Imprint
- riverrun
- riverrun
- riverrun
Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Slavery & abolition of slavery, Civil rights & citizenship
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Imprint
riverrun
- Paperback Oct 30, 2018 | 9781787478039 | RRP $22.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Nov 1, 2018 | 9781787479340 | RRP $35.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Nov 1, 2018 | 9781787478022 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00 -
Imprint
riverrun
- Paperback Oct 30, 2018 | 9781787478039 | RRP $22.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Nov 1, 2018 | 9781787479340 | RRP $35.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Nov 1, 2018 | 9781787478022 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00 -
Imprint
riverrun
- Paperback Oct 30, 2018 | 9781787478039 | RRP $22.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Nov 1, 2018 | 9781787479340 | RRP $35.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Nov 1, 2018 | 9781787478022 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00
A lost masterpiece, following in the footsteps of SUITE FRANCAISE, ALONE IN BERLIN and STONER.
'More than lives up to the hype' Observer
'Set to become a publishing sensation' Kirsty Lang, BBC Front Row
'An astounding achievement' Sunday Times
'The lost giant of American literature' New Yorker
June, 1957. One afternoon, in the backwater town of Sutton, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the southern state. And thereafter, the entire African-American population leave with him.
The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a different white townsperson. These are boys, girls, men and women; either liberal or conservative, bigoted or sympathetic - yet all of whom are grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination.
In 1962, aged just 24, William Melvin Kelley's debut novel A DIFFERENT DRUMMER earned him critical comparisons to James Baldwin and William Faulkner. Fifty-five years later, author and journalist Kathryn Schulz happened upon the novel serendipitously and was inspired to write the New Yorker article 'The Lost Giant of American Literature', included as a foreword to this edition.
More books by William Melvin Kelley
Praise for A Different Drummer
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More than lives up to the hype . . . what a gift to literature that we have rediscovered it. - Observer
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Simple, timeless, mythic . . . an astounding achievement . . . still relevant and powerful today. - Sunday Times
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Wonderful . . . full of dazzling moments of social and psychological observation that jump from the page as if they were written yesterday. - Metro
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Superb . . . The comparisons of his debut to the books of James Baldwin and Faulkner are justified. - Irish Times
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Set to become a publishing sensation. - BBC Front Row
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[A] masterpiece . . . Kelley wrote intricate novels that identified with the rejection of dominant social orders. - Public Books
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A Different Drummer is a revelation. A story so vividly alive I closed the book a different person from the one who opened it. A vital classic of literature.
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Kelley blended fantasy and fact to construct an alternative world whose sweep and complexity drew comparisons to James Joyce and William Faulkner. - New York Times
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