John Alfred Williams (1925–2015)

A fantastic novel that demands close attention. Complex characters, a plot that could be considered epic (or at least cinematic). A great comment on America, on writing, and on race. Williams has a number of good novels that are sadly overlooked. (He's also got a couple of stinkers, but who doesn't?) Check out !Click Song for more on black writers and the struggle to publish; This is My Country Too! for a fantastic look at american in the 60s; and Sissie, for a novel about family dynamics that plays with POV and voice.… (mais)

Ugh. one of Williams' misses -- and it misses hard. An attempt to celebrate the african american contribution to military experience turns into a repetative, shallow novel that has a few good moments overshadowed by a lack of real exploration. perhaps it was too ambitious to try and cover every war in US history? Perhaps, also, it fails to do some basic work in developing the characters (who change slightly in every war that the main character appears in). Williams seems uninterested in clearly informing the reader whether the main character simply appears in each conflict or if he lives through the times of peace in between. no one seems to notice/care that a modern man keeps showing up from nowhere.

In the end, it seems to all be a mortal-injury related dream. but by then it doesn't matter.… (mais)

A great piece of nonfiction from John Alfred Williams, an overlooked African American writer who has published 10 novels since the 60s. This is a travelogue of his journey across America for Holiday magazine. The result is fascinating and raw, without being overemotional. There is certainly anger about the treatment of the working classes, but also a close look at African Americans who have tried to disappear into middle class lives. Williams used some of this material to inform one of his later novels (I believe The Man Who Cried I Am where, in part of the novel, a film crew goes across country and runs into trouble in the south*.

All in all, this is a great read for anyone interested in the national mood of mid-60s America from an African American perspective. In some ways, it reminded me of John Steinbeck's Travel's With Charley, but I think this is better.

* This may actually be in !Click Song one of his other, very good novels -- but they are both about writers and I confuse them alot.… (mais)