num_pages: 400
description: Colson Whitehead’s eagerly awaited and triumphantly acclaimed new novel is on one level a multifaceted retelling of the story of John Henry, the black steel-driver who died outracing a machine designed to replace him. On another level it’s the story of a disaffected, middle-aged black journalist on a mission to set a record for junketeering who attends the annual John Henry Days festival. It is also a high-velocity thrill ride through the tunnel where American legend gives way to American pop culture, replete with p. r. flacks, stamp collectors, blues men , and turn-of-the-century song pluggers. John Henry Days is an acrobatic, intellectually dazzling, and laugh-out-loud funny book that will be read and talked about for years to come.
language: English
title: John Henry Days
titlecomplete: John Henry Days
characters: John Henry
genres: Americana, Historical Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction, Novels, Literature, Race, African American, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 3037
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: Anchor