Fisher King, the

In 1949, Sonny-Rett Payne, a black jazz pianist, fled New York for Paris to escape his family's disapproval of his art and the racism that shadowed his career. His success in Europe and his subsequent death there form the dramatic background of a moving and revelatory story of jazz, love, family conflict, and the artist's struggles in society.

About the author

Paule Marshall holds a distinguished chair in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University. She has won many awards, including the John Dos Passos Award for Literature, an American Book Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship. She lives in New York City and Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Paule Marshall, the highly acclaimed author of the classic Brown Girl, Brownstones, returns to a Brooklyn setting in this moving and revelatory story of jazz, class, and family conflict over four generations.

In 1949, Sonny-Rett Payne, a jazz pianist, fled New York for Paris to escape both his family's disapproval of his music and the racism that shadowed his career. Now, decades later, his eight-year-old grandson is brought to Payne's old Brooklyn neighborhood to attend a memorial concert in his honor. The child's visit reveals the persistent family and community rivalries that drove his grandfather into exile.

The Fisher King—a moving story of jazz, love, family conflict, and the artists' struggles in society—offers hope in the healing and redemptive power of one memorable boy.

Additional text

Valerie Boyd Atlanta Journal-Constitution Lean and beautifully written, this novel -- like the jazz at its core -- swings and soars and deeply satisfies.

Product details

• Authors: Marshall, Paule Marshall
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster N.Y.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 04.10.2001
• EAN: 9780684869704
• ISBN: 978-0-684-86970-4
• No. of pages: 226
• Dimensions: 133 mm x 203 mm x 12 mm
• Weight: 240 g
• Illustrations: black & white illustrations
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Fairytales, sagas, legends; Ethnic Studies, Sagas, FICTION / Sagas, LITERARY CRITICISM / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Black Studies (Global), United States of America, USA, Literary studies: general, Black & Asian Studies, Saga fiction (family / generational sagas), SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General