Title: We Cast a Shadow Pdf A Novel
“Stunning and audacious . . . at once a pitch-black comedy, a chilling horror story and an endlessly perceptive novel about the possible future of race in America.”—NPR
“You can be beautiful, even more beautiful than before.” This is the seductive promise of Dr. Nzinga’s clinic, where anyone can get their lips thinned, their skin bleached, and their nose narrowed. A complete demelanization will liberate you from the confines of being born in a black body—if you can afford it.
In this near-future Southern city plagued by fenced-in ghettos and police violence, more and more residents are turning to this experimental medical procedure. Like any father, our narrator just wants the best for his son, Nigel, a biracial boy whose black birthmark is getting bigger by the day. The darker Nigel becomes, the more frightened his father feels. But how far will he go to protect his son? And will he destroy his family in the process?
This electrifying, hallucinatory novel is at once a keen satire of surviving racism in America and a profoundly moving family story. At its center is a father who just wants his son to thrive in a broken world. Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s work evokes the clear vision of Ralph Ellison, the dizzying menace of Franz Kafka, and the crackling prose of Vladimir Nabokov. We Cast a Shadow fearlessly shines a light on the violence we inherit, and on the desperate things we do for the ones we love.
Praise for We Cast a Shadow
“Love is at the core of this funny, beautiful novel [that] asks some of the most important questions fiction can ask, and it does so with energetic and acrobatic prose, hilarious wordplay and great heart. . . . We Cast a Shadow churns fresh beauty from old ugliness. . . . Read this book, and ask yourself: Is this the world you want?”—Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, The New York Times Book Review
“A full-throated novelistic debut of ferocious power and grace . . . a story that refracts the insanity of the world into a shape so unique you wonder how this book wasn’t there all along.”—Lit Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2019
“Propulsive . . . We Cast a Shadow proves that the eeriest works of speculative fiction are those that hit closest to home.”—Vulture, 37 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2019
Casting a Light This is the latest novel to explain and deal with the issue of racism in America employing fantasy, magic realism, dystopian concepts, call it what you will. From Underground Railway, to White Tears, to Underground Airlines, to Sing Unburied Sing, among others, authors have eschewed reality because the subject matter is too painful to deal with and offer alternative worlds in which to address the subject. Mostly, as here, they are satirical, thusly carrying an undercurrent of rage, quite appropriate especially here. This particular novel has been compared to Get Out and The Sellout, both of which apply. The well meaning father here is trying to help his bi-racial son avoid the pain of being Black in America by seeking a bleaching treatment. I found myself alternately appalled and enraged at a world that would make such a solution desirable. A very timely book given the national atmosphere with hate crimes increasing.An Extraordinary Look At The Shadow That Involves And Implicates All Of Us This extraordinary book is essential reading for 2019 and beyond. With echoes that run the gamut from Ellison’s “Invisible Man” to Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” (with multiple touches like references to Zamunda from “Coming To America” for good measure), Ruffin masterfully takes on the issue of race at the core of the American experience. The nameless narrator’s love and concern for protecting his son in a near-future dystopia following oblique references to nuclear war, revolutions, and widespread civil unrest becomes the focal point for considering the issue of race in America. Characters of all races and colors in the book engage the issue in a full, spectrum of complex ways, from protest, to malicious compliance, to defiance, to outright radicalization. Ultimately though, we see through the narrator’s actions and various description of his “fractured psyche” the true cost of the struggle that involves and implicates all of us as we look to the future of America and the world. I highly recommend this book.A funny, poignant, and mind-altering book about race and acceptance. Maurice Carol Ruffin's book, WE CAST A SHADOW, is voiced by a father whose lack of self-confidence and yearning for his son's acceptance in the world is using every medical treatment possible in this near future world to make his son as white as possible. This misguided attempt to whiten his son is at odds with his wife and is so expensive that the narrator is doing whatever he can at work to move up, despite his extreme apathy for the job and the people who work there. His past begins to catch up with him and with his addiction to hallucinogens, the narrator views of right and wrong becomes more and more askew. Ruffin's portrayal of a man (the narrator) constantly teetering on the edge of not only a breakdown, but teetering on the edge or right and wrong is compelling. The man carries a core belief system that being black is bad and now matter what obstacles are put in his way and what rational thought is presented to him, he believes the only way his son, who has a noticeable black birthmark on his white skin, will find happiness in the world is if his son's skin is as white as possible. While his views are to the extreme and therefore flawed, the reader can't help but feel sorry for the man. The writing style Ruffin employs in the book is masterful. In order to help the reader embody living like the narrator, in a drug induced haze of agitation and confusion, Ruffin composes the book with that in mind. At times he is very descript, down to very particular details, other moments his skips part of the action and glosses over things character say. All of this is done with careful thought, so that the reader is guided through the story like the narrator lives his life. At no time, though, does the reader feel lost, just sufficiently jostled around. Challenging racial stereotypes and prejudices that people have a hard time shaking, WE CAST A SHADOW does what a good book should, entertains and charges the reader to reconsider their view on life. I highly recommend and look forward to reading more by Ruffin in the future. Thank you to Random House, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Talent pdf
Adequate Yearly Progress pdf
PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY pdf
Noble Man pdf
Orconomics pdf
Juicy pdf
A Study in Revenge pdf
Confessions of the Fox pdf
Tamburlaine pdf
The Truth About Goodbye pdf
A Dog pdf
A Thin Line Between Love and Lust pdf
Little Computer People pdf
He& pdf
The Girl From Scorpions Pass pdf
Between Two Packs pdf
The Party Planner pdf
Tags: B07CWHX97J pdf,We Cast a Shadow pdf,A Novel pdf,ebook,Maurice Carlos Ruffin,We Cast a Shadow: A Novel,One World,AFRICAN AMERICAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,African Americans,African Americans;Fiction.,FICTION / African American / General,FICTION / Literary,FICTION / Literary.,FICTION / Satire,FICTION / Satire.,Fiction,Fiction-Coming of Age,Fiction-Literary,Fiction/African American - General,Fiction/Satire,GENERAL,General Adult,United States,coming of age;race;survival;skin;medical books;obsession;parenting;African American fiction;African American books;self esteem;self love;shame;racism in America;contemporary American literature;American literature;father son relationship;love;funny;humorous;relationships;relationship;son;father;family life;family;African American literature;racism;futuristic;speculative fiction;contemporary literary fiction;contemporary fiction;literary fiction;African American;satire;literary;novels;fiction,contemporary American literature; American literature; father son relationship; love; funny; humorous; relationships; relationship; son; father; family life; family; African American literature; racism; futuristic; speculative fiction; contemporary literary fiction; contemporary fiction; literary fiction; African American; satire; literary; novels; fiction; racism in America; coming of age; race; survival; skin; medical books; obsession; parenting; African American fiction; African American books; self esteem; self love; shame,FICTION / African American / General,FICTION / Literary,FICTION / Satire,Fiction/African American - General,Fiction/Satire
0 Response to "We Cast a Shadow Pdf"
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.