william melvin kelley a different drummer

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. In 1962, aged just 24, William Melvin Kelley's debut novel A DIFFERENT DRUMMER earned him critical comparisons to James Baldwin and William Faulkner. 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. The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a different white townsperson. And thereafter, the entire African-American population leave with him. 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. 'More than lives up to the hype' Observer 'The lost giant of American literature' New Yorker 'Set to become a publishing sensation' Kirsty Lang, BBC Front Row

William melvin kelley a different drummer