A Different Drummer (Paperback)
William Melvin Kelley (author)- Save £2.00
- In stock online
'Brilliant... The rare first novel that makes future ones seem both inevitable and exciting.' - The New Yorker
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.
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
ISBN: 9781787478039
Number of pages: 336
Weight: 270 g
Dimensions: 196 x 163 x 24 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'...a fairy tale, in the best sense of the word: simple, timeless, mythic.' - The Sunday Times
'Kelley blended fantasy and fact to construct an alternative world whose sweep and complexity drew comparisons to James Joyce and William Faulkner.' - The New York Times
'Brilliant... The rare first novel that makes future ones seem both inevitable and exciting.' - The New Yorker
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