The Residue Years
from Pulitzer prize-winner Mitchell S. Jackson
Published on 13. August 2020
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-349-70139-4 (ISBN)
Description
'This novel is written with a breathtaking, exhilarating assurance and wit. Terrific' The Times
'A wrenchingly beautiful debut by a writer to be reckoned with' Jesmyn Ward
Mitchell S. Jackson grew up black in a neglected neighbourhood in America's whitest city, Portland, Oregon. In the '90s, those streets and beyond had fallen under the shadow of crack cocaine and its familiar mayhem. In his commanding autobiographical novel, Jackson writes what it was like to come of age in that time and place, with a breakout voice that's nothing less than extraordinary.
The Residue Years switches between the perspectives of a young man, Champ, and his mother, Grace. Grace is just out of a drug treatment programme, trying to stay clean and get her kids back. Champ is trying to do right by his mum and younger brothers, and dreams of reclaiming the only home he and his family have ever shared. But selling crack is the only sure way he knows to achieve his dream. In this world of few options and little opportunity, where love is your strength and your weakness, this family fights for family and against what tears one apart.
Honest in its portrayal, with cadences that dazzle, The Residue Years signals the arrival of a writer set to awe.
Winner Whiting Writers' Award
Winner Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
Finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction
'A wrenchingly beautiful debut by a writer to be reckoned with' Jesmyn Ward
Mitchell S. Jackson grew up black in a neglected neighbourhood in America's whitest city, Portland, Oregon. In the '90s, those streets and beyond had fallen under the shadow of crack cocaine and its familiar mayhem. In his commanding autobiographical novel, Jackson writes what it was like to come of age in that time and place, with a breakout voice that's nothing less than extraordinary.
The Residue Years switches between the perspectives of a young man, Champ, and his mother, Grace. Grace is just out of a drug treatment programme, trying to stay clean and get her kids back. Champ is trying to do right by his mum and younger brothers, and dreams of reclaiming the only home he and his family have ever shared. But selling crack is the only sure way he knows to achieve his dream. In this world of few options and little opportunity, where love is your strength and your weakness, this family fights for family and against what tears one apart.
Honest in its portrayal, with cadences that dazzle, The Residue Years signals the arrival of a writer set to awe.
Winner Whiting Writers' Award
Winner Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
Finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction
Reviews / Votes
A sparkling debut . . . Jackson's writing crackles and sparks with startling insights -- Colin Grant * Observer * Mitchell S Jackson's traumatic debut novel is written in a heightened, lyrical prose style inspired by the local vernacular. He brings to his narrative not just first-hand experience, but a profound compassion for the deadbeat dads, neglectful mothers, pimps, whores and dealers whose chaotic, intersecting lives form the basis of the story -- Press AssociationMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Murray Press
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 163 mm
Width: 242 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
560 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-349-70139-4 (9780349701394)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Mitchell S. Jackson was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He holds a masters in writing from Portland State University and an MFA from New York University. Jackson has received a Whiting Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. The Residue Years was also a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize and the Hurston Wright Legacy Award. Jackson has been awarded fellowships from TED, the Lannan Foundation and the Centre for Fiction. He teaches writing at NYU and Columbia.