A quietly influential force in African American literature and art,
Clarence Major makes his Penguin Classics debut with the
twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of Dirty Bird Blues
The PRH Audio book of Dirty Bird Blues by Clarence Major won a 2022
EARPHONE AWARD. Narrated by Dion Graham.
A Penguin Classic
Set in post-World War II Chicago and Omaha, the novel features Manfred
Banks, a young, harmonica-blowing blues singer who is always writing
music in his head. Torn between his friendships with fellow musicians
and nightclub life and his responsibilities to his wife and child, along
with the pressures of dealing with a racist America that assaults him at
every turn, Manfred seeks easy answers in "Dirty Bird" (Old Crow
whiskey) and in moving on. He moves to Omaha with hopes of better
opportunities as a blue-collar worker, but the blues in his soul and the
dreams in his mind keep bringing him back to face himself. After a
nightmarish descent into his own depths, Manfred emerges with fresh
awareness and possibility. Through Manfred, we witness and experience
the process by which modern American English has been vitalized and
strengthened by the poetry and the poignancy of the African-American
experience. As Manfred struggles with the oppressive constraints of
society and his private turmoil, his rich inner voice resonates with the
blues.
