A good personal essay that casts Atlanta as a metaphor for the status of black America today. The author's thoughts are highly original, insightful and well worded. But to have the impact I was expecting by the time I was halfway through, I thought this should have been about three times longer than it was. The author's observations could have been balanced better with more factual information about some of the issues he touches on.

An insightful, original and personal depiction of Atlanta. By including links and sources for the facts alluded to throughout, it would help readers get the complete picture of the city and its ethos.

It is what it claims to be, a letter from Atlanta, a mysterious place utterly unknown to me, a far-north white small-town boy. Somehow, in a tiny space, Cobb manages to give me a flavor, a whiff, of what it might have been like to be black in Atlanta. He does it by making me look through the milky corneas of an old black woman who lived in Atlanta her whole life. An act of charity, a spark of interest, and an attitude of humility made this remarkable piece possible. Though it ... More »

The writer gave a good sense and feel of the woman he interviewed. He also gave the reader a sense of Atlanta's texture and culture in his writing. He also gave a interesting parallel of the dynamic that exists between the old Harlem of the past and the Atlanta of today.