John Henry Days.John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead Doubleday/Broadway Books, May 2001, $24.95 ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-318-549819-5 Whitehead has scored another winner with John Henry Days. Whitehead is the recipient of the 2000 Whiting Writer's Award and his first book, The Intuitionist in·tu·i·tion·ism n. Philosophy 1. The theory that truth or certain truths are known by intuition rather than reason. 2. The theory that external objects of perception are immediately known to be real by intuition. , earned him the Quality Paperback Book Club's (QPBC) New Voices Award for 1999. Whitehead's latest book is a blend of fact, fiction and folklore, an updated retelling of the story of a black laborer named John Henry who worked for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad during the 1800s. The entire story is told through the eyes of journalist J. Sutter. It is 1996 in West Virginia and Sutter accepts a magazine assignment to cover a festival to commemorate John Henry and honor him with the release of a postage stamp. The lives and the personalities of the two men, John Henry and J. Sutter, are enmeshed en·mesh also im·mesh tr.v. en·meshed, en·mesh·ing, en·mesh·es To entangle, involve, or catch in or as if in a mesh. See Synonyms at catch. . Sutter is a schemer who is always trying to "get over" on the system. In addition to padding his expense accounts, he is guilty of slanting and exaggerating some of his glibly glib adj. glib·ber, glib·best 1. a. Performed with a natural, offhand ease: glib conversation. b. written articles. Sutter is not the model protagonist and neither is John Henry, as he is often portrayed as a simpleton sim·ple·ton n. A person who is felt to be deficient in judgment, good sense, or intelligence; a fool. [simple + -ton (as in surnames such as Chesterton, Singleton). . "And then came the day for John Henry to go out into the world. He said good-bye to his parents and followed the mountains into the distance, imposing sledge resting on one shoulder like a loyal falcon, his belongings wrapped up snug on the end of a stick across the other shoulder. He walked into the sun. Free. No mention of slavery." Glenn Townes is a regular contributor to BIBR BIBR Bay Islands Beach Resort (Roatan, Honduras) BIBR Backward Indicator Bit Received . His work has appeared in Essence, Black Enterprise and Upscale magazines.. |
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