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samhouston23's review against another edition
3.0
The 1956 onstage assault suffered by singer Nat King Cole in Birmingham, Alabama, made headlines around the world. Thankfully, the three men who attacked Cole at that event accomplished little more than knocking him to the floor before they were apprehended by policemen who were there to prevent just such an incident. King returned to the stage a few minutes after the assault and managed to finish his performance without further incident.
This is the real world event that Ravi Howard uses as the centerpiece of his new novel Driving the King - even though he moves the event back about a decade and has it take place in Montgomery rather than in Birmingham. However, as alluded to in the book’s title, Driving the King is really the story of a fictional character who served as the singer’s personal driver for a number of years (Nat King Cole is, in fact, a relatively minor character in the book).
Initially drawn together because they shared a first name, Nat Cole and Nat Weary were boyhood friends and classmates before King’s family moved out of Montgomery. And now that the famous Nat King Cole has come to Montgomery to do a show, Nat Weary has a favor to ask him. Weary wants Cole to help him propose to his girlfriend during the show – and the singer agrees to stop the show while Weary makes his move. But when a man jumps on stage and begins beating Cole, everything goes wrong. The proposal never happens, and Nat Weary, as a result of his aggressive defense of Cole, finds himself doing ten years of hard labor in one of Alabama’s harshest prisons. “The King,” though, never forgets what his old friend did for him. Upon Weary’s release from prison, Cole asks Weary to come to Los Angeles to be his driver and after much consideration Nat accepts the job.
Driving the King is set in the pivotal period of race relations in this country. The book covers in detail the Montgomery bus strike of the period, and even includes a young Martin Luther King as one of its characters. It is a stark and vivid portrayal of Jim Crow Alabama, but it does not stop there, because Nat King Cole, as the first black performer with a television show of his own (15 minutes in length), suffered racial prejudice even in Los Angeles. (In the real world, a cross was burned on the LA lawn of King’s home by members of the Ku Klux Klan.)
This is an ambitious novel – and it largely accomplishes what it set out to do. But, perhaps because so many of its characters are stereotypical (both blacks and whites), the book never fully draws the reader into the world as it was at that time. It just does not seem real. Nat Weary is an interesting character – and learning a bit about Nat King Cole’s personal journey is interesting – but I can’t help but feel that Driving the King could have been so much more than it is. And that’s a shame.
This is the real world event that Ravi Howard uses as the centerpiece of his new novel Driving the King - even though he moves the event back about a decade and has it take place in Montgomery rather than in Birmingham. However, as alluded to in the book’s title, Driving the King is really the story of a fictional character who served as the singer’s personal driver for a number of years (Nat King Cole is, in fact, a relatively minor character in the book).
Initially drawn together because they shared a first name, Nat Cole and Nat Weary were boyhood friends and classmates before King’s family moved out of Montgomery. And now that the famous Nat King Cole has come to Montgomery to do a show, Nat Weary has a favor to ask him. Weary wants Cole to help him propose to his girlfriend during the show – and the singer agrees to stop the show while Weary makes his move. But when a man jumps on stage and begins beating Cole, everything goes wrong. The proposal never happens, and Nat Weary, as a result of his aggressive defense of Cole, finds himself doing ten years of hard labor in one of Alabama’s harshest prisons. “The King,” though, never forgets what his old friend did for him. Upon Weary’s release from prison, Cole asks Weary to come to Los Angeles to be his driver and after much consideration Nat accepts the job.
Driving the King is set in the pivotal period of race relations in this country. The book covers in detail the Montgomery bus strike of the period, and even includes a young Martin Luther King as one of its characters. It is a stark and vivid portrayal of Jim Crow Alabama, but it does not stop there, because Nat King Cole, as the first black performer with a television show of his own (15 minutes in length), suffered racial prejudice even in Los Angeles. (In the real world, a cross was burned on the LA lawn of King’s home by members of the Ku Klux Klan.)
This is an ambitious novel – and it largely accomplishes what it set out to do. But, perhaps because so many of its characters are stereotypical (both blacks and whites), the book never fully draws the reader into the world as it was at that time. It just does not seem real. Nat Weary is an interesting character – and learning a bit about Nat King Cole’s personal journey is interesting – but I can’t help but feel that Driving the King could have been so much more than it is. And that’s a shame.
donnasbookaddiction's review
3.0
Usually after reading a novel, I wait a few days afterward to let the characters marinate in my head and reflect on the scenes that the story created for me to see. However, this story didn’t stay with me. It was a good story as I listened (Audio), but the characters went away quickly. Leaving me with the feeling that his writing and storytelling wasn’t at it’s very best.
“Driving the King” is a novel that should be classified as more of a piece of literary fiction than a historical account of the Jim Crow south during the civil rights movement era. It is really the story of a fictional character, Nat Weary, the protagonist whom is sent to prison for 10 years of hard labor after saving Nat King Cole from a racist attacker who rushed the stage during a concert in Montgomery and then serves as the singer’s personal driver for a number of years. The author does what should have been done by not focusing on the life of the attacker within his novel. Nat King Cole is more or less a minor character in this novel.
Readers should be aware it is fiction inspired by fact and not an accurate chronology of Nat King Cole's life. He brings together fact and fiction and changes the particulars of the latter to suit his timeline and the creation of the fictional character of Nathaniel Weary. I can accept that Howard took liberties to exaggerate the historical account of Nat King Cole and other historical characters.
Howard touches on the bus boycott of Alabama. He lightly mentions Claudette Colbert (a fifteen-year-old, was the first person arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama), in which if you don’t know the history behind this crusader, she was not the chosen one to spear the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, because she was a young unwed mother. They chose Rosa Parks 9 months later. Howard also strategically inserts other historical characters important to the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Almena Lomax, African American journalist and civil rights activist. Rosa Parks. Boxer Dynamite Jackson fought out of Santa Monica, California. He won the Heavyweight Championship of California during his career. It is also reported that he owned a Jazz Club in Los Angeles in the 1940s on Central Avenue called “Dynamite Jackson’s”.
Howard penned about Nat King Cole becoming the first African-American performer to host a variety TV series in 1956. The show originally aired without a sponsor, but NBC agreed to pay for initial production costs; it was assumed that once the show actually aired and advertisers were able to see its sophistication, a national sponsor would emerge. None did; many national companies did not want to upset their customers in the South, who did not want to see a black man on TV shown in anything other than a subservient position. Although NBC agreed to continue footing the bill for the show until a sponsor could be found, star Nat 'King' Cole pulled the plug on it himself in its second season. In the 1956 season, the show had a 15-minute running time. It was expanded to a 30-minute segment in 1957. (IMDB)
Howard’s story was an entertaining novel but not a great one. it suffered from the lack of an intriguing storyline in my view. “Driving the King” didn’t quite live up to its expectations of Nat King Cole and his music or his Jim Crow experiences in real life. However, Howard has a creative narrative, and I look forward to his next book.
“Driving the King” is a novel that should be classified as more of a piece of literary fiction than a historical account of the Jim Crow south during the civil rights movement era. It is really the story of a fictional character, Nat Weary, the protagonist whom is sent to prison for 10 years of hard labor after saving Nat King Cole from a racist attacker who rushed the stage during a concert in Montgomery and then serves as the singer’s personal driver for a number of years. The author does what should have been done by not focusing on the life of the attacker within his novel. Nat King Cole is more or less a minor character in this novel.
Readers should be aware it is fiction inspired by fact and not an accurate chronology of Nat King Cole's life. He brings together fact and fiction and changes the particulars of the latter to suit his timeline and the creation of the fictional character of Nathaniel Weary. I can accept that Howard took liberties to exaggerate the historical account of Nat King Cole and other historical characters.
Howard touches on the bus boycott of Alabama. He lightly mentions Claudette Colbert (a fifteen-year-old, was the first person arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama), in which if you don’t know the history behind this crusader, she was not the chosen one to spear the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, because she was a young unwed mother. They chose Rosa Parks 9 months later. Howard also strategically inserts other historical characters important to the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Almena Lomax, African American journalist and civil rights activist. Rosa Parks. Boxer Dynamite Jackson fought out of Santa Monica, California. He won the Heavyweight Championship of California during his career. It is also reported that he owned a Jazz Club in Los Angeles in the 1940s on Central Avenue called “Dynamite Jackson’s”.
Howard penned about Nat King Cole becoming the first African-American performer to host a variety TV series in 1956. The show originally aired without a sponsor, but NBC agreed to pay for initial production costs; it was assumed that once the show actually aired and advertisers were able to see its sophistication, a national sponsor would emerge. None did; many national companies did not want to upset their customers in the South, who did not want to see a black man on TV shown in anything other than a subservient position. Although NBC agreed to continue footing the bill for the show until a sponsor could be found, star Nat 'King' Cole pulled the plug on it himself in its second season. In the 1956 season, the show had a 15-minute running time. It was expanded to a 30-minute segment in 1957. (IMDB)
Howard’s story was an entertaining novel but not a great one. it suffered from the lack of an intriguing storyline in my view. “Driving the King” didn’t quite live up to its expectations of Nat King Cole and his music or his Jim Crow experiences in real life. However, Howard has a creative narrative, and I look forward to his next book.
greglhoward's review against another edition
4.0
Imaginative. This book is driven by the interaction of the fictional Nat Weary and the real Nat King Cole. Grounding his novel in real events and places lets Howard give a detailed account of the Civil Rights Era without it feeling dry. Seems like a high-risk strategy, but in this case, it pays off wonderfully.
readincolour's review against another edition
4.0
Not sure if it's the era or what, I probably need to put some more thought into it, but Nat Weary reminds me a lot of Easy Rawlins, and that's a good thing.
courtneymeyer's review against another edition
4.0
2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: a book by an author of a different ethnicity than you
kmc3050's review
2.0
2 stars. This one is just okay. I enjoyed the main character, Nat Weary, but only when he was away from Nat Cole. That’s when I felt the most connection to him. There was just a lot I didn’t like about Nat Cole, he just rubbed me the wrong way. I also loved the time period the book is set in, especially how it starts a decade before things start shaking up in Montgomery. It allows us to see how Nat Weary’s family become the activists there are. It also makes the city of Montgomery a unique and integral character to the story. Of course, the MLK, Jr. scene was super cheesy but I understood why the author included it.
While this is a fictional story built out of real people and real experiences, the author did change quite a bit. I think readers who lack a knowledge and understanding of the time period and its key players may not understand where the line between fiction and fact was blurred. The story also flip-flops between the main character's past and present/future which is not only annoying but confusing since much it of revolves around two concerts in the same town with the same people. The worst thing though is how often the story repeats itself- especially the main character saying the same things/same sentiments over and over.
I didn’t enjoy the narration in this one very much. The narrator's voice is very gravely and hard to hear at times. I did like the different voices he used for different characters, but I don't think I'll listen to anything else he narrates.
I received my copy of this audiobook free through Goodreads' First Reads program and am thankful for the opportunity to listen to it.
While this is a fictional story built out of real people and real experiences, the author did change quite a bit. I think readers who lack a knowledge and understanding of the time period and its key players may not understand where the line between fiction and fact was blurred. The story also flip-flops between the main character's past and present/future which is not only annoying but confusing since much it of revolves around two concerts in the same town with the same people. The worst thing though is how often the story repeats itself- especially the main character saying the same things/same sentiments over and over.
I didn’t enjoy the narration in this one very much. The narrator's voice is very gravely and hard to hear at times. I did like the different voices he used for different characters, but I don't think I'll listen to anything else he narrates.
I received my copy of this audiobook free through Goodreads' First Reads program and am thankful for the opportunity to listen to it.
cyndin's review against another edition
3.0
I have to say, had I known what the novel was about, I wouldn't have read it. But I grabbed it from the library after a hasty glance at the inside covers. I love historical fiction and I would have loved a story about a real life figure as interesting as Nat King Cole. What I don't like is historical fiction where a real life person is part of the fiction. Did Nat Weary really exist? Or was his very existence pulled out of thin air? I don't know. I will look it up but wanted to write the review based only on what the book told me (which was that it was a work of fiction set in real times).
The novel itself had many fascinating moments. Weary's story (even Cole's story) grabs your attention. The main problem was the pacing and the settings. The author chose to tell the story through flashbacks, which in and of itself is fine. But there were several levels of them and it was confusing. The current time was only a bit of the novel and nothing was happening. The chapter on the main day was broken into half a dozen chapters, all set a few minutes apart. Cole preparing for a historic show (I don't know if this happened in real life either). Then we set Weary's time in prison, preceded by what brought him to the prison, and followed by his first few weeks with family and in Cole's employ. Another thread is set a year or so later and shows the decision for the historic show and other trips to his home town, including showing the Montgomery bus boycott.
I finished the book a couple days ago and my sense of time and story from this novel are mostly faded. I'm just left with impressions. Insane, violent racism. The price people paid for being on the wrong end of the power stick. The extreme price for anyone who fought back. And the slow changes over time. Those parts the author did well with. I just wish the story itself had been more coherent and sensical. Though I suppose the times weren't either of those things.
The novel itself had many fascinating moments. Weary's story (even Cole's story) grabs your attention. The main problem was the pacing and the settings. The author chose to tell the story through flashbacks, which in and of itself is fine. But there were several levels of them and it was confusing. The current time was only a bit of the novel and nothing was happening. The chapter on the main day was broken into half a dozen chapters, all set a few minutes apart. Cole preparing for a historic show (I don't know if this happened in real life either). Then we set Weary's time in prison, preceded by what brought him to the prison, and followed by his first few weeks with family and in Cole's employ. Another thread is set a year or so later and shows the decision for the historic show and other trips to his home town, including showing the Montgomery bus boycott.
I finished the book a couple days ago and my sense of time and story from this novel are mostly faded. I'm just left with impressions. Insane, violent racism. The price people paid for being on the wrong end of the power stick. The extreme price for anyone who fought back. And the slow changes over time. Those parts the author did well with. I just wish the story itself had been more coherent and sensical. Though I suppose the times weren't either of those things.
mara_miriam's review against another edition
4.0
The dialogue of the characters is spot on and their restrained love and respect is tangible. This is a well researched book with a significant number of intersections of prominent historical figures that in another's hands would feel contrived. I would have been able to enjoy the story more if I was better educated on the historical personalities described. While there is a beautiful romance woven throughout, I read this book as an ode to our elders, as a love story based in struggle, activism, and community.
readincolour's review against another edition
4.0
Not sure if it's the era or what, I probably need to put some more thought into it, but Nat Weary reminds me a lot of Easy Rawlins, and that's a good thing.