John Henry Days

Name: John Henry Days
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Colson Whitehead
ISBN: 9781436136013

Author: Colson Whitehead

Narrator: Peter Jay Fernandez

Unabridged: 17 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 04/25/2008

Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

J. Sutter is a bonafide junketeer--a freelance writer, travelling from city to city, hungry for free meals and the discarded sales receipts of others to claim on his expense account. Travelling into the backwoods of West Virginia to write a piece on the unveiling of the new John Henry postage stamp and the ensuing John Henry Days festival, J. continues his nearly record-setting, three-month junket binge. But when he begins to choke on a piece of prime rib at a press dinner, shadows from the past are summoned forth and he leaves the mountain a changed man. Colson Whitehead is the author of the critically acclaimed, QPB New Voices Award-winning novel, The Intuitionist. Narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez, John Henry Days is both an ingenious retelling of the American legend of John Henry and a fascinating look into the world of contemporary journalism.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Craig

I am befuddled by these reviews. I have tried to read The Intuitionist 4 times; APEX is a riff on all the good in John Henry Days; Sag Harbor worked better as a short story. But John Henry Days? This is about my 11th time reading it, this time in prep for teaching it again for the first time in almo......more

Goodreads review by Wes

Some shit to make you quit your job. Every possible look at John Henry's race against a steam drill as model for modern work ethic (modern, at least, circa-late 1990s, early 2000s, before economy receded). For those out there who aren't happy to have a job, who are still asking why am I doing this p......more

Goodreads review by Diamond

I really enjoyed this book. I will give a full review at a later date.......more

Goodreads review by Alex

Whitehead is without a doubt one of the most skilled writers in American literature. His sentences are dense and filled with meaning, but also beautiful, vivid, and expressive. He shines here, in his take of the John Henry story, exploring its origins, its interpretations, and how it has penetrated......more

Goodreads review by Darryl

I did not know Colson Whitehead could write like this. This is on another level. I need to pick up all of his earlier works.......more