Dirty Bird Blues [Paperback]

Clarence Major (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1997

An African-American blues musician and blue-collar worker, Manfred Banks confronts the trials of family, friends, racism, and the lure of the bottle in early 1950s Chicago. Reprint. AB. "

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Clarence Major is an avant-garde novelist, short-story writer, and poet known for his bold experiments with language and style. What many don't know, however, is that Major can be a fine storyteller, capable of bringing his formidable talents to more conventional narrative forms as in this novel. This is the story of Manfred Banks, a blues musician in the early 1950s. We follow Man, as he's nicknamed, as he tries to woo his estranged wife, Cleo, as he struggles to make a living playing his music in Chicago, and then leaves for Omaha, where he finds work in a steel mill, and a weekend gig playing in a bar. When Cleo rejoins him things look as if they are finally coming together, but this is the kind of man for whom the blues line "if it wasn't for no luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all" was written. Major has written a fine, compelling novel, with language and characters as rich as the blues songs that are its inspiration.

From Publishers Weekly

In postwar Chicago, an African American man crawls in through a stranger's window from the fire escape, in the process getting a belly full of buckshot. But the situation is not what you might assume. Manfred is a blues singer and father whose wife has run off with the preacher (the wielder of the shotgun). Man's a good fellow, but weak, with no-account buddies like the guitar-picker Solly and a predilection for Old Crow bourbon (the dirty bird of the title). Not that Man doesn't try to set himself right now and again. After walking himself to the hospital?with a pause to help out an abused wife?and wallowing for a few weeks in self-pity, he bids a rollicking goodbye to his wife, Cleo, and abandons Chicago for Omaha, where his sister and a more sober life await. There, he finds work as a welder. Although he doesn't quite quit the booze, he convinces Cleo to join him. Things are looking up, but trouble?in the form of Solly?follows, and Man gets fired. Soon, it's a toss-up whether he will dry out and keep his family together or become a carbon copy of his abusive father. In his first novel in eight years, Major (Painted Turtle: Woman with Guitar) cleverly demonstrates the pervasive racism that's part of the black experience. He's a rhythmic writer with a good ear for the music of the American vernacular. Although the blues refrains that run through Man's mind ring more calculated, and hence annoying, than true, the choices this flawed hero must make are compelling and weighty. The result is a novel that's moving?and highly enjoyable.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425159035
• ISBN-13: 978-0425159033
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,626,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor Drunken Hearted Man, November 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dirty Bird Blues (Hardcover)

Bluesman Manfred Banks is trying to pursue his dream of being a singer and harmonica-player while living up to his responsibilities as a husband and father. Complicating his efforts to walk the straight and narrow are his addiction to booze (the "dirty bird") and the sometimes destructive influence of his friend and musical partner Solly. In describing Man's struggles with both the racist society that attempts to strip him of his dignity and his own inner demons, the author demonstrates his mastery of a rich and poetic prose style that is steeped in the sound and imagery of the blues. This is a fine evocation of African-American life in the American midwest in the middle of the twentieth century.

5.0 out of 5 stars Major Talent, April 8, 2005

By 

str8up (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Bird Blues (Hardcover)

Excellent from cover to cover. Takes you inside the mind of a hard-luck blues musician in 1950. Clarence Major's way with words is nothing short of astonishing.

5.0 out of 5 stars A shot of blues, January 14, 2004

By 

"dubeb" (Sanford, Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Bird Blues (Paperback)

Why is this out of print? Excellent read. I'm looking for more of his novels.