John Edgar Wideman Bücher

Philadelphia im Jahr 1793. In der Stadt wütet das Gelbfieber. Ein junger schwarzer Wanderprediger irrt auf der verzweifelten Suche nach einer mysteriösen afrikanischen Frau durch die Stadt. Doch sein Versuch, sie zu finden und zu retten, treibt ihn immer mehr in eine Gesellschaft, die von Gewalt und Hass beherrscht ist - und in der Weiß und Schwarz strikt getrennt sind. Philadelphia im Jahr 1793. In der Stadt wütet das Gelbfieber. Ein junger schwarzer Wanderprediger irrt auf der verzweifelten Suche nach einer mysteriösen afrikanischen Frau durch die Stadt. Doch sein Versuch, sie zu finden und zu retten, treibt ihn immer mehr in eine Gesellschaft, die von Gewalt und Hass beherrscht ist - und in der Weiß und Schwarz strikt getrennt sind.

A stunning collection of all new stories from the twice winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award - essential reading for understanding the state of America today

Edgar Wideman’s The Homewood Books comprises two novels, Hiding Place and Sent for You Yesterday, along with the short story collection Damballah, all set in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh, where Wideman grew up. In his introduction, Wideman emphasizes that these works explore not just a physical location but a culture and perspective on identity. Hiding Place features three central voices: Bess, who mourns her son lost to war and lives a reclusive life; Tommy, a man wrongfully accused of murder; and Clement, a young boy delivering goods to Bess. Damballah presents a powerful collection of interrelated stories that span a century in Homewood, celebrating a community that supports one another with grace and dignity amid adversity. Sent for You Yesterday, awarded the 1984 PEN/Faulkner Award, follows the narrator Doot as he recounts the interconnected lives of Homewood's residents—Lucy, Brother Tate, Albert Wilkes, Carl French, and their families—tracing their experiences from the blues-infused 1920s to the drug-affected 1970s. Together, these works provide a rich tapestry of life in Homewood, revealing the resilience and complexity of its community.

Reuben is an aging, wizened, slightly humpbacked black man. He lives in an abandoned trailer so cluttered with the detritus of his sixty years that visitors can scarcely find him amid the litter. Yet Reuben is also intelligent-street smart and plain smart-kind, thoughtful and possessed of an extraordinarily sharp legal mind. As a lawyer, he is the go between for the poor black of Homewood who must deal with the authorities' downtown. (Taken from inside front jacket).

Fifty-seven short stories drawn from past collections celebrate the lifelong significance of this major American writer's essential contribution to a form--illuminating the ways that he has made it his own.

Frantz Fanon's life and legacy serve as the backdrop for a contemporary African American novelist's project to write about him. The narrative weaves through various locations, including Manhattan, Paris, and Algeria, blending genres such as whodunit, screenplay, and love story. As the novelist explores Fanon's impact on liberation movements and confronts the persistent racism and oppression in a post-9/11 world, the story also introduces notable figures like French director Jean-Luc Godard, creating an electrifying commentary on Fanon's enduring relevance.

Eleven people – five of them children – are killed in west Philadelphia when 6221 Osage Avenue is bombed out of existence. One small boy is seen to escape the fire. From his life of self-exile on an island in the Aegean, Cudjoe mourns the child until it becomes an obsession, leading him home, forcing him to face up to his own profound alienation and to the wrenching realities of his native land. He searches for the boy and, as he does so, he searches out his own past. Reconstructing his life plunges him backwards into memories both personal and communal, forwards inch by inch into a city fast becoming a nightmare. ‘Wideman’s novel succeeds through raw emotion and a linguistic versatility . . . Written in a sinewy language which also combines reportage, Philadelphia Fire operates as parable and social document’ Irish Times ‘Philadelphia Fire is a welter of fine writing, sociological observation, polemical address and messianic prophecy . . . A literary novel in the grand contemporary, postmodern, literary style’ New Statesman & Society ‘Unquestionably the foremost chronicler of the urban African-American experience. A master storyteller, Wideman is both a witness and a prophet’ Caryl Phillips