The Harder They Come

New York. 1980. Grove Press. 2nd Printing. Very Good in Slightly Worn Wrappers. 0394175999. 399 pages. paperback. Cover design by VanZee Associates. keywords: Caribbean Jamaica Literature World Literature. DESCRIPTION - This rich novel is roughly adapted - as was the acclaimed feature film of the same title - from the life and exploits of Rhygin, a legendary gunman and folk hero who lived in and around Kingston, Jamaica in the late 1950's. Capturing, with poetry and precision, the rhythms, textures and idioms of Jamaica's disparate cultures, Thelwell records Rhygin's journey from a pastoral, morally coherent peasant culture to the crowded, predatory urban slum of Kingston. We follow Rhygin's painful and exhilarating transformation from country boy to city-wise ganja dealer and reggae star. Ultimately, his rebellion against a corrupt power structure leads him to become a celebrated outlaw. ‘This masterly achieved novel shows Thelwell to be one of the best writers to have emerged out of the agonies of the Black liberation movements. The Harder They Come will survive as one of the very few novels worthy of the Black experience in our age' - Harold Bloom, DeVane Professor of Humanities, Yale University. ‘Michael Thelwell's profound love of Jamaica has nurtured the content of this beautifully achieved and memorable novel. I haven't experienced a more truthful, passionate and harrowing report on the Third World. Thelwell's book will last and last: ' - Andrew Salkey, Professor of Writing, Hampshire College. ‘Michael Thelwell's powerful and poetic new novel - a saga of the struggle-for-life in Jamaica resonating through the African diaspora - is a work of epic proportion: ' - Sidney Kaplan, Commonwealth Professor of literature, the University of Massachusetts. ‘The Harder They Come will take its place among the few great works on the struggles of the Third World. It is a moving and rewarding piece of writing inspired by great love, anger and compassion.' - KwamE Ture (Stokely Carmichael), Chairman. All African Peoples Party. inventory #6971 Very Good in Slightly Worn Wrappers.…