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On 3 December 1976, just weeks before the general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play The Smile Jamaica concert to ease political tensions, seven gunmen from West Kingston stormed his house with machine guns blazing. Marley survived and went on to perform at the free concert, but the next day he left the country, and didn’t return for two years. Not much was recorded about the fate of the seven gunmen, but much has been said, whispered and sung about in the streets of West Kingston, with information surfacing at odd times, only to sink into rumour and misinformation.
Inspired by this near-mythic event, A Brief History of Seven Killings takes the form of an imagined oral biography, told by ghosts, slum children, killers, members of parliament, conmen, beauty queens, FBI and CIA agents, reporters, journalists, and even Keith Richards' drug dealer. Marlon James’s bold undertaking takes you deep into the slums of Kingston, traversing strange landscapes and shady characters, as motivations are examined – and questions asked – in this compelling novel of monumental scope and ambition.
From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes a masterfully written novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s.
On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert, gunmen stormed his house, machine guns blazing. The attack nearly killed the Reggae superstar, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Marley would go on to perform at the free concert on December 5, but he left the country the next day, not to return for two years.
Deftly spanning decades and continents and peopled with a wide range of characters—assassins, journalists, drug dealers, and even ghosts—A Brief History of Seven Killings is the fictional exploration of that dangerous and unstable time and its bloody aftermath, from the streets and slums of Kingston in the ‘70s, to the crack wars in ‘80s New York, to a radically altered Jamaica in the ‘90s. Brilliantly inventive and stunningly ambitious, this novel is a revealing modern epic that will secure Marlon James’ place among the great literary talents of his generation.
There are many more than seven killings in James’s (Dayton Literary Peace Prize winner for The Book of Night Women) epic chronicle of Jamaica’s turbulent past, but the centerpiece is the attempted assassination of Bob Marley on December 3, 1976. Through more than a dozen voices, that event is portrayed as the inevitable climax of a country shaken by gangs, poverty, and corruption. Even as the sweeping narrative continues into 1990s New York, the ripples of Jamaica’s violence are still felt by those who survived. James’s frenetic, jolting narrative is populated by government agents, ex-girlfriends, prisoners, gang members, journalists, and even ghosts. Memorable characters (and there are several) include John-John K, a hit man who is very good at his job; Papa-Lo, don of the Copenhagen City district of Kingston; and Josey Wales, who begins as Papa-Lo’s head enforcer but ends up being a major string-puller in the country’s most fateful events. Much of the conflict centers on the political rivalry of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), which involves everyone from the CIA (which comes off as perennially paranoid about “isms,” namely communism) to the lowest Jamaican gang foot soldier. The massive scope enables James to build an incredible, total history: Nina Burgess, who starts the book as a receptionist in Kingston and ends as a student nurse in the Bronx, inhabits four different identities over the course of 15 years. She is undoubtedly one of this year’s great characters. Upon finishing, the reader will have completed an indispensable and essential history of Jamaica’s troubled years. This novel should be required reading. (Oct.)
From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes an engrossing and richly detailed epic that explores the tumultuous world of Jamaica over three decades.
In A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James combines brilliant storytelling with his unrivaled skills of characterization and meticulous eye for detail, forging a novel of dazzling ambition and scope. A fictional exploration of the attempted 1976 assassination of reggae superstar Bob Marley and its bloody aftermath, A Brief History of Seven Killings delves deep into a dangerous and unstable time in Jamaica’s history and beyond. James deftly chronicles the lives of unforgettable characters—gunmen, drug dealers, former girlfriends, CIA agents, even ghosts—over the course of three decades as they roam the streets of 1970s Kingston, dominate the crack houses of 1980s New York, and ultimately re-emerge in the radically altered Jamaica of the 1990s. Along the way, they learn that evil does indeed cast long shadows, that justice and retribution are inextricably linked, and that no one can truly escape their fate.
Gripping and inventive, shocking and irresistible, A Brief History of Seven Killings is a triumph.
HAVE READ HIS OTHER BOOKS N LOVED THEM…SO I ANTICIPATE THAT THIS ONE WILL ALSO BE A WONDERFUL READ….DYING TO GET MI GALLEY…FI REAL….
Inspired by this near-mythic event, A Brief History of Seven Killings takes the form of an imagined oral biography, told by ghosts, slum children, killers, members of parliament, conmen, beauty queens, FBI and CIA agents, reporters, journalists, and even Keith Richards' drug dealer. Marlon James’s bold undertaking takes you deep into the slums of Kingston, traversing strange landscapes and shady characters, as motivations are examined – and questions asked – in this compelling novel of monumental scope and ambition.
From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes a masterfully written novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s.
On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert, gunmen stormed his house, machine guns blazing. The attack nearly killed the Reggae superstar, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Marley would go on to perform at the free concert on December 5, but he left the country the next day, not to return for two years.
Deftly spanning decades and continents and peopled with a wide range of characters—assassins, journalists, drug dealers, and even ghosts—A Brief History of Seven Killings is the fictional exploration of that dangerous and unstable time and its bloody aftermath, from the streets and slums of Kingston in the ‘70s, to the crack wars in ‘80s New York, to a radically altered Jamaica in the ‘90s. Brilliantly inventive and stunningly ambitious, this novel is a revealing modern epic that will secure Marlon James’ place among the great literary talents of his generation.
There are many more than seven killings in James’s (Dayton Literary Peace Prize winner for The Book of Night Women) epic chronicle of Jamaica’s turbulent past, but the centerpiece is the attempted assassination of Bob Marley on December 3, 1976. Through more than a dozen voices, that event is portrayed as the inevitable climax of a country shaken by gangs, poverty, and corruption. Even as the sweeping narrative continues into 1990s New York, the ripples of Jamaica’s violence are still felt by those who survived. James’s frenetic, jolting narrative is populated by government agents, ex-girlfriends, prisoners, gang members, journalists, and even ghosts. Memorable characters (and there are several) include John-John K, a hit man who is very good at his job; Papa-Lo, don of the Copenhagen City district of Kingston; and Josey Wales, who begins as Papa-Lo’s head enforcer but ends up being a major string-puller in the country’s most fateful events. Much of the conflict centers on the political rivalry of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), which involves everyone from the CIA (which comes off as perennially paranoid about “isms,” namely communism) to the lowest Jamaican gang foot soldier. The massive scope enables James to build an incredible, total history: Nina Burgess, who starts the book as a receptionist in Kingston and ends as a student nurse in the Bronx, inhabits four different identities over the course of 15 years. She is undoubtedly one of this year’s great characters. Upon finishing, the reader will have completed an indispensable and essential history of Jamaica’s troubled years. This novel should be required reading. (Oct.)
From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes an engrossing and richly detailed epic that explores the tumultuous world of Jamaica over three decades.
In A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James combines brilliant storytelling with his unrivaled skills of characterization and meticulous eye for detail, forging a novel of dazzling ambition and scope. A fictional exploration of the attempted 1976 assassination of reggae superstar Bob Marley and its bloody aftermath, A Brief History of Seven Killings delves deep into a dangerous and unstable time in Jamaica’s history and beyond. James deftly chronicles the lives of unforgettable characters—gunmen, drug dealers, former girlfriends, CIA agents, even ghosts—over the course of three decades as they roam the streets of 1970s Kingston, dominate the crack houses of 1980s New York, and ultimately re-emerge in the radically altered Jamaica of the 1990s. Along the way, they learn that evil does indeed cast long shadows, that justice and retribution are inextricably linked, and that no one can truly escape their fate.
Gripping and inventive, shocking and irresistible, A Brief History of Seven Killings is a triumph.
HAVE READ HIS OTHER BOOKS N LOVED THEM…SO I ANTICIPATE THAT THIS ONE WILL ALSO BE A WONDERFUL READ….DYING TO GET MI GALLEY…FI REAL….