Dakota Grand
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by Kenji Jasper
ISBN: 0767910141
Format: Paperback, 288pp
Pub. Date: September 2002 Publisher: Broadway Books
Edition Description: 1ST
Reviewed by
Brian Egeston
There are codes within creeds and creeds within cliques. Perhaps this is the
most subliminal, if not unintentional, message in Kenji Jasper’s latest
offering, Dakota Grand (Broadway Books: ISBN- 0767910141). The pen name of yet
another young man searching for himself in the world, Dakota Grand embarks upon
his on personal northern migration extracting himself from Atlanta and
transplanting in New York City. It is here where Grand plans to make his mark as
a writer—a hip hop writer no less.
Ambition gives way to frustration which gives way to desperation as we see
Dakota performing the ever-popular poor-man hustle in the writer-eat-writer
world of New York publishing. Surrounded by a compact and diverse cabal of
artists friends, Dakota survives by attending CD release parties where the food
is scarce, drinks are free, and the women are costly.
As Dakota lives his private life of; boy meets girl--boy sleeps with girl--boy
creeps out of bed before girl wakes in the morning, he is smitten by a foreign
girl bearing a southern name--Carolina. She is Dakota’s first real guide to the
road of straight and narrow for she does not tolerate smoking, drugs, or lying.
A popular magazine finally assigns Dakota his first cover story, an expose’ of
his favorite rap group. Upon the cover story’s publication Dakota learns a
painful lesson of being a true journalist—a physically painful lesson.
When Dakota is accosted and assaulted by thugs of the very same hip-hop
community which he passionately writes about, his first instinct is to strike
back. Despite warnings from associate and friends, Dakota plots a retaliation
for the sake of hip-hop journalists.
In this swift-paced and engaging novel , we are compelled to ask questions of
environments we may not be familiar with. Questions such as:
-Why would an intelligent and gifted young black man choose to forgo rationale
thinking and settle confrontations with street mentality?
-What is it about the creed of urban life that sometimes obstructs good
judgment?
-What drives a black man, on the verge of a prosperous career and loving
relationship, into the hellish depths of moronic thinking?
These are important questions because although Dakota Grand is a fictional
character, he lives and breathes before us every day. Dakota Grand plays in the
NBA and gets arrested for selling drugs. Dakota Grand plays in the NFL and gets
arrested for domestic abuse. Dakota Grand works in Corporate America and gets
terminated for embezzlement.
In the psyche of this character, are small intricate pieces of the puzzle that
explain why black men place themselves in detrimental circumstance for
absolutely no good reason. Those puzzle pieces are also keys to the riddle of
implementing solutions to the reoccurring problems faced by armies of young
black men.
Passionately told through first-person point-of view, Dakota Grand is a behind
the scenes look at the writers that glorify hip-hop artists. Jasper sprinkles a
humanitarian landscape throughout the book. Each trip on New York’s subway
system is littered with vivid descriptions of people simply trying to sustain
themselves. Each account, in just a few short words, reveals the individual’s
plight and identifies the common link of many New Yorkers—survival.
Flawed only by an ending that leaves a bit much to be desired and a climax over
too soon to be enjoyed, Dakota Grand is another welcomed addition to the
simplistic reading which masterfully examines a very complex people.
Brian Egeston is a writer living in Stone Mountain, GA
His latest novel is entitled
Granddaddy's Dirt.
http://www.brianwrites.com
