Navigating the fiction of Ernest J. Gaines : a roadmap for readers / Keith Clark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, Keith, 1963- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gaines, Ernest J., 1933-2019--Criticism and interpretation.

Gaines, Ernest J.

Gaines, Ernest J., 1933-2019.

African Americans.

Social conditions.

Criticism and interpretation.

Southern States--In literature.

Southern States.

African Americans in literature.

African Americans--Southern States--Social conditions.

African Americans--Social conditions.

Literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

pages cm

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"Louisiana author of the masterworks "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" (1971) and "A Lesson before Dying" (1993), Ernest J. Gaines has garnered a fair amount of scholarly attention and much popular success. However, book-length studies devoted solely to his fiction are incommensurate with his prodigious output of seven novels and a collection of short stories. In "Navigating the Fiction of Ernest J. Gaines: A Roadmap for Readers," Keith Clark presents a sustained, nuanced, and original exploration of his fiction that is accessible to non-academic readers and enlightening to scholars, the former audience having maintained a steadfast interest in Gaines's work for over a half a century. The book's core concerns include: how southern blacks and whites continue to wrestle with their tortured history; the chronic and traumatic impact of slavery far beyond its end; the unique physical, psychological, and legal challenges facing southern black men; and Gaines's innovative depictions of black southern women beyond their rather monolithic representations in works by previous southern male authors. Clark greatly benefitted by having access to Gaines in the course of writing his book, and he includes an interview with the writer done in 2014. This welcome, comprehensive guide to the corpus of Gaines's fiction will vivify a great writer's works for readers and fans of all levels"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Sugarcane, Railroad Cars, Prisons, Peoples: Dominant Themes and Topics

Catherine Carmier

Of Love and Dust

Bloodline

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

In My Father's House

A Gathering of Old Men

A Lesson before Dying

The Tragedy of Brady Sims

Conclusion: Still Driven: Ernest J. Gaines in the Twenty-first Century

Appendix: An Interview with Ernest J. Gaines.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Clark, Keith, Navigating the fiction of Ernest J. Gaines

ISBN:

9780807171042

0807171042

OCLC:

1122798571