Bøger af Gayl Jones

A lyrical, ritual play that involves the "legend" of Palmares, a settlement of escaped or fugitive slaves in 17th century Brazil. Fourteen times the Dutch and then the Portuguese tried to destroy the settlement. Finally, in this legendary version of the story, when the men, cornered on a cliff, rather than surrender, jumped. The metaphor here is that rather than jumping to their deaths, they sprouted wings, became birds, and flew away. This is both a play and a dance ritual written for a street performance.

A selection of early poetry, mostly narrative, some previously published in Iowa Review and Callaloo literary journals. Some previously unpublished. Titles include, along with "Deep Song," "Composition with Guitar and Apples," and "Waiting for the Miracle."

A wide-ranging collection, including two novellas and ten stories exploring complex identities, from the acclaimed author of Corregidora, The Healing, and Palmares“Gayl Jones’s work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her form is impeccable . . . and as a Black woman writer, her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humor, and incisiveness, is unmatched.”—Imani Perry, author of, Looking for Lorraine and BreatheGayl Jones, who was first edited by Toni Morrison, has been described as one of the great literary writers of the 20th century and was recently a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. This new collection of short fiction is only the second in her rich career, and one that displays her strengths in the genre in many facets. Opening with two novella-length works, “Butter” and “Sophia,” this collection features Jones’s legendary talents in a range of settings and styles, from the hyper-realist to the mystical, in intricate multi-part stories, in more traditional forms, and even in short fragments.Her narrators are women and men, Black, Brown, Indigenous; her settings are historical and contemporary, in South America, Mexico and the US; her themes center on complex identities, unorthodox longings and aspirations. She writes about spies, photographers, playground designers, cartoonists, and baristas, about workers and revolutionaries, about environmentalism, feminism, poetry, film and love, but above all about our multicultural, multiethnic and multiracial society.

Originally published in 1977, "White Rat is a collection of twelve provocative tales that explore the emotional and mental terrain of a diverse cast of characters, from the innocent to the insane, which will inspire new debate and dialogue among general readers and academics alike. In each, Gayl Jones displays her unflinching ability to delve into the most treacherous of psyches and circumstances: The title story examines the identity and relationship conundrums of a black man who can pass for white, earning him the name "White Rat" as an infant; "The Women" follows a girl whose mother brings a succession of female lovers to live in their home; "Jevata" details eighteen-year-old Freddy's relationship with the fifty-year-old title character from the perspective of her old friend Floyd; "The Coke Factory" tracks the thoughts of a mentally handicapped adolescent abandoned by his mother; and "Asylum" focuses on a woman experiencing a nervous breakdown, trying to protect her dignity and her private parts as she enters an institution. In uncompromising prose, and dialect that veers from Northern, educated tongues to down-home Southern colloquialisms, Jones limns lives that society readily ignores, moving them to center stage. Her words and ideas will linger for years to come.

"Marking a dramatic new direction for Jones, a riveting tale set in the Post WWII South, narrated by a Black soldier who returns to Jim Crow and searches for a mythical ideal. Set in the early 1950s, this latest novel from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Gayl Jones follows the witty but perplexing army veteran Buddy Ray Guy as he embodies the fate of Black soldiers who return, not in glory, but into their Jim Crow communities. A cook and tractor repairman, Buddy was known as Budweiser to his army pals because he's a wise guy. But underneath that surface, he is a true self-educated intellectual and a classic seeker: looking for religion, looking for meaning, looking for love. As he moves around the south, from his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, primarily, to his second home of Memphis, Tennessee, he recalls his love affairs in post-war France and encounters with a variety of colorful characters and mythical prototypes: circus barkers, topiary trimmers, landladies who provide shelter and plenty of advice for their all-Black clientele, proto feminists, and bigots. The lead among these characters is, of course, The Unicorn Woman, who exists, but mostly lives in Bud's private mythology. Jones offers a rich, intriguing exploration of Black (and Indigenous) people in a time and place of frustration, disappointment, and spiritual hope"--

"A wide-ranging collection, including two novellas and ten stories exploring complex identities, from the acclaimed author of Corregidora, The Healing, and Palmares"--

"The epic rendering of a Black woman's journey through slavery and liberation, set in 17th-century colonial Brazil"--

Gayl Jones, the novelist Toni Morrison discovered decades ago and Tayari Jones recently called her favorite writer, has been described as one of the great literary writers of the 20th century. Now, for the first time in over twenty years, Jones is publishing again. In the wake of her long-awaited fifth novel, Palmares, The Birdcatcher is another singular achievement, a return to the circles of her National Book Award finalist, The Healing. Set primarily on the island of Ibiza, the story is narrated by the writer Amanda Wordlaw, whose closest friend, a gifted sculptor named Catherine Shuger, is repeatedly institutionalized for trying to kill a husband who never leaves her. The three form a quirky triangle on the white-washed island. A study in Black women's creative expression and the intensity of their relationships, this work from Jones shows off her range and insight into the vicissitudes of all human nature--rewarding longtime fans and bringing her talent to a new generation.

"Jones's great achievement is to reckon with both history and interiority, and to collapse the boundary between them."-Anna Wiener, THE NEW YORKERFrom the highly acclaimed author of Corregidora and The Healing-two epic poems, the love songs of fugitive slaves, set in 17th-century Brazil; continuing the unforgettable journey told in Gayl Jones's masterwork, Palmares (2021).Gayl Jones, the novelist Toni Morrison discovered decades ago and Tayari Jones recently called her favorite writer, offers two books in one with this volume of poetry. Jones renders the saga of Palmares, a foundational tale in the annals of colonial terrorism and Black resistance, in verse, told in the voices of the characters in her epic novel Palmares.In the late 17th century, the fugitive slave enclave of Palmares was destroyed by Portuguese colonists. Amid the flight and re-enslavement of Palmares's inhabitants emerges the love story of Almeyda and Anninho. In Song for Anninho, Almeyda moves between a dark present, in which she is once again enslaved and abused by a terrible captor, and memories of her lover, Anninho, whom she believes to have been killed. Song for Almeyda, released now for the first time, is told in the voices of Anninho and his fellow warriors.Fans of Corregidora (one of the New Yorker's "Best Books We Read in 2020" picks), which tracked the legacy of enslavement, and Palmares will especially appreciate these verses. Brimming with intimacy, history, and revolution, the poems collected serve as a declaration of decolonial love.

AN EPIC TALE OF LOVE AND LIBERATION, SET IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY BRAZIL'I fell asleep and dreamed of Palmares, where one's true place in the world was said to be the same as any free man's or woman's . . . 'From plantation to plantation, Almeyda, a young slave girl, hears whispers, rumours of Palmares, a hidden settlement where fugitive slaves live free. But can this promised land exist? And what price is paid for 'freedom'?In Palmares, Gayl Jones brings to life a world full of unforgettable characters, reimagining extraordinary historical events and combining them with mythology and magic. Of Gayl Jones, the New Yorker noted, '[Her] great achievement is to reckon with both history and interiority, and to collapse the boundary between them.' Like nothing else before it, Palmares embodies this gift. Palmares hails the return of a major voice in literature. Gayl Jones was first discovered and edited by Toni Morrison, and her talent was praised by writers including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and John Updike. After a handful of acclaimed novels, she withdrew from the publishing world. Now Jones returns with her first novel in over twenty years.'An American writer with a powerful sense of vital inheritance, of history in the blood' John Updike'Jones's writing powerfully blends narrative and lyricism . . . Her imagination seems to thrive on outstripping one's expectations' Margo Jefferson

A powerful, influential novel, praised by writers including Toni Morrison, James Baldwin and Maya Angelou. Long out of print, this lost classic is republished for a new generation.

A humorous yet moving novel of redemption, featuring an original protagonist with an eccentric past and her own brand of wisdom.

An intense, searing novel exploring the damage of racial and sexual violence.

Bury those easy-to-read Black romance books. Mosquito is where African-American literature is heading as we approach the twenty-first century.--E. Ethelbert Miller, Emerge