Customer Reviews

The Seven League Boots

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Is Albert Murray the best living black author? Since Ralph Ellison (a friend of Murray's at Tuskeegee) died there has not a been a black author who has shown more insight, wit, and stylistic virtuosity than Murray. The Seven League boots is a fitting end to a trilogy of novels about Scooter, and again this book is a showcase for Murray's down-home mix of Joyce, Faulkner, and Duke Ellington poetics. In a book that warmly and humorously examines that ever-present rift between expectations and personal dreams, Murray never manages to drift into cliche. Much like the jazz music which forms the roots of both his style and his life, Murray confronts the demons of existance with the sound of surprise and wit. By an author who is far too overlooked, the Seven League Boots is a necessity for a lover of modern literature.

This is a mythical, mystical journey that deserves to be read and re-read for all time. A brilliant piece of genius which will bring many smiles, almost every paragraph demands re-reading to soak in the marvellous texture of the words.

The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) awarded author Albert Murray the 1997 Outstanding Contribution to African American Literature citation. The awards recognize excellence in adult fiction and nonfiction by African American authors. "It is said that Albert Murray has married American prose to American jazz."

A well written piece of fiction, further exploring Murray's racist version of the history of jazz.