!Click Song
A Novel
Published on 2. February 2016
430 pages
978-1-5040-3304-6 (ISBN)
Description
In this fiercely authentic tale from the author of
The Man Who Cried I Am, a gifted novelist confronts the powerfully entrenched, profit-motivated forces of corporate racism
When his military service ends at the close of World War II-a period that will continue to haunt him throughout his life-Cato Douglass resolves to pursue a writing career and follows his dream to New York City.
Soon, his first novel is published, and it appears his dream has been fulfilled, enabling him to travel the world, fall in love, marry, and start a family. But despite possessing a talent that shines brighter than that of many of his literary contemporaries, Cato discovers that he is trapped within a racist system. Only a handful of black writers receive the support of white editors and critics, and because Cato's work pushes the boundaries set by the publishing industry, he is doomed to a life of obscurity.
The Chicago Sun-Times proclaimed !Click Song "a major novel by one of America's finest living writers." Winner of the 1983 American Book Award, John A. Williams's enthralling chronicle of a writer's lifelong struggle to matter is a blistering tale of art, industry, family, and race.
When his military service ends at the close of World War II-a period that will continue to haunt him throughout his life-Cato Douglass resolves to pursue a writing career and follows his dream to New York City.
Soon, his first novel is published, and it appears his dream has been fulfilled, enabling him to travel the world, fall in love, marry, and start a family. But despite possessing a talent that shines brighter than that of many of his literary contemporaries, Cato discovers that he is trapped within a racist system. Only a handful of black writers receive the support of white editors and critics, and because Cato's work pushes the boundaries set by the publishing industry, he is doomed to a life of obscurity.
The Chicago Sun-Times proclaimed !Click Song "a major novel by one of America's finest living writers." Winner of the 1983 American Book Award, John A. Williams's enthralling chronicle of a writer's lifelong struggle to matter is a blistering tale of art, industry, family, and race.
More details
Person
John A. Williams (1925-2015) was born near Jackson, Mississippi, and raised in Syracuse, New York. The author of more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction, including the groundbreaking and criticallyacclaimed novels
The Man Who Cried I Am and
Captain Blackman, he has been heralded by the critic James L. de Jongh as "arguably the finest Afro-American novelist of his generation." A contributor to the
Chicago Defender, the
New York Times, and the
Los Angeles Times, among many other publications, Williams edited the periodic anthology
Amistad and served as the African correspondent for
Newsweek and the European correspondent for
Ebony and
Jet. A longtime professor of English and journalism, Williams retired from Rutgers University as the Paul Robeson Distinguished Professor of English in 1994. His numerous honors include two American Book Awards, the Syracuse University Centennial Medal for Outstanding Achievement, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award.
Content
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- The Cusp
- Beginnings
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- Middles
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- Endings
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- About the Author
- Copyright Page
