As narrated by Joe Morton, everyone has a story to tell on Brewster Place and Naylor eloquently gives voice to the people who live there. Fifteen years ago we heard the women of that byway (The Women of Brewster Place, Audio Reviews, LJ 5/1/94 and LJ 11/15/93); now we hear from the men. Brewster Place is not an address to which people aspire yet it is not quite an address for people of despair. Sure, they've seen better times in the past and just maybe they'll see better times in the future. Meanwhile, they're getting by from day to day. Morton brings each of the characters to life: Ben, the neighborhood janitor, who serves as the chorus; Brother Jerome, the musical genius with his child's mind; Basil, who wants a family so badly that he makes the wrong choices; Rev. Moreland T. Woods, who wants a new church to glorify himself; and the others who gather at the barber shop to comment on the general state of the world. This is great storytelling and a good choice for public library collections.

Gloria Naylor (born January 25, 1950 in New York City) is an African American novelist. Her novel The Women of Brewster Place was adapted into a 1989 film of the same name by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions.