21 Church Street
Falmouth
TR11 3EG
01326 312873

Different Drummer: the extraordinary rediscovered classic of 2018

£8.99

The month is June 1957. The setting is Sutton, a backwater town in a southern US state. One afternoon, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the state; and thereafter the entire African-American population leave with him. The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a white townsperson. These range from boys, girls, men, women; who are either liberal, conservative, bigoted or sympathetic – yet who are all grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination. ‘A Different Drummer’ is an exploration of what it is like to live in a white-dominated society. It’s a transparent, brutally honest portrayal of the impact and repercussions of systematised oppression.

In stock

Description

‘More than lives up to the hype’ Observer
‘Set to become a publishing sensation’ Kirsty Lang, BBC Front Row
‘An astounding achievement’ Sunday Times
‘The lost giant of American literature’ New Yorker

June, 1957. One afternoon, in the backwater town of Sutton, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the southern state. And thereafter, the entire African-American population leave with him.

The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a different white townsperson. These are boys, girls, men and women; either liberal or conservative, bigoted or sympathetic – yet all of whom are grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination.

In 1962, aged just 24, William Melvin Kelley’s debut novel A Different Drummer earned him critical comparisons to James Baldwin and William Faulkner. Fifty-five years later, author and journalist Kathryn Schulz happened upon the novel serendipitously and was inspired to write the New Yorker article ‘The Lost Giant of American Literature’, included as a foreword to this edition.

Additional information

Weight 0.28 kg
Dimensions 19.6 × 12.8 × 2.6 cm
Author

Publisher
Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

xxxiv, 302

Language

English

Edition

Reprint

Dewey

813.54 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K