DIRTY BIRD BLUES

A classic blues novel of 1950s America, here in Penguin Classic 25th anniversary edition. Set in Chicago and Omaha, the novel features Manfred Banks called 'Man', a young harmonica-blowing blues singer who creates colourful and amazing music. Painfully torn between his friendship with fellow musician Solly and his great love for and a responsibility to his beautiful wife Cleo and daughter Karina, while struggling with the constraints of racist America, Man seeks relief in 'Dirty Bird' whiskey. He also relocates to Omaha with hopes of better opportunities as a blue-collar worker and singer, but the blues in his heart and mind keep bringing him back to face himself. After a nightmarish descent into his own troubled depths of alcoholism, Man emerges with fresh awareness of possibility of renewal. He faces responsibilities to the rhythm and rhyme of his lyrics that groove a hollow in his mind and his family, and beneath both is the awful grinding racism he meets daily on the streets which pluck opportunity from his grasp. One of the most influential novels and an extraordinary portrayal of 20th century Black reality, and also an ode to the richness and power of blues music. 288 page paperback. Small remainder mark.