Tuff

I have to say, I enjoy Paul Beatty's "Tuff" more than any other book we've read this semester. I have a preference for the postmodern genre, and satire is kind of my thing. The only tv shows I watch are satire, and it's refreshing to find a book like that. "Tuff" seems to be the most modern book we've read this semester, although the others were written around the same time period. I think Beatty does this by giving us a stereotypical American environment that we have all been familiar with for some time. The "ghetto" of New York City has become a symbol for America's poor African American community, as well as the origin of drugs, crime, and cultural disintigration in America. I feel that the ghetto of NYC has been so over exposed, that a somewhat unreal definition of it has become the stereotype. Beatty uses the sterotype of this environment and the sterotype of the people who live in this environment, to satirize modern society. He does this expertly. Beatty's use of these stereotypical characters enables his readers to have a sense of familiarity with the story, while he is really attacking the readers for using the stereotypes. We discussed in class that satire is a good way, espcially in African American racial issues, to bring up big problems with society in a way that makes the readers feel more comfortable. It is ironic how Tuffy's father doesn't believe that Tuff can win the position for city council, when he is supposedly an ex Black Panther, who has always encouraged black empowerment. This book is filled with irony, and sometimes the irony is upsetting. What I mean by upsetting is, that at first it is funny or interesting, but when it actually sinks into your mind, it makes the reader upset at how correct that irony is. This is what Beatty is trying to do to his readers. Satire is a more comfortable way of reaching people on big issues, but I also think it hits its readers harder, because they see how correct the satire is when they look at thier own misguided first reactions to it.