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More copies of this ISBN:The Time of Our Singingby Richard Powers
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A magnificent, multifaceted novel about a supremely gifted — and divided — family, set against the backdrop of postwar AmericaOn Easter day, 1939, at Marian Anderson's epochal concert on the Washington Mall, David Strom, a German Jewish émigré scientist, meets Delia Daley, a young Philadelphia Negro studying to be a singer. Their mutual love of music draws them together, and--against all odds and better judgment--they marry. They vow to raise their children beyond time, beyond identity, steeped in song. But their three children must survive America's brutal here and now. Jonah, Joseph, and Ruth grow up during the Civil Rights era, come of age in the violent 1960s, and live out adulthood in the racially retrenched late century. Jonah, the eldest, "whose voice could make heads of state repent," follows a life in his parents' beloved classical music. Ruth, the youngest, chooses a militant activism and repudiates the white culture her brother represents. Joseph, the middle child and the narrator of this generational tale, struggles to remain connected to them both. The Time of Our Singing is a story of self-invention, allegiance, race, cultural ownership, the compromised power of music, and the tangled loops of time that rewrite all belonging. Review:"I can think of no American novelist of his generation who makes a stronger [case] — that the writing of novels is a heroic enterprise, and perhaps even a matter of life and death." A. O. Scott, The New York Review of Books Review:"Powers is a genuine artist, a thinker of rare synthetic gifts, maybe the only writer working...who can render the intricate dazzle of it all and at the same time plumb its philosophical implications." Sven Birkerts, Esquire Review:"The best black novel to appear in America since Beloved has just been written by a white man. (Or at least so says this honky critic.) With The Time of Our Singing, Richard Powers has fulfilled Martin Luther King's dream of a nation in which authors "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their" books. Or he's added another chapter to the nightmare of black experience in which everything of value — including their themes, their struggles, and their history — is appropriated by whites." Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire CSM review) Synopsis:A magnificent, multifaceted novel about a supremely gifted — and divided — family, set against the backdrop of postwar America. The Time of Our Singing is a story of self-invention, allegiance, race, cultural ownership, the compromised power of music, and the tangled loops of time that rewrite all belonging. About the AuthorRichard Powers has been the recipient of a 1999 Lannan Literary Award and a MacArthur Fellowship. He is the author of eight novels, including Plowing the Dark (FSG, 2000), Gain (FSG, 1998), and Galatea 2.2 (FSG, 1995). He lives in Illinois. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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