's slowly but inexorably going to pieces. Growing up white in a predominantly black area of San Francisco isn't easy--but "Con" is adaptable and trusting. Perhaps too trusting. As he watches his family crumble, and his relationship with his best buddy "Loop" (a derivative of "Froot Loops")grow distant, Con moves through the world like a lost soul. Andrew Winer has created a character in Conrad equal to Holden Caulfield--a rebellious, naive and innocent young man searching for truth. "The Color Midnight Made" is darkly poetic, moving, and wonderfully told. This is a story that stays in your mind long after you've finished reading it.

The author's a superb wordsmith

While it's true that coming-of-age stories are not infrequently found in literature, the way Andrew Winer treats his subject is fresh, engaging and relevant. This tale of young Conrad Clay butting up against the painful realities of adulthood broke my heart, but then the story knitted the fissures and gave me hope. Having no first-hand experience at being a ten-year-old boy, I was grateful for the guided tour into this young man's heart and head. Evenso, Conrad's story brought up a flood of memories -- being a girl child isn't really so very different. This is what makes Winer's book, and Conrad's tale, the reader's own: being ten, having to deal with the fallibility of adults, living in a tired ol' neighborhood, or watching your parents split up are experiences that many, many people can relate to intimately; but connecting into this man-child's heartaching experience, and watching him survive, made me think I can, too. I am astonished at the dexterity of Winer's wordsmithing, and the wickedly funny (the morgue scene!) and heart-wrenching dialogue. The way he draws descriptions was nothing short of extraordinary, and some of the scene settings left me gasping. This is an excellent debut novel and I look forward to upcoming wordsmithing by Andrew Winer.

The color of innocence

Winer tells a fascinating tale of a young boy coming of age just outside Oakland, California. A young white boy living in a black neighborhood searches for his identity while trying to hold his world together. Conrad Clay, known to his friends and family as "Con" reaches from the pages and touches the reader's heart with humor, empathy, and innocence. He labors to be accepted, struggles with his feelings of disparity. Strong secondary characters like Loop, Con's best friend, make The Color Midnight Made an undeniably worthy read. Con's parents play significant roles in the flow of the story, as does Midnight, Loop's blind brother. An anomolous story and premise, even the title of this book seeps with poeticism and profundity, and once you read this wonderful book, you too will be able to see The Color Midnight Made. ~ Reviewed by CandaceK