I have quite mixed feelings about the Street Fiction genre link, and my introduction to Urban Fiction. The resource is clear and well-designed, visually appealing, with its sub-categories of Street Fiction, Urban Nonfiction, Urban Christian Fiction and Urban Teen Fiction, each of which hold a wealth of information.
Browsing the featured books, generally in the street fiction category, I was frankly initially shocked at the content and cover images. As I read through more reviews, however, it seemed that thematically, though in the setting of the street and criminal worlds, many titles dealt with universal issues, love, despair, revenge, and just getting by. Reading author interviews, I learned that many of the themes in the stories are not plans for action, but cautionary tales.
What I am having a rather difficult time with is under the tab "topics." This is so sad I feel I could cry. A representative sampling of what these books deal with are: Abuse, Addiction, Car thieves, Conspiracy, Drug dealing, Gangs, Homeless, Iraq War, Kidnapping, Mafia, Murder, Pimps, Prison, Prostitution, Sex Trade and Suicide. If these books are presenting a realistic picture of life in our contemporary urban areas, I feel hopeless and powerless, and I am just looking in from the outside.
As I sample these titles, I will hopefully gain a greater understanding of a vital part of our society.
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