A Different Drummer

Author(s): William Melvin Kelley

FICTION

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 WORMS READ A DIFFERENT DRUMMER IN 2019! For more info on Worms Book Club, which is held at Metropolis monthly, click here


 


Product Information

General Fields

  • : 9781787478039
  • : Quercus
  • : riverrun
  • : July 2018
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : William Melvin Kelley
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • : 336