Play Pretty Blues (The Life of Robert Johnson) - Softcover

Wright, Snowden

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938126106 ISBN 13: 9781938126109

Publisher: Engine Books, 2013

Synopsis

"Wright's fervent, musical prose captures the very essence of the blues. Play Pretty Blues is a work of extraordinary imagination and soul."—Will Allison, author of Long Drive Home

The mysteries of blues legend Robert Johnson's life and death long ago became myth. Part researched reconstruction, part vivid imagination, this lyrical novel brings Johnson alive through the voices of his six wives, revealing the husband and son inside the legend.

Snowden Wright was born and raised in Mississippi. His work has been published at Salon, the Atlantic Online, Esquire Online, and the New York Daily News. He lives in New York.

About this title

About the Author

Snowden Wright holds a BA in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Columbia University. His nonfiction work has been published at Salon, TheAtlantic.com, Nerve, The Morning News, Freerange Nonfiction, Thought Catalog, The Good Men Project, Esquire.com, Bookslut, The Millions, and the New York Daily News. His fiction has been published at Dark Sky, The Rumpus, TheLMagazine.com, Emprise Review, elimae, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Wright was the 2012 recipient of the Summer Literary Seminar's Graywolf Prize for best novel excerpt. He lives in New York City.

Review

In the South we have a saying, All stories are true. Some even happened.’ Snowden Wright’s fiction is about as true as it comes.”
—Jonathan Odell, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"In his audacious first novel, Snowden Wright reinterprets the legend of bluesman Robert Johnson from the viewpoint of Johnson’s indomitable six wives, bringing to life their shared passion and longing for a man who was easy to love but hard to hold onto. Wright’s fervent, musical prose also accomplishes the unlikely and impressive feat of capturing in fiction the very essence of the blues. Play Pretty Blues is a work of extraordinary imagination and soul."
Will Allison, author of Long Drive Home and What You Have Left

"If you're going to base a novel on the life of Robert Johnson, you'd better be able to make your prose sing, and Snowden Wright can. He can also make it howl. In these stunning pages, he's crafted a dark and dissonant tale, told by six of the many women the shadowy bluesman boasted of stashing all over the country. If you're looking for the next major writer to emerge from Mississippi, search no further. Here he is."
Steve Yarborough, author of The Realm of Last Chances

Like the six strings on legendary Robert Johnson’s guitar, the six wives of Johnson sing gloriously and mysteriously in Snowden Wright’s Play Pretty Blues. Wright has dug into the layers of myth surrounding the bluesman and invented a memorable character. This debut novel full of clever invention may come to serve as his new biography! Not since Louise Erdrich’s Tales of Burning Love have women shared a single husband with such passion, curiosity and humor. Play Pretty Blues takes us deep into the south, the blues and our humanity.”
Victoria Redel, author of Woman Without Umbrella

Play Pretty Blues is a heartbreaking romance, a murder mystery, a comic picaresque, a reimagined biography, a historical guidebook, a polyphonic blues song rendered in crystalline prose, a beautifully structured shaggy dog tale straight out of the South, and above all a spectacular novel, one that announces Snowden Wright as a storyteller of limitless talent.
Matt Burgess, author of Dogfight, a Love Story


“In the South we have a saying, ‘All stories are true. Some even happened.’ Snowden Wright’s fiction is about as true as it comes.”
—Jonathan Odell, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"In his audacious first novel, Snowden Wright reinterprets the legend of bluesman Robert Johnson from the viewpoint of Johnson’s indomitable six wives, bringing to life their shared passion and longing for a man who was easy to love but hard to hold onto. Wright’s fervent, musical prose also accomplishes the unlikely and impressive feat of capturing in fiction the very essence of the blues. Play Pretty Blues is a work of extraordinary imagination and soul."
―Will Allison, author of Long Drive Home and What You Have Left

"If you're going to base a novel on the life of Robert Johnson, you'd better be able to make your prose sing, and Snowden Wright can. He can also make it howl. In these stunning pages, he's crafted a dark and dissonant tale, told by six of the many women the shadowy bluesman boasted of stashing all over the country. If you're looking for the next major writer to emerge from Mississippi, search no further. Here he is."
―Steve Yarborough, author of The Realm of Last Chances

“Like the six strings on legendary Robert Johnson’s guitar, the six wives of Johnson sing gloriously and mysteriously in Snowden Wright’s Play Pretty Blues. Wright has dug into the layers of myth surrounding the bluesman and invented a memorable character. This debut novel―full of clever invention―may come to serve as his new biography! Not since Louise Erdrich’s Tales of Burning Love have women shared a single husband with such passion, curiosity and humor. Play Pretty Blues takes us deep into the south, the blues and our humanity.”
―Victoria Redel, author of Woman Without Umbrella

“Play Pretty Blues is a heartbreaking romance, a murder mystery, a comic picaresque, a reimagined biography, a historical guidebook, a polyphonic blues song rendered in crystalline prose, a beautifully structured shaggy dog tale straight out of the South, and above all a spectacular novel, one that announces Snowden Wright as a storyteller of limitless talent. “
―Matt Burgess, author of Dogfight, a Love Story

Edition details

• Publisher: Engine Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1938126106
• ISBN 13: 9781938126109
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 200