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Overview
This is the story of Jamie Ray Griffin, a young black man who, by virtue of his talent on the football field, finds himself suddenly thrust into a white world full of privilege, temptation, and never-before-imagined possibility. Encouraged by the facade of acceptance from the white community, Jamie strives to succeed, but finds himself thwarted at every turn — by whites and blacks alike.
Satisfied with Nothin' chronicles Jamie's development from a naive, unsophisticated teen to a hard-driving, cynical adult determined to succeed despite the opposition of whites, the complacency of blacks, and his own tragic fate. In doing so, it provides a powerful and important portrait of the black experience in post-segregation America.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Originally self-published in 1992, Hill's debut novel is a grim, archetypal tale of a young black man who almost averts a squalid fate. Jamie Ray Griffin is among the first students to integrate his local high school in 1970s rural Louisiana15 years after court-imposed desegregation. Despite harassment, Jamie internalizes his anger much better than does his best friend, Booger, whose volatile temper leads to a riot on the first day of school. Jamie's athletic abilities earn him a starring role on the football team and the apparent respect of local residents. Yet when his cousin is caught dating a white girl, Jamie witnesses a brutal assault and lynching, which he vows never to forget. In pursuit of a pro football career, he attends a local black university; while struggling to balance academics and increasing athletic demands, he falls in love with Stacy Lefere, an accomplished, upper-class black woman. His exploitive coaches drive others to quit, but Jamie, intent on a pro career, plays hard while his grades slide. When a crippling injury ends his chances to remain in college, Jamie is overlooked in the NFL draft and fails in a subsequent tryout as a free agent when his knee again collapses. Unable to accept Stacy's love, and with academic failureabetted by counselors who urge him to take "bowling" and "sports injuries"a near certainty, he returns to a low-paying job at home and begins to confront the truth about himself when a profoundly senseless, stupid tragedy strikes. Hill writes some flavorful dialogue, but his tale is much better at conveying sociological truth than psychological complexity. (Aug.)Kirkus Reviews
Hill's odd first novel, previously self-published, can be read two ways: either as an advertisement for a Tony Brownstyle self- help black nationalism or as a cautionary tale on what happens when you see everything through the distorting lens of race.Something of a throwback to the angry realism of Richard Wright, Hill's straightforward, at times heavy-handed, narrative argues that rural, northeastern Louisiana in the '70s was just as racist and violent as during the Jim Crow era, which makes this story seem to exist in a time warp. Growing up in Pinesboro, Jamie Ray Griffin suffers from the forced integration of schools. At least in his all-black neighborhood no one resented his presence, or treated him with open contempt, as the students, teachers, and coaches do at his new school. While his best friend, Booger, invites the violence of his oppressors, Jamie keeps to himself, and begins to excel at football. Even so, remaining scornful of his mother's pie-in-the-sky religion, Jamie seethes with rage, waiting to leave his nightmarish town. His cousin, Eight Ball, is caned, castrated, and killed by local whites for secretly meeting with his white boss's daughter. Jamie does manage to escape on a football scholarship to a New Orleans college, but the racist teachers and coaches treat him as no more than a means to a conference championship. Railing against the "white, racist educational system," Jamie ignores his studies and dreams of pro ball until a series of knee injuries hastens his decline: He ends up back in Pinesboro, chopping cotton.
As subtle as a sledgehammer, Hill's polemical fiction, punctuated with lots of stilted speechmaking, is primarily addressed to black men—it's long on sociology and implied uplift, short on nuance or art.