Book
Look for me and I'll be gone : stories / John Edgar Wideman.
Forty years after John Edgar Wideman's first book of stories, comes this stunning collection that is vital reading for anyone interested in the state of America today. Its subjects range from Michael Jordan to Emmett Till, from distrust of authority to everyday grief, from childhood memories to the final day in a prison cell. A boy stands alone in his grandmother's house, unable to enter the room in which his grandfather's coffin lies, afraid the dead man may speak, afraid he won't speak. Freddie Jackson's song 'You Are My Lady' plays on the car radio as a son is brought to a prison cell in Arizona. A narrator contemplates the Atlanta child murders from 1979. Never satisfied to simply tell a story, Wideman continues to push form, with stories within stories, sentences that rise like a jazz solo with every connecting clause, voices that reflect who he is and where he's from, and an exploration of time that entangles past and present. Whether historical or contemporary, intimate or expansive, the stories here represent a pioneering American writer whose innovation and imagination know no bounds.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781982148942 (hardcover)
- ISBN: 1982148942 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: ix, 318 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: First Scribner hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : Scribner, 2021.
- Copyright: ©2021
Content descriptions
| Formatted Contents Note: | Art of story -- Colored angel Levine -- Last day -- Separation -- Till -- Arizona -- Whose teeth/whose story -- Sheppard -- Penn Station -- Death row -- Rwanda -- Ipso facto -- BTM -- George Floyd story -- Accused . . . -- Atlanta murders -- Someone to watch over me -- Jordan -- Lost and found -- Lost love letters--a Locke -- Another story. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | United States > Fiction. African Americans > Fiction. Blacks > Race identity > Fiction. Race relations > Fiction. Racism > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Short stories. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kenton County.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covington Branch | WIDEM J (Text) | 33126025207345 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
- Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2021 June
One story here is presented as a letter to singer Freddie Jackson, whose "You Are My Lady" plays on the radio as a man drives his son to prison, while another contemplates James Baldwin's
Copyright 2021 Library Journal.Evidence of Things Not Seen , addressing the Atlanta murders from 1979 to 1981 and opening with a "why-did-the chicken-cross-the-road" riff that turns bleak. In fact, all the pieces in MacArthur Fellow Wideman's sixth collection push the boundaries of format as they explore family, loss, and America's ongoing racial divide. With a 60,000-copy first printing.