John Henry Days

Authors: Whitehead, Colson
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
BISAC/Subject: FIC014000, FIC019000, FIC002000
ISBN: 9780307486677, Related ISBNs: 0307486672, 0385498195, 0385498209, 9780307486677, 9780385498197
Classification: Fiction
Number of pages: 400,
Audience: General/trade
Synopsis: From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys

Colson Whitehead’s triumphant novel is on one level a multifaceted retelling of the story of John Henry, the black steel-driver who died outracing a machine designed to replace him. On another level it’s the story of a disaffected, middle-aged black journalist on a mission to set a record for junketeering who attends the annual John Henry Days festival. It is also a high-velocity thrill ride through the tunnel where American legend gives way to American pop culture, replete with p. r. flacks, stamp collectors, blues men , and turn-of-the-century song pluggers.

John Henry Days
is an acrobatic, intellectually dazzling, and laugh-out-loud funny book that will be read and talked about for years to come.

Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Harlem Shuffle, coming this September!
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