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The Reed Reader

Contributors

By Ishmael Reed

Formats and Prices

Price

$25.99

Price

$33.99 CAD

Format

Trade Paperback

Format:

Trade Paperback $25.99 $33.99 CAD

Ishmael Reed has been described as cavorting “like a black bull in the china shop of Western culture,” and The Reed Reader is a collection of the sharp, jagged results of his rampage. In it, one of the most renowned African American writers offers a generous sampling of the brilliant and witty satire, the politically charged, wildly imaginative storytelling, and the caustic cultural criticism that have become his trademarks. In these excerpts from his celebrated novels, poems, plays, and essays, Reed displays an ironic wit, a cold, keen eye for economic exploitation, a hilarious sense of the absurd, and a slender but persistent optimism for the determined souls who transcend their environment and penetrate illusions by daring acts of will. The Reed Reader is the cumulative representation of an astonishing career, a powerful testament to Reed’s many and enormous literary gifts.

On Sale
Apr 13, 2001
Page Count
524 pages
Publisher
Basic Books
ISBN-13
9780465068944

Ishmael Reed

About the Author

Ishmael Reed is a novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist who has published nine critically acclaimed novels and more than a dozen other books of poetry and essays. In additional to being nominated for a National Book Award for Poetry, recent awards have included the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and 2008 Blues Songwriter of the Year from the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. He is Professor Emeritus at University of California at Berkeley.

Carla Blank is a writer, editor, teacher, and performance artist. She is author and editor of the historical reference Rediscovering America: The Making of Multicultural America, 1900-2000, and co-author, with Jody Roberts, of the performance arts handbook Live On Stage! Her collaboration with Robert Wilson, entitled Kool, will premiere at the Guggenheim Museum in 2009. She lives in Oakland, California.

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