The Best in Blues Fiction

Anthology of popular fiction writers using the blues as a powerful story-telling theme. The blues is a feeling. The blues is a way of life. It is also the kind of music that has inspired countless writers over many years. The stories in Best in Blues Fiction are infused with the spirit of the blues; the characters invariably are blues musicians themselves or are somehow enmeshed in the world of the blues. This collection contains excerpts from novels and short stories by major African-American writers and contemporary wordsmiths. The stories evoke another place and time, of jook joints and larger-than-life characters and the mysterious goings-on at deserted crossroads at the toll of midnight. The spirit of classic bluesmen such as Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Muddy Waters fills its pages. The power of the storytelling presented here matches the power of the music itself. Twenty-four stories include: James Baldwin - "Going to Meet the Man" William Faulkner - "That Evening Sun" Peter Guralnick - "Nighthawk Blues" Pete Hamill - "A Blues for Yukido" Langston Hughes - "The Blues I'm Playing" Albert Murray - "Train Whistle Guitar" Tom Piazza - "Charly Patton" Alice Walker - "1955"