{"title":"Clarence Major","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"necessary-distance","title":"Necessary Distance","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEssays and criticism by Clarence Major\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eApril 1, 2001 • 6 x 9 • 256 pages • 978-1-56689-109-7\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eThis first collected essays of a National Book Award finalist for Poetry is a portrait of the artist’s rise to prominence in American letters.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBringing together critical essays, articles, and reviews by the 1999 National Book Award finalist, this landmark collection is an impressive look back—and forward—by one of our most visionary authors. \u003cem\u003eNecessary Distance\u003c\/em\u003e showcases Clarence Major’s talents as the leading anthologist of African American literature and language as he surveys his remarkable short story, poetry, and slang collections. He also takes a closer look at individual twentieth-century writers, three influential literary magazines, and most importantly, at his own career and beginnings as an artists. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhether he’s chronicling the antics and arguments of fellow poets at the 1975 Yugoslavian International Poetry Festival, or humbly reading his poems to curious seventh graders, Major writers in a succinct, personal tone that can just as easily expound on the complexities of William Faulkner as the joys and pains of a youth spent in Chicago. \u003cem\u003eNecessary Distance\u003c\/em\u003e offers a unique insider’s perspective on the changing face of American Literature by one of its prime innovators.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“Clarence Major has a remarkable mind and a talent to match.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Toni Morrison\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43707561550,"sku":"","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/Necessary-Distance-CMYK.jpg?v=1499210828"},{"product_id":"surfaces-and-masks","title":"Surfaces and Masks","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePoetry by Clarence Major\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eAugust 1, 1988 • 6 x 9 • 128 pages • 978-0-918273-43-7\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eA book-length poem by an African-American author that uses the city of Venice as its backdrop, considering issues of racial and national identity. By the author of \u003ci\u003eMy Amputations\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eSurfaces and Masks,\u003c\/em\u003e Clarence Major becomes heir to the great tradition of the “American-goes-to-Europe” novels of James and Twain. Major is a pointillist, impressionist, and breakneck historian, creating a tapestry that utilizes and satirizes his chosen subject, Venice. With the same unstoppable intelligence that inspired his award-winning novel, \u003cem\u003eMy Amputations,\u003c\/em\u003e he creates a thoroughly modern picture of this glittering, grandiose swamp. A multifaceted portrait in a funhouse mirror, \u003cem\u003eSurfaces and Masks\u003c\/em\u003e becomes a reevaluation of what it means to be an American and a black writer in this century, while surrounded by the decay of the past.\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“Infinitely durable and effortlessly inventive, Clarence Major as a first-rate poet and novelist, superscout of the avant-garde, continues his inspection and commentary on the world at large. In \u003cem\u003eSurfaces and Masks,\u003c\/em\u003e we find him cantering among the canals and Canzoni of Venice like Deadwood Dick in the Badlands. ‘I come around the comer like a man who simply wants to live (this other guy comes around like a man who expects too much).’” \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Independent Publisher\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43707699278,"sku":"","price":8.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/Surfaces_Masks_e2bd60ae-8d91-4e2a-a196-a40a600ab11a.jpg?v=1515106172"}],"url":"https:\/\/coffeehousepress.org\/collections\/clarence-major.oembed","provider":"Coffee House Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}