New Releases by Colson Whitehead

Florida, Anfang der sechziger Jahre. Der sechzehnjährige Elwood lebt mit seiner Großmutter im schwarzen Ghetto von Tallahassee und ist ein Bewunderer Martin Luther Kings. Als er einen Platz am College bekommt, scheint sein Traum von gesellschaftlicher Veränderung in Erfüllung zu gehen. Doch durch einen Zufall gerät er in ein gestohlenes Auto und wird ohne gerechtes Verfahren in die Besserungsanstalt Nickel Academy gesperrt. Dort werden die Jungen missbraucht, gepeinigt und ausgenutzt. Erneut bringt Whitehead den tief verwurzelten Rassismus und das nicht enden wollende Trauma der amerikanischen Geschichte zutage. Sein neuer Roman, der auf einer wahren Geschichte beruht, ist ein Schrei gegen die Ungerechtigkeit.

Nickel is een tuchtschool waar zwarte jongens worden mishandeld door hun witte bewakers. De zestienjarige Elwood en zijn vriend Turner koesteren maar één wens: ontsnappen uit Nickel. De hartverscheurende opvolger van de bekroonde internationale bestseller De ondergrondse spoorweg. In deze nieuwe roman ontleedt Colson Whitehead opnieuw een duister hoofdstuk uit de Amerikaanse geschiedenis het tijdperk van de Jim Crow-rassenwetten in het Zuiden van Amerika. Het zijn de beginjaren van de burgerrechtenbeweging, en de zestienjarige Elwood Curtis gaat zijn toekomst vol vertrouwen tegemoet. Totdat hij vanwege een vergissing op de Nickel Academy belandt, een helse tuchtschool in Florida. Met name de zwarte jongens worden aan het sadisme van de overwegend witte bewakers uitgeleverd. Misbruik, marteling en corruptie zijn aan de orde van de dag; voor het minste vergrijp worden de jongens naar achter gebracht, vaak komen ze dan niet meer terug op school. In deze gruwelkamer is er voor Elwood één houvast: zijn vriend Turner, die geen enkele ambitie meer koestert, behalve ontsnappen uit Nickel.

De eerste zwarte vrouw die is toegelaten tot het gilde der liftinspecteurs in het Amerika van enkele decennia geleden, raakt verzeild in een web van intriges nadat een door haar geïnspecteerde lift verongelukt is.

Cora je otrokyně na bavlníkové plantáži v Georgii, kde lidé žijí v příšerných podmínkách. Coře se vede ještě o něco hůř než většině ostatních, tuto mladou ženu odvrhla i černošská vesnice. Caesar, otrok, kterého páni nedávno přikoupili, vypráví Coře o podzemní železnici a přesvědčí ji k riskantnímu útěku na sever. Ve Whiteheadově pojetí nepředstavuje Podzemní železnice jen historický krycí název pro síť tajných cest, dráha tu získává i fyzickou podobu. Strojvůdci a průvodčí skutečně obsluhují ilegální podzemní tratě a tunely. Coru a Caesara odváží na sever zchátralý nákladní vagon, který hluboko pod povrchem země s námahou táhne parní lokomotiva. První zastávka – Jižní Karolína, uprchlíkům zpočátku připadá jako pozemský ráj. Pod poklidnou maskou země se ovšem rodí děsivý plán namířený proti černým obyvatelům. Coru a Caesara navíc pronásleduje Ridgeway, lovec otroků. Cora se znovu dává na útěk. Pouští se na strastiplnou cestu ze státu do státu, aby našla skutečnou svobodu. Podobně jako hrdina Gulliverových cest se v jednotlivých fázích svého putování setkává s různými světy. Colson Whitehead mistrně vykresluje formy násilí páchaného na černoších v období před občanskou válkou a jeho vyprávění postupně nenápadně přerůstá ve velkou americkou ságu. Podzemní železnice totiž nevypráví jen o zoufalém odhodlání jedné ženy, která touží uniknout hrůzám otroctví, nabízí nám i působivou reflexi dějin. *** Colson Whitehead je velmi úspěšným autorem románů a držitelem Pulitzerovy ceny. Získal také podporu Nadace Johna D. a Catherine T. MacArthurových a Guggenheimovy nadace. Žije v New Yorku. *** „Zažere se vám to až do morku kostí, usadí se to tam a zůstane... Je to mimořádný počin.“ Oprah Winfreyová „Jedna z nejlepších, ne-li nejlepší kniha, kterou jsem letos četla ... Whitehead nijak nezneužívá své téma, naopak, tu pravou ránu na solar vám zasadí právě úspornost tohoto románu.“ Stylist „Vyprávění, které vás hravě přenese v čase.“ The Pool

Pulitzer-díj, 2017! Nemzeti Könyvdíj (USA), 2016! ,,Az Év Könyve", Amazon.com, 2016! The New York Times-bestseller, 2016! ,,Az Év Könyve", The New York Times, 2016! Cora rabszolga egy georgiai ültetvényen, az élete maga a pokol - a környezetében talán senki sem szenved annyira, mint ő. Anyja magára hagyta a fiatal lányt, ráadásul barátai sincsenek, hiszen a rabszolgákat nem csupán az ültetvényesek sanyargatják, hanem ők maguk is gyötrik a társaikat, kegyetlenül, brutálisan. Cora úgy látja, nincs más lehetősége, mint a szökés. Amikor először hall a föld alatti vasútról, a rabszolgák északra menekítésével foglalkozó, titkos szervezetről, elhatározza, hogy bármi történjék is, útnak indul. Nem is sejti, milyen hosszú és gyötrelmes út vár rá... Colson Whitehead fordulatos, megindító regénye, A föld alatti vasút (The Underground Railroad) az 1800-as évek Amerikájába repíti az olvasót, ahol rabszolgatartók és abolicionisták feszülnek egymásnak szóval és tettel, s ahol a szökött rabszolgák és segítőik büntetése kínhalál - a feketék élete ugyanis sokak szemében nem annyira értékes, mint fehér embertársaiké. A kötet az elmúlt év talán legnagyobb irodalmi szenzációja és egyik leghangosabb könyvsikere. A hírek szerint a történetből az Oscar-díjas Holdfény című film rendezője, Barry Jenkins készül sorozatot forgatni.

Desde que una epidemia azotó el planeta, en el mundo quedan dos tipos de personas: los sanos y los infectados; los vivos y los no muertos. Manhattan ha sido acordonada, y el gobierno provisional ha exterminado a casi todos los infectados; la situación parece bajo control. Pero una sorpresa aguarda entre las desiertas calles de la Zona Uno, y Mark Spitz y sus compañeros de la brigada de limpieza están a punto de descubrirla... Revisitando las novelas de zombis y con una vuelta de tuerca más, Colson Whitehead nos ofrece una historia estremecedora que te persigue de forma implacable hasta el final y que en última instancia te hace reflexionar sobre los vínculos del zombi como figura popular con nuestra sociedad actual, el instinto consumista, el materialismo como motor del progreso y la cultura de la nostalgia.

Galardonada con el Premio Pulitzer 2017 y con el National Book Award, El ferrocarril subterráneo ha sido el acontecimiento literario del año en Estados Unidos. Colson Whitehead es uno de los pocos escritores que ha conseguido ambos premios por el mismo libro. Con El ferrocarril subterráneo entra a formar parte del grupo de grandes nombres como Faulkner, Proulx, Updike y A. Walker. Una renovada visión de la esclavitud donde se mezclan leyenda y realidad y que oculta una historia universal: la de la lucha por escapar al propio destino Cora es una joven esclava de una plantación de algodón en Georgia. Abandonada por su madre, vive sometida a la crueldad de sus amos. Cuando César, un joven de Virginia, le habla del ferrocarril subterráneo, ambos deciden iniciar una arriesgada huida hacia el Norte para conseguir la libertad. El ferrocarril subterráneo convierte en realidad una fábula de la época e imagina una verdadera red de estaciones clandestinas unidas por raíles subterráneos que cruzan el país. En su huida, Cora recorrerá los diferentes estados, y en cada parada se encontrará un mundo completamente diferente, mientras acumula decepciones en el transcurso de una bajada a los infiernos de la condición humana... Aun así, también habrá destellos de humanidad que le harán mantener la esperanza. Whitehead nos brinda una historia universal, onírica y a la vez brutalmente realista, sobre la libertad y las ilusiones truncadas, que nos habla de la fuerza sobrehumana que emerge ante la determinación de cambiar el propio destino. «De manera similar a Robert Wright, Whitehead no solo examina los vestigios de la esclavitud y el racismo, sino también la manera en que el miedo nos esclaviza a todos y fomenta un sistema de desigualdad autopropulsado. Con Cora, recordamos la importancia de la rebelión y la libertad; temas que nos dan una chispa de esperanza en estos momentos tan oscuros.» Freddie Braun, Vogue ("6 novelas fundamentales de autores negros que deberías añadir a tu lista de lecturas") El ferrocarril subterráneo ha sido ganador del Premio Pulitzer 2017, National Book Award 2016, Indies Choice Book Award 2017, galardonado con la Andrew Carnegie Medal of Excellence, destacada por Barack Obama y Ophra Winfrey, número 1 de la lista de best seller de The New York Times durante más de 36 semanas, seleccionado libro del año 2016 por Amazon y Apple, una de las mejores novelas de 2016 según The New York Times Book Review y Publishers Weekly. La adaptación televisiva de la novela correrá a cargo de Barry Jenkins, director de Moonlight, ganadora del Oscar a la mejor película en 2017.

Sextonåriga Cora lever som slav på en bomullsplantage i Georgia. Hon är utstött och utsatt efter att modern försvunnit, och till slut flyr hon tillsammans med Caesar som känner till en underjordisk järnväg som kan hjälpa slavar till friheten i norr. Snart får den skoningslöse slavjägaren Ridgeway upp spåret efter dem. Han kommer att jaga Cora från stat till stat och drömmer om att förgöra henne och den hemliga rörelse som gjort flykten möjlig.Den underjordiska järnvägen har hyllats som en historisk roman som äger sällsynt relevans för vår tid. I verkligheten blev ”den underjordiska järnvägen” benämningen på det nätverk av frivilliga som hjälpte slavar att fly från söder till norr, men i Colson Whiteheads roman är järnvägen en konkret underjordisk flyktväg som tar Cora till olika delar av USA i jakten på ett värdigt liv. Det är en gastkramande berättelse om en ung kvinnas kamp för överlevnad och frihet, samtidigt som den på ett banbrytande sätt också gestaltar och omtolkar slaveriets historia och till synes eviga efterverkningar.

Årets litterære sensasjon - historien om slavejenta Cora setter seg i beinmargen. Sekstenårige Cora er slave på en bomullsplantasje i Georgia i USA. Hun lever i daglig angst for fornedrelse og brutal avstraffelse, men også med myten om sin mor, Mabel, som klarte å flykte. Cora og vennen Caesar bestemmer seg for å forsøke det samme vågestykket, og de legger ut på en livsfarlig reise - med den fanatiske slavefangeren Ridgeway i hælene. Den myteomspunne underjordiske jernbanen tar rømlingene nordover fra stat til stat, til nye verdener og nytt håp, men drømmen om frihet møter sterk motstand selv der det tilsynelatende er trygt å være. Samtidig som Ridgeway og hans blodhunder stadig puster Cora i nakken. Colson Whiteheads mesterverk er både en dirrende spennende skjebnefortelling og en banebrytende litterær prestasjon i sin beskrivelse av den mest brutale perioden i amerikansk historie.

Romanen der har rystet Amerika. ”En sjælden gang imellem dukker der en bog op, der går igennem marv og ben, flytter ind i en og bliver der for altid. Sådan en bog er Den underjordiske jernbane.” OPRAH WINFREY Tænk, hvis Den underjordiske jernbane havde været en rigtig jernbane med vogne og skinner under jorden. Hvis hver eneste station på den farlige tur mod nord havde budt på en ny chance – en bedre udgave af Amerika for en slave på flugt i 1936. Den tanke har den anerkendte amerikanske forfatter, Colson Whitehead, skrevet igennem i sin stærkt anmelderroste og prisbelønnede roman. Hovedpersonen er den sekstenårige Cora, der er slave på en bomuldsplantage i Georgia. Hun lever i daglig angst fornedrelse, men også med myten om sin mor, Mabel, der flygtede og klarede den. Cora og hendes ven, markslaven Cæcar, begiver sig ud på den dødsensfarlige flugt, men den fanatiske slavejæger, Ridgeway, som Mabel slap fra dengang, sætter nu alt ind på at fange hendes datter og smadre det netværk af mennesker, som hjælper de bortløbne. På sin rejse nordpå må Cora ikke bare overliste Ridgeway og hans blodhunde, men også undgå alle de andre slavejægere, stikkere og lynchgrupper, der huserer på ruten. Den underjordiske jernbane er en hårrejsende spændende roman om en ung kvindes næsten dyriske vilje til at overleve, og samtidig er det en banebrydende litterær præstation i sin beskrivelse af den mest brutale periode i amerikansk historie. Vinder af The National Book Award 2016 Vinder af The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence Nomineret til The Kirkus Book Prize 2016 Årets bog 2016 i Publisher’s Weekly En New York Times-bestseller En Washington Post-, Barnes & Nobles-, Wall Street Journal- og USA Today-bestseller Præsident Obama’s Summer Read 2016 Oprah’s Bookclub Pick, august 2106 Colson Whitehead er en af USA’s mest anerkendte skønlitterære forfattere. Han har skrevet en række prisbelønnede bestsellerromaner, og i 2001 blev han første gang nomineret til Pulitzer-prisen for sin roman John Henry Days. Den underjordiske jernbane blev hans store internationale gennembrud, og romanen sikrede ham i 2016 både Pulitzer-prisen og National Book Award. Den er desuden belønnet med The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, Goodreads Choice Award for bedste historiske roman og The Tournament of Books. Colson Whitehead er født og opvokset i New York City og bor i dag på Manhattan.

In Colson Whiteheads ‘De ondergrondse spoorweg’ is Cora slavin op een katoenplantage in Georgia. Haar helse leven staat op het punt om nog erger te worden: de wrede eigenaar heeft zijn oog op haar laten vallen. Ze besluit om te vluchten, en met hulp van de Ondergrondse Spoorweg (in Amerika het begrip voor het clandestiene netwerk van antislavernijactivisten) begint ze een lange, huiveringwekkende reis door de zuidelijke staten van Amerika richting het vrije Noorden, met de slavenpatrouille op haar hielen. ‘De ondergrondse spoorweg’ is bekroond met de National Book Award. ‘Fantastisch, aangrijpend.’ - Barack Obama ‘Een overweldigende roman.’ – NRC Handelsblad

Chronicles a young slave''s adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave''s adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. • The basis for the acclaimed original Amazon Prime Video series directed by Barry Jenkins. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. An outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is on the cusp of womanhood—where greater pain awaits. And so when Caesar, a slave who has recently arrived from Virginia, urges her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the opportunity and escapes with him. In Colson Whitehead''s ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor: engineers and conductors operate a secret network of actual tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora embarks on a harrowing flight from one state to the next, encountering, like Gulliver, strange yet familiar iterations of her own world at each stop. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the terrors of the antebellum era, he weaves in the saga of our nation, from the brutal abduction of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is both the gripping tale of one woman''s will to escape the horrors of bondage—and a powerful meditation on the history we all share. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto, coming soon!

From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys • “Whitehead proves a brilliant sociologist of the poker world.” —The Boston Globe In 2011, Grantland magazine gave bestselling novelist Colson Whitehead $10,000 to play at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. It was the assignment of a lifetime, except for one hitch—he’d never played in a casino tournament before. With just six weeks to train, our humble narrator took the Greyhound to Atlantic City to learn the ways of high-stakes Texas Hold’em. Poker culture, he discovered, is marked by joy, heartbreak, and grizzled veterans playing against teenage hotshots weaned on Internet gambling. Not to mention the not-to-be overlooked issue of coordinating Port Authority bus schedules with your kid’s drop-off and pickup at school. Finally arriving in Vegas for the multimillion-dollar tournament, Whitehead brilliantly details his progress, both literal and existential, through the event’s antes and turns, through its gritty moments of calculation, hope, and spectacle. Entertaining, ironic, and strangely profound, this epic search for meaning at the World Series of Poker is a sure bet. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto!

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys: A pandemic has devastated the planet, sorting humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead. • "One of the best books of the year." —Esquire After the worst of the plague is over, armed forces stationed in Chinatown’s Fort Wonton have successfully reclaimed the island south of Canal Street—aka Zone One. Mark Spitz is a member of one of the three-person civilian sweeper units tasked with clearing lower Manhattan of the remaining feral zombies. Zone One unfolds over three surreal days in which Spitz is occupied with the mundane mission of straggler removal, the rigors of Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder (PASD), and the impossible task of coming to terms with a fallen world. And then things start to go terribly wrong… At once a chilling horror story and a literary novel by a contemporary master, Zone One is a dazzling portrait of modern civilization in all its wretched, shambling glory. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto!

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST • From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys: a hilarious and supremely original novel set in the Hamptons in the 1980s, "a tenderhearted coming-of-age story fused with a sharp look at the intersections of race and class” (The New York Times). Benji Cooper is one of the few Black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of Black professionals have built a world of their own. The summer of ’85 won’t be without its usual trials and tribulations, of course. There will be complicated new handshakes to fumble through and state-of-the-art profanity to master. Benji will be tested by contests big and small, by his misshapen haircut (which seems to have a will of its own), by the New Coke Tragedy, and by his secret Lite FM addiction. But maybe, just maybe, this summer might be one for the ages. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto!

In Electric Literature''s Autumn 2009 anthology of short fiction, Colson Whitehead charts the rise to fame of a truth-telling comedian. Stephen O''Connor transports us to a cabin in the woods, where a young woman attempting to finish her dissertation in solitude becomes increasingly convinced she''s not alone. Pasha Malla follows a young writer as he explores how tragedy influences art-and how life falls short of it. Marisa Silver tells the tale of three sisters who perceive the truth about their parents through the eyes of some unexpected visitors, and Lydia Davis'' solitary narrator acutely details the behavior of three cows who live in a pasture just across the road.

This "wickedly funny" (The Boston Globe) New York Times Notable Book from the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys is a brisk, comic tour de force about identity, history, and the adhesive bandage industry. The town of Winthrop has decided it needs a new name. The resident software millionaire wants to call it New Prospera; the mayor wants to return to the original choice of the founding black settlers; and the town’s aristocracy sees no reason to change the name at all. What they need, they realize, is a nomenclature consultant. And, it turns out, the consultant needs them. But in a culture overwhelmed by marketing, the name is everything and our hero’s efforts may result in not just a new name for the town but a new and subtler truth about it as well. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto, coming soon!

In a dazzlingly original work of nonfiction, the two time Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys recreates the exuberance, the chaos, the promise, and the heartbreak of New York. Here is a literary love song that will entrance anyone who has lived in—or spent time—in the greatest of American cities. A masterful evocation of the city that never sleeps, The Colossus of New York captures the city’s inner and outer landscapes in a series of vignettes, meditations, and personal memories. Colson Whitehead conveys with almost uncanny immediacy the feelings and thoughts of longtime residents and of newcomers who dream of making it their home; of those who have conquered its challenges; and of those who struggle against its cruelties. Whitehead’s style is as multilayered and multifarious as New York itself: Switching from third person, to first person, to second person, he weaves individual voices into a jazzy musical composition that perfectly reflects the way we experience the city. There is a funny, knowing riff on what it feels like to arrive in New York for the first time; a lyrical meditation on how the city is transformed by an unexpected rain shower; and a wry look at the ferocious battle that is commuting. The plaintive notes of the lonely and dispossessed resound in one passage, while another captures those magical moments when the city seems to be talking directly to you, inviting you to become one with its rhythms. The Colossus of New York is a remarkable portrait of life in the big city. Ambitious in scope, gemlike in its details, it is at once an unparalleled tribute to New York and the ideal introduction to one of the most exciting writers working today. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto!

From the bestselling, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, a novel that is "funny and wise and sumptuously written" (Jonathan Franzen, The New York Times Book Review). Colson Whitehead’s triumphant novel is on one level a multifaceted retelling of the story of John Henry, the black steel-driver who died outracing a machine designed to replace him. On another level it’s the story of a disaffected, middle-aged black journalist on a mission to set a record for junketeering who attends the annual John Henry Days festival. It is also a high-velocity thrill ride through the tunnel where American legend gives way to American pop culture, replete with p. r. flacks, stamp collectors, blues men , and turn-of-the-century song pluggers. John Henry Days is an acrobatic, intellectually dazzling, and laugh-out-loud funny book that will be read and talked about for years to come. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto!

This debut novel by the two time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys wowed critics and readers everywhere and marked the debut of an important American writer. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. It is a time of calamity in a major metropolitan city''s Department of Elevator Inspectors, and Lila Mae Watson, the first black female elevator inspector in the history of the department, is at the center of it. There are two warring factions within the department: the Empiricists, who work by the book and dutifully check for striations on the winch cable and such; and the Intuitionists, who are simply able to enter the elevator cab in question, meditate, and intuit any defects. Lila Mae is an Intuitionist and, it just so happens, has the highest accuracy rate in the entire department. But when an elevator in a new city building goes into total freefall on Lila Mae''s watch, chaos ensues. It''s an election year in the Elevator Guild, and the good-old-boy Empiricists would love nothing more than to assign the blame to an Intuitionist. But Lila Mae is never wrong. The sudden appearance of excerpts from the lost notebooks of Intuitionism''s founder, James Fulton, has also caused quite a stir. The notebooks describe Fulton''s work on the "black box," a perfect elevator that could reinvent the city as radically as the first passenger elevator did when patented by Elisha Otis in the nineteenth century. When Lila Mae goes underground to investigate the crash, she becomes involved in the search for the portions of the notebooks that are still missing and uncovers a secret that will change her life forever. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto, coming soon!