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Hey boy! Hey George! The Pullman Porter: A Pullman Porter's story Paperback – January 12, 2010
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length218 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJanuary 12, 2010
- Dimensions5.25 x 0.55 x 8 inches
- ISBN-101439262314
- ISBN-13978-1439262313
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Product details
- Publisher : BookSurge Publishing (January 12, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 218 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1439262314
- ISBN-13 : 978-1439262313
- Item Weight : 9 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.55 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,773,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #51,420 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
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Customers find the book provides an interesting historical perspective and is well-written. They find it engaging from start to finish and say it would make a great film.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers appreciate the book's historical accuracy and interesting perspective. They find it well-written and an interesting account of the life of a Pullman Porter.
"...This is real History from an eyewitness, and he pulls no punches, whether on race or other aspects of life for a black working male. TWO THUMBS UP!..." Read more
"This is a fascinating story. It’s truly engaging. A remarkable piece of history and humanity." Read more
"This was an interesting account of the life of a Pullman Porter...." Read more
"Very easy to read, and very interesting historical perspective..." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and well-written. They describe it as an engaging memoir that combines history and humanity. However, some readers feel it lacks scholarly verification due to its lack of a publisher.
"...Well-written and generally historically accurate...." Read more
"This is a fascinating story. It’s truly engaging. A remarkable piece of history and humanity." Read more
"...Hey Boy, Hey George" is a good, easy read. It took me only a couple days to read this book, because once I got started I didn't want to put it down...." Read more
"Great narrative, but lacks scholarly verification due to no publisher identification. It's a great memoir." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2019Best aspect is that, of course, this is a primary source, written by someone who experienced the reality of Jim Crow, yet could benefit from being part of A. Philip Randolph's union for Pullman porters. Few other avenues to middle class status were available to poor African-Americans in the early-to-mid-20th century, but the unionization of Pullman car workers created just such opportunity. Well-written and generally historically accurate. Sure, there are a few minor historical errors (such as "Theodore" Roosevelt was President during World War II and the 1800's were the "eighteenth century," but these are of no significance to the overall story, and not too bad for a 95 year old author! This is real History from an eyewitness, and he pulls no punches, whether on race or other aspects of life for a black working male. TWO THUMBS UP! And if you are also a railfan, DOUBLE two thumbs up!
- Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2024Anybody who loves passenger service. And wants to learn from someone who lived the life ,I learned a ton.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2022This is a fascinating story. It’s truly engaging. A remarkable piece of history and humanity.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2024This was an interesting account of the life of a Pullman Porter. The author takes you back to a time when Black Men in service positions had to negotiate, on a daily basis, maintaining their dignity while serving a clientele that sometimes did not respect them as human beings. He also told of his fond and bizzare memores as a porter. I enjoyed the book from start to finish.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2023The book arrived promptly and was in very good condition. However, I was hoping for much more information about the life of a Pullman Porter - the duties and high standards expected of the porters by the Pullman Company for very little pay. While the author does write about the jobs he performed, as well as incidents of racism, he repeatedly - and I mean repeatedly - launches into descriptions of seeing female passengers naked or in their underwear and nightgowns, their bare thighs, etc. He also feels the need to relate how female passengers made passes at him and, yes, he took some of them up on their advances, acknowledging that company rules forbade such activity between passengers and employees. Since he was willing to break that rule, it should come as no surprise that he broke other rules. The author was in his 90s when he wrote this memoir and I wonder if he wasn't more interested in re-living some randy experiences of his youth than in creating a book of historical value.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2016This is absolutely one of the best, if not thee best book I have ever read in my life!!! It is such an intriguing and interesting story, told from the point of view of Mr. Kirvin's Pullman Porter experiences. I have read many books but this book was so good I actually found it hard to put down. Not only does he allow us to experience the sadness and uncertain future of Japanese passengers on their way to internment camps, but also the fear and uncertainty of Negro soldiers going off to war under extremely disrespectful circumstances, just to name two experiences. You can actually hear the accents of the people and feel the tension building, while anxiously turning the pages to see what's gonna be at the next stop. Such an excellent first hand descriptive, as well as a fun, anticipatory read, I can easily see a movie version of this book, and to top it all off, everything is based on actual experiences!
- Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2010This book feels like having your grandfather sitting you down and just telling you what his life was like. This is a very easy to read book with a very conversational tone. The author's story is both sad at times and very humorous, and entertaining throughout.
The author discusses some very candid and humorous events during his time as a Pullman Porter, but also some of the uglier parts of his job. Although he does specifically describe his duties as a porter, this is not a dry accounting on the daily activities of a worker. Rather, his stories are very real and easy to picture in your mind.
During his time as a porter, he witnessed Japanese citizens being sent to internment camps. He was also caught up in a life or death decision regarding interracial sex, something that most people take for granted now. He talks about the extraordinarily long hours and sacrifices he had to make on this job, but also shows that he enjoyed what he did as well. He describes some of the difficulties of being a black man in the 1940's, but also shows how much of a good time he had at the same time.
"Hey Boy, Hey George" is a good, easy read. It took me only a couple days to read this book, because once I got started I didn't want to put it down. I definitely recommend it!
- Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2016A huge disappointment. No real information about the porters and the things they experienced. This book was unfortunately about a man who used his position to simply lust after women. This is a tired story that only one fascinated with himself would enjoy reading and writing as is the case here. The author missed an opportunity to inform the reader of a historical time when train travel was the epitome of style and travel and yet where workers were more likely than not glorified slaves. This was a time when workers had to fight to be paid fairly, and allowed hours just to sleep and eat. There was so much that could have been covered. The author simply squandered the chance.