商品描述
A critical biography of the legendary Afro-Gothic novelist, actor, and screenwriter in mid-century Italy. The latest from the legendary author of
Mumbo Jumbo and
The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda,
William Demby: Goth Before It Was Cool is Ishmael Reed's first book-length work of non-fiction in over a decade, and a unique and urgent document. Combining memoir, biography, oral history, and criticism, Reed has concocted something only he could write--at once scathing and eye-opening, a loving tribute to a great writer and a personal appraisal of why he never got his due in life. A novelist, screenwriter, journalist, actor, and all-around renaissance man whose pioneering works of gothic atmosphere and metafictional depth continue to reverberate today, Demby is an enduring figure of intrigue in whom Reed also sees the embodiment of cultural currents both personal and political.
Careening from 1950s Italy to Sag Harbor of the 1980s, and touching on third rails of race, gender, and class, Reed evokes debates and milieus crossing continents and eras, with cameos from Roberto Rossellini to Betty Friedan, resurrecting the story of a great mid-century Black artist (who is only now receiving the reissue treatment from Vintage), as well as Reed's own parallel journey as publisher, raconteur, and of course as one of our greatest living writers.
Featuring never-before-seen photographs from Demby's archives and a foreword from Demby scholar Melanie Masterton Sherazi, this unclassifiable book is a late-career milestone from Ishmael Reed, and a perfect introduction to his peerless non-fiction. Post-war Italy, Black Arts, and American literati collide in a revelatory work setting the record straight about a significant author and the times in which he lived.
商品描述(中文翻譯)
一部關於這位傳奇非裔哥德小說家、演員與編劇，以及他在二十世紀中葉義大利生活經歷的深刻傳記。
《Mumbo Jumbo》與《The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda》的傳奇作者 Ishmael Reed 最新力作《William Demby: Goth Before It Was Cool》，是他十多年來首部篇幅完整的非虛構作品，也是一份獨特而迫切的重要文獻。本書融合回憶錄、傳記、口述歷史與評論，只有 Reed 才能寫出這樣的作品——既尖銳得令人刺痛，又令人眼界大開；既是對一位偉大作家的深情致意，也是 Reed 個人對於 Demby 為何一生未能獲得應有肯定的評析。Demby 身兼小說家、編劇、記者、演員與全方位的文藝復興人，其開創性的哥德氛圍作品與具有後設小說深度的創作，至今仍持續迴響。他是一位令人難以忘懷、始終充滿魅力的人物；在 Reed 眼中，他也體現了個人與政治層面的文化潮流。
從 1950 年代的義大利一路寫到 1980 年代的 Sag Harbor，並觸及種族、性別與階級等不容輕忽的敏感議題，Reed 喚起了跨越大陸與時代的辯論及文化氛圍，其中還有 Roberto Rossellini、Betty Friedan 等人的精彩客串。本書重新挖掘一位二十世紀中葉偉大黑人藝術家的故事——他直到如今才獲得 Vintage 的重新出版待遇——也描繪 Reed 自己作為出版人、說書人，當然也是當代最偉大在世作家之一的平行人生旅程。
本書收錄來自 Demby 檔案、從未公開的照片，並附有 Demby 研究者 Melanie Masterton Sherazi 撰寫的序言。這部難以歸類的作品，是 Ishmael Reed 寫作生涯晚期的重要里程碑，也是認識他無可匹敵的非虛構作品的完美入門。戰後義大利、黑人藝術運動與美國文壇在這部發人深省的作品中交會，為一位重要作家及其所處時代釐清真相。
作者簡介
Ishmael Reed is the author of over twenty-five books including Mumbo Jumbo, Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down, Conjugating Hindi and The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda. He is also a publisher, television producer, songwriter, radio and television commentator, lecturer, and has long been devoted to exploring an alternative black aesthetic: the trickster tradition, or Neo-Hoodooism. A regular contributor to CounterPunch and founder of the Before Columbus Foundation, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley for over thirty years, retiring in 2005. Reed is the only person to be nominated for the National Book Award in two categories in the same year.
作者簡介(中文翻譯)
Ishmael Reed 著有超過二十五本書，包括《Mumbo Jumbo》、《Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down》、《Conjugating Hindi》以及《The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda》。他同時也是出版人、電視製作人、作詞人、廣播與電視評論員及講師，長期致力於探索另類的黑人美學：詭計師傳統（trickster tradition），或稱新巫毒主義（Neo-Hoodooism）。他是《CounterPunch》的固定撰稿人，也是 Before Columbus Foundation 的創辦人；此外，他曾在 University of California, Berkeley 任教超過三十年，並於 2005 年退休。Reed 是唯一一位曾在同一年獲 National Book Award 兩個類別提名的人。
