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The Critical Response to Ishmael Reed
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Bruce Allen Dick, Pavel Zemliansky
Book Code: GR0025
ISBN: 0-313-30025-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-30025-7
304 pages
Greenwood Press
Publication: 2/28/1999
List Price: $101.95 (UK Sterling Price: £57.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: Critical Responses in Arts and Letters
Series Number: 31
Reviews:
  • This work should have strong appeal to both new readers and those already familiar with Reed's work. Accessible and engaging, the volume adds an important dimension to the growing body of Reed scholarship and is highly recommended for all collections.
    —Choice
Description: Since the publication of his first novel, The Free-Lance Pallbearers, in 1967, Ishmael Reed has emerged as one of the most innovative and controversial African American writers. Despite his belief that he and other black male artists have been misrepresented and virtually ignored in the press, he has received more critical attention than almost any other contemporary African American male author. The majority of this criticism has studied Reed's literary innovations and what he once called his "Neo-HooDoo" aesthetic, which draws on satire and parody, comedy and fantasy, African and African American religion, and myth, history, film, and various other elements of popular culture. Since the 1970s, many articles and reviews have looked at his commitment to multiculturalism, while others have examined his views on gender and how they help define his position in the literary world. This volume chronicles the critical response to Reed's works. Organized by decades, the book centers primarily on Reed's nine published novels. It contains book reviews and essays devoted to these novels, as well as a recent interview in which Reed discusses his works in progress, including Making a Killing, a novel about the O.J. Simpson trial. While Reed has attained success as a poet and social critic, his novels continue to attract most of the attention. These include a science fiction fantasy, a western, two mysteries, a neo-slave narrative, two political parodies, a trickster tale about contemporary race and gender issues, and a satire on modern academia. The reaction to his works varies from ridicule and condemnation to respect and high praise. A substantial introduction overviews the response to his works, and a chronology lists the major events in his life and career. The volume concludes with extensive bibliographical information.
Table of Contents:
  • Series Foreword by Cameron Northouse
  • Introduction
  • 1960s
  • The Free-Lance Pallbearers (1967)
  • Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down (1969)
  • 1970s
  • Mumbo Jumbo (1972)
  • The Last Days of Louisiana Red (1974)
  • Flight to Canada (1976)
  • 1980s
  • The Terrible Twos (1982)
  • Reckless Eyeballing (1986)
  • The Terrible Threes (1988)
  • 1990s
  • Japanese by Spring (1993)
  • Overview
  • Selected Bibliography
  • Index
LC Card Number: 98-31018
LCC Class: PS3568
Dewey Class: 813
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