A different drummer / William Melvin Kelley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kelley, William Melvin, 1937-2017, author.

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans.

Race relations.

Southern States--Race relations--Fiction.

Southern States.

African Americans--Southern States--Fiction.

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xxxiv, 302 pages ; 20 cm

Edition:

Paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

London : Riverrun, 2018.

Summary:

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. 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. A lost masterpiece republished for 2018, A Different Drummer is for readers who have been waiting for the next rediscovered classic.

"The month is June 1957. The setting is Sutton, a backwater town in a southern US state. One afternoon, 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 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 white townsperson. These range from boys, girls, men, women; who are either liberal, conservative, bigoted or sympathetic - yet who are all grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination"--Publisher's description.

Notes:

Originally published: Doubleday, 1962.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

9781787478039

1787478033

OCLC:

1076839693