{"product_id":"song-of-the-shank-9781555976804","title":"Song of the Shank","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA contemporary American masterpiece about music, race, an unforgettable man, and an unreal America during the Civil War era\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the heart of this remarkable novel is Thomas Greene Wiggins, a nineteenth-century slave and improbable musical genius who performed under the name Blind Tom.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e Song of the Shank\u003c\/i\u003e opens in 1866 as Tom and his guardian, Eliza Bethune, struggle to adjust to their fashionable apartment in the city in the aftermath of riots that had driven them away a few years before. But soon a stranger arrives from the mysterious island of Edgemere--inhabited solely by African settlers and black refugees from the war and riots--who intends to reunite Tom with his now-liberated mother.\u003cbr\u003e As the novel ranges from Tom's boyhood to the heights of his performing career, the inscrutable savant is buffeted by opportunistic teachers and crooked managers, crackpot healers and militant prophets. In his symphonic novel, Jeffery Renard Allen blends history and fantastical invention to bring to life a radical cipher, a man who profoundly changes all who encounter him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Graywolf Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/17\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781555976804\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 570\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.71lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.08h x 6.02w x 1.22d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e PEN\/Faulkner Award - Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/07\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/15\/2014 pg. 31\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2014 pg. 64\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEssence\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2014 pg. 42\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/22\/2014 pg. 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/29\/2014 pg. 26\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Best Fiction\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/15\/2014 pg. 7\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNY Times Notable Bks of Year\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/07\/2014 pg. 27\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist Editors Choice\/Adult\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2015 pg. 11\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Jeffery Renard Allen","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43084172525749,"sku":"9781555976804","price":15.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_7ee81392-2d99-4b4b-89e5-8763abbf725e.jpg?v=1692112004","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/song-of-the-shank-9781555976804","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}