Dirty Bird Blues

Major, Clarence

ISBN 10: 1562790838 / ISBN 13: 9781562790837

Published by Mercury House, 1996

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1562790838 Dj blurbs by Toni Morrison, John A. Williams, etc. Bookseller Inventory #

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Synopsis: Dirty Bird Blues tells the story of Manfred Banks, a Chicago blues musician and blue-collar worker, who drifts from Chicago to Omaha in the early 1950s. Caught between the casual comfort of a relationship with a male buddy and the domestic responsibilities of a wife and child in a racist America that assaults him at every turn, Manfred seeks easy answers in "Dirty Bird" (Old Crow whiskey) and in moving on. But the blues in his soul and the dreams in his mind keep bringing him back to face himself. After a nightmarish descent into his own depths, Manfred emerges with fresh awareness and possibility.
Through Manfred we witness and experience the process by which modern American English has been vitalized and strengthened by the poetry and the poignancy of the African-American experience.
As Manfred struggles with the constraints of society and his private turmoil, his rich inner voice resonates with the blues.

Review: Clarence Major is an avant-garde novelist, short-story writer, and poet known for his bold experiments with language and style. What many don't know, however, is that Major can be a fine storyteller, capable of bringing his formidable talents to more conventional narrative forms as in this novel. This is the story of Manfred Banks, a blues musician in the early 1950s. We follow Man, as he's nicknamed, as he tries to woo his estranged wife, Cleo, as he struggles to make a living playing his music in Chicago, and then leaves for Omaha, where he finds work in a steel mill, and a weekend gig playing in a bar. When Cleo rejoins him things look as if they are finally coming together, but this is the kind of man for whom the blues line "if it wasn't for no luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all" was written. Major has written a fine, compelling novel, with language and characters as rich as the blues songs that are its inspiration.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Dirty Bird Blues
Publisher: Mercury House
Publication Date: 1996
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Fine
Edition: First Edition