Title: Juneteenth
Author: Ralph Ellison
Genre: Fiction
Read by: Joe Morton
Originally Published:
1999
Publisher/Date:
Random House, Inc./2011
Dates listened to: 10/25/17 – 11/10/17
CDs/Hours: 11/14
IBSN: 978-0-307-93945-6
You hardly know that the name of the senator from New
England is Adam Sunraider given that when he was a baby Daddy Hickman named him
Bliss, because “that’s what ignorance is”.
When the Senator gets shot and is hospitalized he calls for Daddy
Hickman to come. What follows is a
stream of consciousness on Hickman’s part that tells the story of the two
men. At first I wasn’t sure I could
continue with the story but held my ground and persevered. And I found it worthwhile because it told a
story about dedication on Hickman’s part in saving Bliss from a life of what
might have been, and about the Senator’s confronting how deeply estranged he had
become from his true identity.
What is so amazing is the length of time it took Ellison to
write this book. Forty years is a long
while and even before the novel was published (posthumously) the author was
looking for even more ways to expand his territory. With the aid of Fanny, Ellison’s widow, it,
therefore, became the objective of editor, John Callahan, to paw through a ton
of Ellison’s notes and ideas before completing the story to a satisfactory end.
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