REVIEWS
PRAISE FOR “ARE YOU A N****R OR A DOCTOR?”
Kirkus Reviews
Reviewed by Kirkus Indie
A fascinating, moving memoir that focuses on one of the most tempestuous periods in American history.
“Stallworth reflects on his experience growing up as a Black child in the 1950s and ’60s in segregated Birmingham and his subsequent career as a doctor.
Stallworth grew up in Lincoln Park, a “Colored neighborhood” in Birmingham, Alabama, before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a time during which Martin Luther King Jr. called Birmingham “the most segregated city in the United States.” Schools, trains, water fountains, even dressing rooms in clothing stores were segregated. As the author observes: “My first required reading was the Jim Crow ‘White Only’ and ‘Colored Only’ signs plastered everywhere, even on city buses.”
He didn’t cross the city line and leave Birmingham until he was 16, when he attended Howard University with the lifelong hope of becoming a doctor. He graduated from Meharry Medical College and became an anesthesiologist, but even after such accomplishment, bigotry continued to doggedly pursue him. A White patient, astonished at the sight of him, asked the question that became the title of Stallworth’s book.
This thoughtful memoir is more impressionistic than documentary. In place of a comprehensive autobiography, the author provides a pastiche of anecdotes, some relating to racial identity. His writing style is unadorned, his delivery an easy and almost intimately familiar one (“I had not traveled by airplane, train, bus, boat, or even a taxi, but I boarded that train without a second thought, with no hesitation, curious to see what was inside of ‘The Southerner,’ which was a silver, streamlined train”).
The stories he conveys are captivating and astutely tied into the tumultuous history of the times. The author recounts when he learned of Emmett Till’s brutal murder. He was not quite 10 at the time and saw Till’s mutilated face on the cover of Jet magazine, which he delivered. This is an extraordinary remembrance— as emotionally affecting as it is historically edifying.
A fascinating, moving memoir that focuses on one of the most tempestuous periods in American history.”
Readers’ Favorite
Foluso Falaye
"Are You a N****r or a Doctor?" is an emotional roller coaster that takes you from heartbreaking losses and suicidal thoughts to falling in love, wild partying, and gory surgery. I appreciated it, learned from it, and could hardly put it down.This tale is a great read."
Carmen Tenorio
"The author's clear and eloquent writing also makes it quite a worthy read that's insightful, even entertaining, and occasionally humorous. This book helps us broaden our understanding of possibilities and achieving the possible, and it even shows us his way of getting out of a rut when our very human side starts to give up as we cope with life's adversities."
Jessica Barbosa
"Stallworth has an exceptional story to tell. Reading his detailed account made me feel that I had been transported into the past with him. The pictures added to the visual appeal. Stallworth wrote about his fond childhood memories, conversations, and familiar places with good humor. There were also bleak periods like the death of a loved one and a time that he realized he might need psychiatric help. An incident when he questioned the unfairness and injustice of God when he witnessed the death of a good man while cruel men were allowed to live resonated with me.
This work is emotional, powerful, and thought-provoking. I admire Stallworth's tenacity and hard work. The stories he told are heartfelt and I could not put the book down. This is the first part of Otto E. Stallworth's memoir and I can't wait for the next installment."
K.C. Finn
"The narrative style is both critical and endearing, like the words of a learned friend. Living through that era, let alone being a man of medicine, was a startling eye-opener to those of us not around at the time.
I was also touched by the personal anecdotes that the author shared about universal human experiences like love, loss, fear, and triumph. I would not hesitate to recommend "Are You a N****r or a Doctor?" to memoir and social history readers everywhere."
Juan Lynch
“‘Are You a N****r or a Doctor?’ by Dr. Otto E. Stallworth is the first book in a two-part memoir. Having grown up in Alabama during a time when segregation laws were still heavily enforced, it is no surprise that racism is a significant theme in this book.
Additionally, Stallworth was affected by his parents' marital issues. He confesses as such and correlates it to some of his own failed marriages.
Despite his adversities, Sunny, as Otto was affectionately called by his mom, was able to shine brightly in the medical field. He even dabbled in the music and film industry for a bit. His rich pool of experiences and the diverse characters he has met over the first part of his life makes this an intriguing read.
I enjoyed many aspects of ‘Are You a N****r or a Doctor?’ The writing style has an appealing conversational tone that drew me in.
For example, the dialogues were very realistic. In keeping with the memoir genre, Stallworth shares the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Moreover, I was intrigued by the colorful cast of friends and acquaintances that he has had over the years. The chapters involving Kooper James, the king of prostitution, were enthralling.
The only thing I did not like was the betrayal of my expectation of a chronological recounting of Stallworth's life. For example, knowing that he would have four failed marriages early on detracted from the suspense of future chapters. Overall, however, this is a well- written thought-provoking memoir.”
Edward Boyer
Retired Los Angeles Times Journalist
“The retired small town white police chief refused to leave the toilet in his hospital room, and Dr. Otto Stallworth, the Ohio hospital’s new intern, was asked to go in and talk him out. The chief, 80, suffered from dementia and never looked up at Stallworth for several minutes before he finally decided he would leave. He raised his head for the first time, saw Stallworth with his huge afro and brown skin and asked the question that gave Stallworth the title to his memoir: “Are you a n****r or a doctor?”
To that demented retired cop, the two were mutually exclusive. Stallworth’s answer may satisfy some readers or agitate others. But it is Stallworth’s professional answer, his individual take on a medical situation that he successfully solved. Stallworth lived life largely by his own lights, meeting challenges and overcoming them, sometimes at considerable risk. This entertaining, informative, and at time gripping memoir captures the joys and pains of growing up in Jim Crow Birmingham, Alabama at a time when that city had earned the sobriquet “Bombingham.”
Stallworth’s mom was apoplectic when her 6-year-old son purposefully drank from the “white” water fountain in a department store and triumphantly declared: “It tastes just like the Black water.” And readers may be laughing on the floor when pre-teen Stallworth and his friends try a hilarious method to increase their penis size.
Stallworth is a romantic who married five times, proposing to one wife while sailing down the Nile. And his compassion comes through when he cared for an ex-wife after a horrific traffic accident. Anesthesiologist, restaurateur, and manager of a Grammy-winning singing group, Stallworth is clearly something of a renaissance man. He tells his life’s story in chapters, revealing episodes all the more compelling for their underlying honesty. He barely escaped with his life from one romantic encounter in Mexico, and he went into therapy after considering suicide brought on, in part, by the stresses of practicing medicine.
Part romantic comedy, part tragedy, but all adventure, Stallworth takes readers from Birmingham to Howard University In Washington D.C. to Meharry Medical College in Nashville to Chicago, Ohio and Los Angeles in this romp of a memoir that engages readers on so many levels. Time spent with Stallworth’s stories is time well spent.”
Booklife Prize
Plot/Idea: Otto E. Stallworth, Jr. writes evocatively about living in the American South before the Civil Rights Movement. He offers a first-hand perspective on segregation and racial violence, as well as on prejudicial attitudes encountered throughout his life and career. He writes jovially and vividly about American history as well as his own far-ranging experiences, with a comfortable manner of storytelling that warmly welcomes readers into his world.
Prose: The prose flows easily and authentically. Stallworth's writing shines, whether he's discussing the depths of addiction or conveying a sweet love story; managing a music group, or succeeding in the medical profession.
Originality: Stallworth's life is uniquely his, and the manner in which he weaves together very different and captivating stories, is a pleasure to read. Readers with an interest in the Civil Rights Movement and the tumultuous history of the American South will find much to appreciate in Stallworth's seasoned and layered storytelling.
Character/Execution: Each character Stallworth encounters, no matter how briefly featured, immediately comes to life. The book itself is organized in a manner that is loosely chronological and enjoyable to read. Readers won't soon forget Stallworth's impactful narrative.
Score:
Plot/Idea: 9
Originality: 10
Prose: 9
Character/Execution: 10
Overall: 9.50
Booklife Prize
This engaging, memorably told memoir from Stallworth, an anesthesiologist now retired after a 45 year medical career, builds up to the provocative question in its title. It’s asked of Stallworth in 1970, by an elderly white patient at Case Western Reserve Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, where Stallworth, at intern at age 24, was the only Black doctor. Stallworth’s response—he essentially says that he’s both—may surprise readers. In this instance, he notes, he heard neither “hatred or evil intent,” the way he had, growing up in Birmingham, when that slur had been hurled “by policemen and by politicians on TV campaigning for mayor or governor.” Stallworth saw the man as “a male patient, an elderly male born in another century, in the 1890s”—and saw himself as a doctor. So, he got to work.
Stallworth’s memoir abounds in rich, often surprising scenes, some as complex as that one. His lifetime of thinking through these incidents informs every page, starting with his vivid recounting of a 1950s Alabama childhood of ice-cream, marbles, Conkoleen, and questions about the segregated world around him: at a department store, spying an empty lunch counter, he “couldn’t help but wonder how White Only food tasted, and why was it White Only?” Arresting portraits of friends, family, teachers, and others bring the era to life, as young Stallworth and his father deliver Jet and Ebony magazine around the city known as the most segregated in America.
Also arresting are Stallworth’s accounts of horseplay at Howard University, of seeing a host of notable entertainers (countless luminaries at the Howard Theatre; a young Richard Pryor; a Gene Krupa show at New York’s Cafe Metropole attended by Cassius Clay), of his personal connection to those lost in the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, of the time he got lost as a Chicago bus driver with furious passengers. The storytelling is conversational, illuminating, and often funny, as this fiercely independent thinker offers a vital contribution to the historical record.
Takeaway: The arresting memoir of a Black doctor’s journey and 1950s Alabama upbringing.
Great for fans of: Charles M. Blow’s Fire Up in My Bones, Damon Tweedy’s Black Man in a White Coat.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B+
5 out of 5 stars
How much of your life do you remember? Are you interested in learning about a man’s life? If so, the book “Are You a N****r or a Doctor?” by Otto E. Stallworth Jr. MD MBA is for you.
The central theme of this book is the life story of the author. In this book, the author brought us back to the good old time to experience the good and the bad of the time. He told us what it feels like as a black child to grow up in America. He introduced us to the people he had met and the places he had been. He shows us the fate of those he had interacted with. He writes that what happened in his life motivated him to become a doctor. It is a story of reality, where nothing happened as fantasized. Read this book to enjoy the story of a lifetime. Maybe it will inspire you on what to do in your life.
Thank you, Otto, for writing this book and sharing your story. I appreciate his efforts in writing this book. I like that he also narrates the bad things in his life, as it makes them feel realistic. I can empathize and relate to some of his experiences. Something that happened to your family might push you to become involved in a profession.
There is nothing to dislike about the book. It is a good book, one of the best I have ever read.
This book is exceptionally well-edited. This book has simple language, clean formatting, good storytelling, and a good presentation. There is no reason to make any deduction on the rating. There are many positives with none the negative. So, I am happy to give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. The reason is that I cannot, in good conscience, not give this book full marks when I did not find any reason to make a deduction.
I recommend this book to mature readers, as the story includes profanity and social issues. This book suits those facing prejudice and discrimination, as it might inspire and motivate you to keep fighting for success. I recommend this book to those seeking to learn more about the author. This memoir is an excellent way to get to know him. Fans of memoirs will find this book up to their taste. If you are a fan of memoirs, do not miss out on this book.