| | |  | | Home » The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir | | | | | | | Description: | | Staceyann Chin has appeared on television and radio, including The Oprah Winfrey Show , CNN, and PBS, discussing issues of race and sexuality. But it is her extraordinary voice that launched her career as a performer, poet, and activist. Here, she shares her unforgettable story of triumph against all odds in this brave and fiercely candid memoir..No one knew Staceyann’s mother was pregnant until a dangerously small baby was born on the floor of her grandmother’s house in Jamaica, on Christmas Day. Staceyann’s mother did not want her, and her father was not present. No one, except her grandmother, thought Staceyann would survive. It was her grandmother who nurtured and protected and provided for Staceyann and her older brother in the early years. But when the three were separated, Staceyann was thrust, alone, into an unfamiliar and dysfunctional home in Paradise, Jamaica. . Told with grace, humor, and courage, Chin plumbs tender and unsettling memories as she writes about drifting from one home to the next, coming out as a lesbian, finding the man she believes to be her father, and ultimately, discovering her voice. . | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Staceyann Chin | | Hardcover:
| 288 pages | | Publisher:
| Scribner | | Publication Date:
| April 14, 2009 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0743292901 | | Product Width:
| 1.62 centimeters | | Product Height:
| 2.37 centimeters | | Product Weight:
| 0.01 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.2 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.0 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 53 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 53 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 Overcoming ObstaclesMar 29, 2009
By Jennifer Coissiere "The Tough Critic"
"The Tough Critic"
Even though I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, I never experienced the things that Staceyann Chin encountered and overcame. As I read Ms. Chin's memoir entitled, The Other Side of Paradise, I learned about places I had no clue existed in Jamaica. I also realized that Ms. Chin was a fighter from the day she was born. She fought for survival and freedom to be who she is without having to be afraid someone would punish her in whatever way they felt like. I became very emotional as I read about the way she was passed from one house to the other. I cried for everything that should not have happened to any human being; such as, abandonment, molestation, and dealing with her sexuality.
I recommend The Other Side of Paradise to anyone who likes memoirs; those who believe they cannot make it through the tough times; and most of all to anyone looking for things to be placed on a silver platter for them. Staceyann Chin is an example of what a person can achieve when they want to experience change in a positive way.
Jennifer Coissiere
APOOO BookClub
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
The paradise withinApr 14, 2009
By Hadiyo Jim'ale
Jamaica is a beautiful island. It is a paradise. Like every other paradise it has its other side. StancyAnn Chin takes us to the other side of that paradise. No, she doesn't write about it. She takes us there. She is an exceptional writer. She describes painful moments in moving ways so that you may not feel them so painfully yet you can move about within those moments as if you were there. Genius.
This is one of those rare memoirs you keep going back because there are events you can't fathom. And there are events that remind you the humanity of that life. That little girl on the cover who is jumping in the sun, her world is both liberated and haunted. And it is all in the irony. In the sunny homeland she encounters abuse; in the depressing winters of New York she finds strength to stand up.
What I best love about this book is the way it relates to all of us. It is not about a lesbian or a Jamaican or a woman even. It has a universal feel. Themes that we can all relate to. Nobody wants to be unloved or abused or sink into depression. If you can come back from all those things, then you can enjoy this side of paradise. The paradise within.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 InspirationalApr 06, 2009
By Annette Melhado
"Annie(jamgrl)"
I throughly enjoyed this book...as a gay Jamaican i could identify with a lot of the pain and angst staceyann wrote in her book...i too live with the threats and intimidations!that's why i no longer live in "paradise"...as a jamaican who lived with both parents...never having to worry where my next meal will come from or where i will sleep tonight...it make me realize just how much i take for granted and how much i should appreciate coming from a loving, caring family...the book should be an inspiration for all those young people whether gay or straight...never give up...never give up on your dreams...
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
A pitiful life for a bright and talented little girlMay 05, 2009
By A. Darling
"darlingswe"
I picked this book because my husband and I lived in Kingston, Jamaica for a few years. I thought I had a good understanding of the Jamaican culture, but I really appreciated this insight to the poor of Jamaica and the kind of lives they lead everyday. I learned a lot.
This is a book about StacyAnn Marshree Chin. Her mother must have loved her to have named her Ma Cherie, wouldn't you think? Don't think too fast, or assume anything. This little girl dealt with circumstances so pathetic, with a bright light of potential that few seemed to recognize or care enough to nurture. If you are looking for a hero, look for it in the tiny little girl that was born so small they didn't think she'd live.
I will say that if I hadn't actually lived in Jamaica I may have been skeptical that such things could happen in a Caribbean tourist hub such as Jamaica. But I volunteered at an orphanage there, and I saw things that would rival the Romanian orphans rocking themselves uncontrollably. In Jamaica, life is often not fair and there are no guarantees, in this case light skinned and keenly intelligent being or not.
Stacyann Chin is one of those souls born with a quick mind and lips that sometimes betray her best interests. If you don't want to google the author by the end of the book I would be shocked. I did!
This book would be interesting and poignant without having ever been to Jamaica, though.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Finding ParadiseApr 19, 2009
By Alligator Legs
I heard Ms. Chin read from her new memoir in Union Square last week. At times lucid and poignant, fiery and haunting, it was one of the most powerful literary experiences I've ever had. Read a review I wrote below (visit Alligator Legs on Blogger for more).
****
Staceyann Chin read from her new memoir, The Other Side of Paradise, @ Barnes & Noble Union Square. I got there an hour and a half early to flip through it, skimming over the front cover endorsements by Dorothy Allison, of Bastard Out of Carolina fame, and Walter Mosley, who sat a few rows up from me in the audience.
The memoir chronicles Chin's life as the illegitimate daughter of a Jamaican mother, who abandoned her shortly after birth, and Chinese father who never claimed her -- as she was shuttled from family member to family member, subjected to abuse and violence, before coming out as a lesbian, and leaving Jamaica for good. Her life is the stuff good memoirs are made of: shame, denial, abuse, neglect, and a heavy dose of alienation.
But what Chin does with it -- better than most, and likely owing to her performance art background -- is write with a naked honesty that is affecting and liberating, not giving a damn what anybody else thinks. She spoke about her fearlessness, saying, "When you don't have parents, you don't have those expectations." She felt free to be who she was -- "unruly," in her own words -- and loved enough by the people who were in her life to make her own choices.
It's the kind of liberation that is essential to creating authentic art, whether it be novels, plays, or films. A willingness to expose the truth of what it means to be black, female, Jamaican, and gay, no matter what the world may think.
As for the book itself, I found Chin's lyrical descriptions captivating, though her dialogue was a little stilted. It came off much better performed -- in her singsong, syncopated voice -- than read silently. Overall, The Other Side of Paradise is more than worth a read, if only as a guidebook for living out loud.
Chin issued a challenge to her audience, stating, "If you want them to keep supporting us [read: black, women, minority, or gay], buy the book."
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