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The Essential Clarence Major: Prose & Poetry
Clarence Major is one of America’s literary masters. He has published numerous books, from novels to poetry and short story collections. Among his many accolades, he was a finalist for the National Book Award and a Fulbright scholar and received the PEN Oakland/Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award. His work has been featured in many literary journals, newspapers, and magazines, including the New Yorker, the New York Times, and Ploughshares.
Whether you’ve known Major’s work for decades or are new to his singular style, The Essential Clarence Major offers a thrilling overview of an exceptional career, from his early groundbreaking fiction to his most recent poems. Included here are excerpts from Major’s best novels, a selection of his finest short stories and poetry, more than a dozen thought-provoking essays, a taste of his autobiography. Award-winning playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Kia Corthron introduces the collection, artfully illuminating Major’s importance as one of the foremost and original voices in contemporary American literature.
REVIEWS
“Major has long been recognized by scholars of African American literature; yet, unfortunately, this quirky but highly engaging author is far less well known by general readers. This anthology of his fiction, nonfiction, and poetry should help to rectify the situation. Selections from his experimental novels, such as Reflex and Bone Structure and My Amputations, are included and can spark readers to read the works in their entirety. But the real surprises here are among the shorter works. The story “My Mother and Mitch,” for example, is an intriguing sketch of an interracial couple. There are also insightful essays on literary luminaries James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and William Faulkner, as well as major’s reflections on writing and painting, another medium in which he has excelled. In addition, there is an illuminating excerpt from Major’s memoir. Finally, there are selections from his poems. “Hair” and “The Slave Trade: View from the Middle Passage” are two that particularly stand out… Recommended for all libraries with substantial collections of African American and contemporary American literature.”
—JACQUELINE PARASCANDOLA, Library Journal Starred Review
“In this gathering of short stories, novel excerpts, essays, an excerpt from a personal memoir, deeply moving poetry, Major speaks through many narrators, realistic and fanciful, young and old, male, female and undefined, discussing far-ranging times and places. Each personality engages the reader in a different way, sometimes hilarious, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes tough, sometimes sad… For me the greatest discovery was Major’s essays… a vast spectrum of subjects…Each piece sparkles, perfectly cut and polished… His compassionate unsentimental and sense of justice are always focused on individuals, no matter what color they are, no matter what culture they come from… His magical language surrounds us not only with new insights into beauty, but also with a wider understanding of our human relatedness.”
—JULIA FREY, artist, poet, art critic, professor
“During the lock-down, I’ve been reading THE ESSENTIAL CLARENCE MAJOR. This is a major retrospective—that’s a lot to indulge in and choose from: poetry, prose, essays and memoir and an excellent preface by Kia Corthron… This rich collection collages the story of a daydreaming child who becomes an important rebel. It’s both a sobering and an uplifting experience, to wander through the gallery of his [Major’s] mind.”
—MARY J. OLIVER
“Everything by Clarence Major is the essential Clarence Major, and this crackling new collection, selective though it has to be, makes that case. Once you’ve read it, you’ll know you need to read the rest, whether for the first time or the umpteenth time… The collection rockets your attention through an excellent portrait, and through essays that read, in one way, like a postmodern Moveable Feast of literary America–for this author seems to have known everyone, and intimately… It concludes dynamically with his lyric poetry, the source water for all the genres that come before, sweet, pure, natural, and raw… Clarence Major is a master, an international treasure. This book says that with perfect clarity.”
—JOHN BECKMAN, author of The Winter Zoo
“The Essential Clarence Major encompasses decades of writing. You will come away with a better view of Major’s creative tendencies and his approach to literature. His command of language, emotional details, rich and memorable characters, and the constant willingness, to jump across boundaries, is all here… In just a few sentences, Major draws the reader in cleverly and tells you a lot about his characters, who they are, where they live, and what they respect…”
—BRIAN G. GILMORE, Konch Magazine