COLSON WHITEHEAD is the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Underground Railroad. His other works include The Noble Hustle, Zone One, Sag Harbor, The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and one collection of essays, The Colossus of New York. A National Book Award winner and a recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, he lives in New York City.
WINNER OF THE PEN OAKLAND/JOSEPHINE MILES LITERARY AWARD
“Wickedly funny.... Whitehead is making a strong case for a new
name of his own: that of the best of the new generation of American
novelists.” —The Boston Globe
"Breathtaking.... It's pure joy to read writing like this.... On
almost every page there is a sentence to dazzle and
delight." —San Francisco Chronicle
“A brilliant, witty, and subtle novel, written in a most engaging
style, with tremendous aptness of language and command of
plot.” —The New York Review of Books
“Terrific.... Inspired.... Engaging, exuding energy.... Will have
you nodding in wonder.” —The Miami Herald
“Dazzling.... Gorgeous, expertly crafted sentences.... An eloquent
novel about racial identity in America.” —Newsweek
“Brilliant.... Exhilarating.... What keeps you reading this
critique of language is its language, and our perverse delight in
the ingenious abuse of words.” —The New York Times
Following the novels The Intuitionist (1998) and John Henry Days (2001), and the nonfiction The Colossus of New York (2004), a paean to New York City, Whitehead disappoints in this intriguingly conceived but static tale of a small town with an identity crisis. A conspicuously unnamed African-American "nomenclature consultant" has had big success in branding Apex bandages, which come in custom shades to match any skin tone. The "hurt" of the Apex tag line is deviously resonant, poetically invoking banal scrapes and deep-seated, historical injustice; both types of wounds are festering in the town of Winthrop, which looks like a midwestern anytown but was founded by ex-slaves migrating during Reconstruction. Winthrop's town council, locked in a dispute over the town's name, have called in the protagonist to decide. Of the three council members, Mayor Regina Goode, who is black and a descendant of the town's founders, wants to revert to the town's original name, Freedom. "Lucky" Aberdine, a white local boy turned software magnate, favors the professionally crafted New Prospera; and no-visible-means-of-support "Uncle Albie" Winthrop (also white) sees no sense in changing the town's long-standing name-which, of course, happens to be his own. Quirky what's-in-a-name?-style pontificating follows, and it often feels as if Whitehead is just thinking out loud as the nomenclature consultant weighs the arguments, meets the citizens and worries over the mysterious "misfortune" that has recently shaken his faith in his work (and even taken one of his toes). The Apex backstory spins out in a slow, retrospective treatment that competes with the town's travails. The bickering runs its course listlessly, and a last-minute discovery provides a convenient, bittersweet resolution. Whitehead's third novel attempts to confront a very large problem: How can a society progress while keeping a real sense of history-when a language for that history doesn't exist and progress itself seems bankrupt? But he doesn't give the problem enough room enough to develop, and none of his characters is rich enough to give it weight. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
WINNER OF THE PEN OAKLAND/JOSEPHINE MILES LITERARY
AWARD
"Wickedly funny.... Whitehead is making a strong case for a new
name of his own: that of the best of the new generation of American
novelists." -The Boston Globe
"Breathtaking.... It's pure joy to read writing like this.... On
almost every page there is a sentence to dazzle and delight."
-San Francisco Chronicle
"A brilliant, witty, and subtle novel, written in a most engaging
style, with tremendous aptness of language and command of plot."
-The New York Review of Books
"Terrific.... Inspired.... Engaging, exuding energy.... Will have
you nodding in wonder." -The Miami Herald
"Dazzling.... Gorgeous, expertly crafted sentences.... An eloquent
novel about racial identity in America." -Newsweek
"Brilliant.... Exhilarating.... What keeps you reading this
critique of language is its language, and our perverse delight in
the ingenious abuse of words." -The New York Times
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