John Henry Days

by Colson Whitehead (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $3.47

  J. Sutter is on The List - The King of the Junketeers - one of the select freeloading journalists and expense account abusers who are invited to cover any event ,no matter how small. J. has been sent by a travel web site to West Virginia to cover the first annual 'John Henry Days', a festival to celebrate the launch of a New US postal stamp commemorating the Famous American folk hero, John Henry. Immortalised in ballads, John Henry was a labourer on the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad who, in a test of strength and stamina, tested his mettle against a steam drill, only to die moments after the victory from exhaustion. Interweaving the stories of J. and John Henry, Colson Whitehead explores the parallels between the Industrial age which killed John Henry and the Information Age which is destroying J.'s soul. Through their two lives, Whitehead traces the evolution of the ballad of John Henry, juxtaposing history, popular culture, journalism and the oral tradition, revealing a riveting portrait of how a nation creates its present through the stories it tells of its past.

• New

  Paperback
  2002

  $13.11

  From the author of `The Underground Railroad', Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and Longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.

  `John Henry Days' is a novel of extraordinary scope and mythic power. It established Colson Whitehead as a pre-eminent American writer of our time.

  Building the railways that made America, John Henry died with a hammer in his hand moments after competing against a steam drill in a battle of endurance. The story of his death made him a legend.

  Over a century later, J. Sutter, a freelance journalist and accomplished expense account abuser, is sent to West Virginia to cover the launch of a new postage stamp at the first 'John Henry Days' festival.

  John Henry Days is a riveting portrait of America. Through a patchwork of interweaving histories Colson Whitehead triumphantly reveals how a nation creates its present through the stories it tells of its past.