Let the dead bury their dead and other stories
Author: Kenan, Randall, 1963-
A collection of stories about life in a North Carolina town featuring tales of
a boy who receives messages from the grave, a widow's transformation after a weekend
affair with a teenager, and more
San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, copyright 1992, 334 p.
Contents:
Clarence and the dead -- Things of this world; or Angels unawares -- The foundations
of the earth -- The origin of whales -- Cornsilk -- The strange and tragic ballad
of Mabel Pearsall -- This far; or A body in motion -- Run, mourner, run -- What
are days? -- Ragnarok! The day the gods die -- Tell me, tell me -- Let the dead
bury their dead.
Reviews for this Title:
Booklist Review: /*STARRED REVIEW*/ As a storyteller, Kenan is without rival.
This collection of short fiction features residents of Tims Creek, North Carolina.
Many of the pieces are fables of rural life, with dignified elders and lively
young folk all wrapped in a warm blanket of shared family history and their
African American heritage. In one instance, five-year-old Clarence (who can
hear the dead speak) amazes and frustrates his grandparents, while a talking
hog shares the gift of second sight. Both black and white coexist, but not without
strife. Added to this magical mix are more worldly characters, such as attorney
Aaron Streeter, who is sexually obsessed with his half-sister and enmeshed in
worn patterns of familial conflict. Possessing a tone of passionate authority,
these varied stories exhibit the author's breadth and command the reader's considered
attention. ((Reviewed Mar. 15, 1992)) -- Alice Joyce
Other related features:
1. Awards (Best Fiction) - Adult -> Best Fiction -> Literary -> ALA
Notable Books -> 1993
2. Awards (Best Fiction) - Adult -> Best Fiction -> Literary -> Lambda
Literary Award -> Gay Men's Fiction
ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0151498865 : Hardcover
0156505150 : Paperback
Credits:
• Hennepin County Public Library
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 037770
Visitation of spirits, A: a novel
Author: Kenan, Randall, 1963-
Seduced by the dark side of his dreams, sixteen-year-old Harold Cross is overwhelmed
and terrified when demons tear his soul from his body and take it on a journey
through his past.
Grove Press, copyright 1989, 257p.
Publishers Weekly Review: As its title suggests, a powerful strain of mysticism
runs through this story of personal awakening in a black North Carolina family,
but first-time novelist Kenan has a rare gift for naturalism as well, capturing
the texture of farm life with vivid detail. The novel follows Horace Cross, a
brilliant, tormented teenager who is his family's greatest hope, through a night
when demons--perhaps literal, perhaps imagined--force him to confront his bleakest
thoughts. Revolted by his homosexuality, flummoxed by his nonconformity and resentful
of his family's closed-mindedness, Horace careens toward disaster, while in scenes
that leap through time, we meet the other generations of the Cross family. Kenan
shapes his novel as a series of struggles for understanding and enlightenment,
contrasting Horace's strife with an older cousin's efforts to understand him.
Although shifts in time and tone are often jarring and sometimes gratuitous, the
strength and richness of Kenan's best passages sweep any objections aside. (July)
Other related features:
1. Book Discussion Guide - Their Eyes Were Watching God
ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0385415052 : Paperback
0802111181 : Hardcover
0375703977 : Paperback
Credits:
• Hennepin County Public Library
• Baker & Taylor
• Publishers Weekly, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 037771