'Song Of Solomon'

It took Toni Morrison about 200 pages, but she wound up writing a pretty compelling and fantastically fascinating novel about the identity of the black male in America.

Granted, I could not have done it in one million pages. Capture the essence of the wayfaring African American male, that is. It would have taken another million to write something as compelling.

The story twists and turns for more than the first half identifying this laundry list of otherworldly, Biblical characters, who work and interact like the gods and goddesses of Olympus. Mother Gaea (Pilate) and her lack of a belly button. Vengeful Zeus (Macon Dead). The mighty Hera (Hagar). Mars, the war god (Guitar). The wise Athena (Corinthians) and the hunter goddess Artemis (Lena).

Here, we get stories and facts in hearsay and this distorted gospel. Everything seems so unreal. Not because it's untrue, but because it's all so incomplete. It's as if this family's history book had had pages ripped from the binding.

Then there's Milkman. Part Hephaestus and part Hermes. Lost and lacking an identity. He lacks a connection with his family and grows dreadfully apart from his good friend, Guitar, who turns angry and misguided by hate. Milkman just wants to get away and find his own face and place in America.

As he travels to the south, the home of his ancestors, he further sticks out of place as he searches for the lost gold allegedly taken and hidden by his aunt, Pilate. This is when the story gets good. Here is when the pages are returned to their binding. Where we learn the history and lessons of these mysterious characters. It's also where Milkman learns how he fits with these misfits of a family. Like Odysseus, his misadventures teach him the value of family and home. All it took was a visit to ol' Circe and violent beginnings of his forefathers.