WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015. A masterfully written novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s.
Set against the backdrop of 1970s reggae culture, disco, sex and excess comes this remarkable re-imagining of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley
WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015. A masterfully written novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s.
Set against the backdrop of 1970s reggae culture, disco, sex and excess comes this remarkable re-imagining of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND SELECTED AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: WIRED GQ BBC CULTURE NEW YORK TIMES, Michiko Kakutani WASHINGTON POST ELECTRIC LITERATURE TIME PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AMAZON HUFFINGTON POST CHICAGO TRIBUNE NEWSWEEK WALL STREET JOURNAL HOUSTON CHRONICLE LIBRARY JOURNAL BOOKPAGE POPSUGAR BUZZFEED SALON, Laura Miller KANSAS CITY STAR L MAGAZINE SEATTLE TIMES BOSTON GLOBE JAMAICA, 1976 Seven gunmen storm Bob Marley's house, machine guns blazing. The reggae superstar survives, but the gunmen are never caught. From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes a dazzling display of masterful storytelling exploring this near-mythic event. Spanning three decades and crossing continents, A Brief History of Seven Killings chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters - slum kids, one-night stands, drug lords, girlfriends, gunmen, journalists, and even the CIA. Gripping and inventive, ambitious and mesmerising, A Brief History of Seven Killings is one of the most remarkable and extraordinary novels of the twenty-first century.
Shortlisted for Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2015.
“'A vast, ambitious, burning mansion of a book, designed to reflect all the languages of its teeming island and the chambers of the human heart'”
'Epic in every sense of that word: sweeping, mythic, over-the-top, colossal and dizzyingly complex.' New York Times 'Showcases the extraordinary capabilities of a writer whose importance can scarcely be questioned.' Independent 'A vivid plunge into a crazed, violent and corrupt world... executed with swaggering aplomb' -- Irvine Welsh '[James's] talent has grown from book to book, and his imagination consistently shines a light on dark and gory places...this is a work that explores the aesthetics of cacophony and also the aesthetics of violence.' Guardian 'resembles James Ellroy's LA Quartet in its blistering violence, multiple voices and view of history "from the gutter to the star"' The Daily Telegraph 'Critics rave about James' mastery of both oral history storytelling and patois dialect, and his ability to craft and juggle perspectives that often contradict and obscure the truth. With comparisons to the works of David Foster Wallace and Quentin Tarantino, James has garnered the highest of contemporary praise.' Wired 10 Best Books of 2014 'This tense and violent, but very compelling, novel is a big book in more ways than one.' The Herald 'A brilliant novel' -- Library Journal 'Scary and lyrically beautiful - you'll want to read whole pages aloud to strangers.' -- Russell Banks 'Not only persuasive, but tragic, though in its polyphony and scope it's more than that ... the book's increasing sense of absurdity, its pop culture references, its compulsive ventriloquism and its range of tones - comic, surreal, nightmarish, parodic - began to remind me uncannily of David Foster Wallace's all-or-nothing Infinite Jest.' New York Times Book Review
MARLON JAMES was born in Jamaica. He is the author of The Book of Night Women (Oneworld, 2009), which won the Dayton Literary PeacePrize and the Minnesota Book Award, and was a finalist for the NationalBook Critics Circle Award. His debut novel, John Crow's Devil (Oneworld, 2015), was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and was a New York Times Editors' Choice. His third novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings (Oneworld 2014), won the American Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Fiction Prize, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and featured in over twenty best books of the year lists. His short fiction and non-fiction has appeared in Esquire and Granta. He teaches at Macalester College, Minnesota, USA.
Jamaica, 1976: Seven men storm Bob Marley's house with machine guns blazing. The reggae superstar survives, but leaves Jamaica the following day, not to return for two years...Inspired by this near-mythic event, A Brief History of Seven Killings is an imagined oral biography, told by ghosts, witnesses, killers, members of parliament, drug dealers, conmen, beauty queens, FBI and CIA agents, reporters, journalists, and even Keith Richards' drug dealer. Marlon James's dazzling novel is a tour de force. It traverses strange landscapes and shady characters, as motivations are examined - and questions asked - in a masterpiece of imagination.
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.