Synopses & Reviews
With a superb ear for the voices of his characters, and a spare but riveting prose, Reginald McKnight examines the plight of the outsider, the alien. He populates these funny, disturbing, and lyrical stories with an unforgettable chorus of cultural hybrids: an American anthropologist compiling proverbs and seeking a magic elixir in Senegal; a multiethnic community of military officers, recruits, and maintenance staff wrestling with their prejudices; two awkward young boys trying to navigate friendship on a Louisiana army base. White Boys is Reginald McKnight's perfect evocation of America's literary heritage and ambition-an imaginative synergy of style, thought, and storytelling genius.
Reginald McKnight teaches at the University of Michigan. He has received an NEA Grant, an O. Henry Award, a Whiting Award, and the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. His previous work includes Moustapha's Eclipse, I Get on the Bus, and The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas. He Sleeps is his most recent work.
With a superb ear for the voices of his characters, and a spare but riveting prose style, Reginald McKnight examines the plight of the outsider, the alien. He populates these funny, disturbing, and lyrical stories with an unforgettable chorus of cultural hybrids: an American anthropologist compiling proverbs and seeking a magic elixir in Senegal; a multiethnic community of military officers, recruits, and maintenance staff wrestling with their prejudices; two awkward young boys trying to navigate friendship on a Louisiana army base.
White Boys is Reginald McKnight's perfect evocation of America's literary heritage and ambitionan imaginative synergy of style, thought, and storytelling genius.
"McKnight is a true cartographer of our inner lives, mapping our hearts and souls, our spirits and dreams with lyricism that many artists aspire to but few achieve."Rohan B. Preston, The Washington Post Book World
"McKnight orchestrates a vivid drama of talk . . . What wins you over is his attentiveness to the complexities of racial antagonism."Rand Richards Cooper, The New York Times Book Review
"I have believed for a long time that Reginald McKnight is one the best writers we have, and this collection solidly reinforces that belief."Larry Brown, author of Father and Son
"Splendidly precise . . . McKnight eloquently confirms he is an African American writer more interested in the confusions of race than in schematic victim-victimizer truisms."Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times
Review
"In the first four stories of his new collection, White Boys, Reginald McKnight uses dreams, lies, and the tale-within-the-tale to depict how confused his characters feel. Two of the first person narrators are African-Americans on research leave in Senegal, where they blunder and offend at every turn in the road. Intermixed
between these stories are two others set in the States on military bases and again told in the first person. McKnight knows how to weave and pace his tales so that the reader never feels trapped or harangued by the disgruntled voices of his characters. The themes of confusion and prejudice are chillingly brought to a head in the last and title story. Told in the third person, 'White Boys,' is an on the edge kind of tale where each scene ratchets evil a notch deeper and leaves the reader retching with relief." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Review
"McKnight orchestrates a vivid drama of talk . . . what wins you over is his attentiveness to the complexities of racial antagonism." (Rand Richards Cooper, The New York Times Book Review)
Review
"I have believed for a long time that Reginald McKnight is one the best writers we have, and this collection solidly reinforces that belief." (Larry Brown, author of Father and Son)
Review
"McKnight is a true cartographer of our inner lives, mapping our hearts and souls, our spirits and dreams with lyricism that many artists aspire to but few achieve." --Rohan B. Preston,
The Washington Post Book World "McKnight orchestrates a vivid drama of talk . . . what wins you over is his attentiveness to the complexities of racial antagonism." --Rand Richards Cooper, The New York Times Book Review)
"I have believed for a long time that Reginald McKnight is one the best writers we have, and this collection solidly reinforces that belief." --Larry Brown, author of Father and Son
Synopsis
With a superb ear for the voices of his characters, and a spare but riveting prose, Reginald McKnight examines the plight of the outsider, the alien. He populates these funny, disturbing, and lyrical stories with an unforgettable chorus of cultural hybrids: an American anthropologist compiling proverbs and seeking a magic elixir in Senegal; a multiethnic community of military officers, recruits, and maintenance staff wrestling with their prejudices; two awkward young boys trying to navigate friendship on a Louisiana army base. White Boys is Reginald McKnight's perfect evocation of America's literary heritage and ambition-an imaginative synergy of style, thought, and storytelling genius.
About the Author
Reginald McKnight teaches at the University of Michigan. He has received an NEA Grant, an O. Henry Award, a Whiting Award, and the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. His previous work includes
Moustapha's Eclipse,
I Get on the Bus,
The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas, and
White Boys.
He Sleeps is his most recent work.l
Table of Contents
he sleeps
the more i like flies
palm wine
boot
the white boys