Random House USA Inc Beetlecreek: A Novel

"A rediscovered classic of Black American literature first published in 1950, about an unlikely friendship in a West Virginia town After several years of silence and seclusion in Beetlecreek's black quarter, a retired carnival worker named Bill Trapp befriends Johnny Johnson, a Pittsburgh teenager living with relatives in Beetlecreek. Bill is white. Johnny is black. Both are searching for acceptance, something that will give meaning to their lives. Bill tries to find it through goodwill in the community.Johnny finds it in the Nightriders, a local gang. David Diggs, Johnny's dispirited uncle, aspires to be an artist but has to settle for sign painting. David and Johnny's new friendship with Bill kindles hope that their lives will get better. David's marriage has failed; his wife's shallow faith serves as her outlet from racial and financial oppression. As the church society's Fall Festival approaches, the battle between the repressive small town and the aspirations of its trapped inhabitants come to a nail-biting head. First published in 1950, Beetlecreek stands as a moving condemnation of provincialism and fundamentalism. Both a critique of racial hypocrisy and a new direction for the African American novel, it occupies fresh territory that is neither the gritty realism of Richard Wright nor the ironic modernism of Ralph Ellison"-- Provided by publisher. A rediscovered "masterpiece" (Kirkus) of Black American literature first published in 1950, about an unlikely friendship in a West Virginia townAfter several years of seclusion in the Black quarter of Beetlecreek, West Virginia, in the precarious 1930s, a retired carnival worker named Bill Trapp strikes up a chance friendship with Johnny Johnson, a Pittsburgh teenager transplanted into his uncle’s home. Bill is white. Johnny is Black. Both are searching for something that will give meaning to their lives. While Bill tries to court favor in the community, Johnny joins a local gang; meanwhile, their new friendship kindles hope that there is something for each of them beyond the bounds of Beetlecreek. But as the church society’s Fall Festival approaches, the battle between the repressive town and the aspirations of its trapped inhabitants comes to a nail-biting head.First published in 1950, Beetlecreek stands as a moving condemnation of provincialism and fundamentalism, and a classic of Black American literature. Both a critique of racial hypocrisy and a new direction for the African American novel, it occupied fresh territory for its time: neither the gritty realism of Richard Wright nor the ironic modernism of Ralph Ellison. Autorid: William Demby