num_pages: 604
description: Upon publication of his debut novel, , Colson Whitehead was hailed as one of the most talented young writers of his generation. Whitehead provides further proof of his gifts with this powerful retelling of the legend of John Henry, the mythic 19th-century black laborer who won a contest with a steam drill -- only to drop dead from exhaustion moments later. Running parallel to the legend is the contemporary tale of J. Sutter, a young black journalist stifled by the Digital Age as forcefully as John Henry was beaten down by the Industrial Revolution.
language: English
title: John Henry Days: A Novel
titlecomplete: John Henry Days: A Novel
characters: John Henry
genres: Fiction, Historical, Americana, Literature, Novels, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Race, African American
ratings_count: 3042
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 978336000000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc