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From John Edgar Wideman, a modern "master of language" (The New York Times Book Review), comes a stunning story collection that spans a range of topics from Michael Jordan to Emmett Till, from childhood memories to the final day in a prison cell.
In Look For Me and I'll Be Gone, his sixth collection of stories, John Edgar Wideman imbues with energy and life the concerns that have consistently infused his fiction and nonfiction. How does it feel to grow up in America, a nation that—despite knowing better, despite its own laws, despite experiencing for hundreds of years the deadly perils and heartbreak of racial division—encourages (sometimes unwittingly, but often on purpose) its citizens to see themselves as colored or white, as inferior or superior.
Never content merely to tell a story, Wideman seeks once again to create language that delivers passages like jazz solos, and virtuosic manipulations of time to entangle past and present. The story "Separation" begins with a boy afraid to stand alone beside his grandfather's coffin, then wends its way back and forth from Pittsburgh to ancient Sumer. "Atlanta Murders" starts with two chickens crossing a road and becomes a dark riff, contemplating "Evidence of Things Not Seen," James Baldwin's report on the 1979–1981 child murders in Atlanta, Georgia.
Comprised of fictions of the highest caliber and relevancy by a writer whose imagination and intellect "prove his continued vitality...with vigor and soul" (Entertainment Weekly), Look For Me and I'll Be Gone will entrance and surprise committed Wideman fans and newcomers alike.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 9, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781797134796
- File size: 317175 KB
- Duration: 11:00:46
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Narrator Dion Graham delivers these discursive stream-of-consciousness stories in a powerful, resonant style. His strong articulation, careful tone, and calibrated pace create an engaging listening experience. A much celebrated creator of fiction, Wideman crafts experiments in prose that share his insights into life as a Black American. He has succeeded at every level but is haunted by his incarcerated son and sibling, race, and the past. He writes breathlessly about his youth in Pittsburgh, his time at Oxford, and his fraught success as a man of letters. Wideman's prose enchants. Graham and Edwards bring these semi-autobiographical fictions luminously to life and give this audiobook a gritty reality. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from September 20, 2021
Two-time PEN/Faulkner winner Wideman’s bold latest (after You Made Me Love You) resonates with themes of racial identity, incarceration, poverty, and history. The stage is set with a quick one-two: the brief stream-of-consciousness opening story, “Art of Story,” and “Last Day,” in which the narrator ponders visiting his brother in prison, where his Blackness is felt in “hard, rigid, premeditated” overtones. A boy’s sadness is palpable in the gorgeous “Separation” as he stands by his beloved grandfather’s coffin while the narrator recounts the family’s heritage as a tender requiem. A letter written to R&B legend Freddie Jackson forms the soul of the epistolary “Arizona” as the narrator travels to prison with his son and his lawyers so his son can continue serving a life sentence for murder. A brother anxiously awaits a reunion, 44 years in the making, with his formerly incarcerated brother in “Penn Station.” Other gems feature Wideman’s piercing observations; in “BTM,” the narrator recounts seeing the three letters painted on the side of a building in New York City, then transformed to “BLM,” and reflects on the “hopelessness of railing against race.” Wideman’s memorable collection reinforces his reputation as a witty and provocative social observer and raconteur who challenges stereotypes and creatively reaffirms the realities of Black American life. Agent: Jin Auh, the Wylie Agency.
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