{"title":"Agymah Kamau","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"flickering-shadows","title":"Flickering Shadows","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel by Kwadwo Agymah Kamau\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eSeptember 1, 1996 • 6 x 9 • 304 pages • 978-1-56689-049-6\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003ePolitical corruption, lust, and betrayal poison a Caribbean island paradise.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDeeply engrossing and beautifully written, this debut novel marks the stunning arrival of a major new talent. Set on a fictional Caribbean island, \u003cem\u003eFlickering Shadows \u003c\/em\u003eis the story of the colorful and compelling inhabitants of a small ex-colony, a village called the Hill. Cephus’s grandfather—arguably one of the most intriguing narrators to appear in fiction in some time—draws the reader into the lives and vivid dramas of the whole community. Cephus, Doreen, Boysie, Inez, young Kwame, the ghost, Dolphus, and an array of vibrantly depicted characters form a rich and hypnotic tale of love and betrayal, selflessness and honor, lust and dignity. Played out against a backdrop of political chicanery and religious corruption, this entrancing novel captivates from its first sentence to its breathtaking and unforgettable conclusion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“People have been asking for some time now: where are the Bajan griot voices to succeed George Lamming, Paule Marshall, Austin Clark? Well, look in vain no further. Here, fresh \u0026amp; young in the spirit-fields of that nearest-to-Africa Caribbean island, is my namesake Kwadwi Agymah Kamau’s first novel, \u003cem\u003eFlickering Shadows,\u003c\/em\u003e continuing the great coral\/choral-calling tradition of Barbados.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Kamau Brathwaite, \u003cem\u003eSavacou Publications\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Dazzling in its playful, poetic language; haunting in its authentic evocation of aplace; and totally original in narrative voice, \u003cem\u003eFlickering Shadows\u003c\/em\u003e is a gem, a work of pure enchantment. To read it is to fall under an island spell. Tragic yet uplifting, this is fiction at its best.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Lee Smith, author of \u003cem\u003eSaving Grace\u003c\/em\u003e and\u003cem\u003e The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Kamau is a loving native son\/literary ju ju man whose language is sheer poetry nothing less! His people are unforgettable, their pride and strength a monument, brought forth, made sacred on the pages of this jewel of a book.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Marita Golden, author of \u003cem\u003eAnd Do Remember Me\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSaving Our Sons\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In this, his first novel, Agymah Kamau has taken life in a hard-scrabble little West Indian village and, through the power of his vision and his lean poetic prose, made it speak for the oppressed the world over. An impressive debut.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Paul Marshall, author of \u003cem\u003eDaughters\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Chosen Place, The Timeless People\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Here is a compelling new voice from the Caribbean. . . . Reading Kwadwo Agymah Kamau’s extraordinary first novel calls to mind Vic Reid’s masterful capturing of the cadences and idioms of Caribbean speech; Erna Brodber’s mesmerizing poetic lyricism; Wilson Harris’s provocative magical realism; Sam Selvon’s seductive humor; and George Lamming’s political imperatives.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Daryl Cumber Dance, editor, \u003cem\u003eFolklore from Contemporary Jamaicans \u0026amp; Fifty Caribbean Writers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43707441870,"sku":"","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/Flickering_Shadows.jpg?v=1515042753"},{"product_id":"pictures-of-a-dying-man","title":"Pictures of a Dying Man","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel by Agymah Kamau\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eSeptember 1, 1999 • 6 x 9 • 227 pages • 978-1-56689-087-8\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eThe mysterious death of an island village’s favorite son forces the townspeople to reexamine their lives.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Gladstone Belle is found hanging from a beam in his own house, everyone in the village tries to understand who he really was, and why he killed himself. In this Caribbean \u003cem\u003eCitizen Kane,\u003c\/em\u003e the voices of Gladstone’s past accumulate, complementing and contradicting each other, to arrive at an understanding of Gladstone’s true identity and the circumstances that complicated his life. And his death. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIs a human life merely the sum of other people’s perceptions of it, a compilation of rumors and hearsay? What happens if those views are erroneous? Continuing in the vein of his critically acclaimed novel, \u003cem\u003eFlickering Shadows,\u003c\/em\u003e Agymah Kamau weaves a colorful story, full of deception, love, and loss, around a community’s remembrances of a Gladstone Belle. We discover the intricacies of living in a small Caribbean community by seeing things through the eyes of an array of vivid characters, including Isamina, his wife; Esther and Sonny-Boy, his mother and father; Carl, the suspicious husband of his former lover; PeeWee, the village gangster; Theophilus Bascombe, a disgruntled coworker; and Marie Antoinette LaSalle, the histrionic clairvoyant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn a diverse community and political world riddled with rumors of murder and disappearance, Gladstone’s humble beginnings and honest manner win the community’s trust. He quickly moves up the political ladder. But his life is cut short when he decides that he can no longer look the other way. He realizes that everything around him has suffered from this corruption: his marriage, his friendships, and his dignity. The narrative of Gladstone Belle’s life and death illumines the complexity of class distinctions within a postcolonial community.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“Kamau’s intriguing second novel gives new meaning to the notion that seeing is not always believing. . . . Kamau writes in a lilting, unaffected style with real compassion for his characters. This is a haunting, powerful, beautiful story.” \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e—Library Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Conveys lyrically and simply the lifestyle of an unnamed Caribbean village and the complexity of a single human life.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eBooklist,\u003c\/em\u003e starred review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43707611854,"sku":"","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/Picture_of_Dying_Man.jpg?v=1515103357"}],"url":"https:\/\/coffeehousepress.org\/collections\/agymah-kamau.oembed","provider":"Coffee House Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}