{"product_id":"a-gathering-of-old-men-by-ernest-j-gaines","title":"'A Gathering of Old Men' by Ernest J. Gaines","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"47\" data-end=\"577\"\u003eErnest J. Gaines’s \u003cem data-start=\"66\" data-end=\"90\"\u003eA Gathering of Old Men\u003c\/em\u003e is a powerful Southern novel about race, memory, courage, and the long pressure of history finally finding a voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"47\" data-end=\"577\"\u003eSet on a Louisiana plantation, the novel begins after a white man is shot dead and an elderly Black man is presumed responsible. But instead of allowing one person to be isolated and punished, a group of old Black men gather at the scene, each claiming responsibility, each carrying decades of humiliation, violence, silence, labour, and fear into one charged afternoon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"579\" data-end=\"1211\"\u003eThe brilliance of the book is in that collective structure: one death opens onto many lives, and what first looks like a murder story becomes something stranger and more politically alive. Gaines writes about the afterlife of slavery, Jim Crow, masculinity, land, grief, shame, and dignity without turning anyone into a symbol first and a person second. The novel has heat, tension, tenderness, and a deep moral patience. A strong one for readers of Southern fiction, African American literature, Faulkner, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Jesmyn Ward, and novels where a community has to decide what kind of courage is still possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1213\" data-end=\"1489\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst Vintage Contemporaries edition, July 1992. Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1983, with portions previously appearing in \u003cem data-start=\"1377\" data-end=\"1392\"\u003eBlack Scholar\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem data-start=\"1397\" data-end=\"1413\"\u003eGeorgia Review\u003c\/em\u003e. Good second-hand condition, with light handling and shelfwear.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45685358657619,"sku":null,"price":16.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/thebowerbooker_54.png?v=1781078519","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/a-gathering-of-old-men-by-ernest-j-gaines","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}