Private investigator Papa La Bas tries to put an end to the psychological stress threatening human life
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Funky, hip, and cool . . . The language is re-cycled garbage that sometimes, amazingly, becomes poetry and almost always is authentic, alive.
This is a very alive novel of living folklore; sometimes Reed's prose feels like walking through a field teeming with wild game which jumps out from under your feet.
Reed at his bravura best in the use of language and parody.
This novel disguised as a verbal comic strip is brilliant and funny.
A tangle of allusions, an allegorical puzzle that keeps the mind on its toes . . . Mr. Reed exercises in jokes and wisecracks, scholarship and satire. All of which makes for a frenetic form of vaudeville show.
Ishmael Reed has a shrewd eye, a mean ear, a nasty tongue . . . He attacks self-serving hypocrisy wherever he finds it . . . We may be horrified or amused or both. But we are too fascinated to go away.
Reed can hardly be accused of eye rolling and cakewalking for his supper. His angers and resentments are sheathed in intelligence, learning, scatological wit and showmanship. One thinks of Redd Foxx ...more before he was Sanfordized . . . Reed's approach to the novel is not unlike a Dixieland band's approach to music: a native American diversity that adds up to a unified style authentic and endlessly fresh.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Missing dust jacket; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0394491882I5N01
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0394491882I3N10
Seller: Easy Chair Books, Lexington, MO, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First Edition. Light discoloring and wear; a solid book. Stamp inside from previous owner, John Domini, author and critic. There are marks and underlining, some in ink, from him throughout. The jacket has light wear, yellowing; good otherwise. Quantity Available: 1. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 0394491882. ISBN/EAN: 9780394491882. Inventory No: 231822. Seller Inventory # 231822
Seller: Du Bois Book Center, Englewood, NJ, U.S.A.
Cloth. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+++. First Edition. 179pp. Red lining papers. Red cloth spine with bright gilt title on spine and red paper over boards with metallic red title on front board. Red top edges. Pc red and yellow decorative Dust Jacket. Ex library copy with usual scars. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Ex-Library. Seller Inventory # 000683
Seller: Hourglass Books, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good, Not Price Clipped. American First. First edition, first printing as evidenced by a complete number line from 2 to 9 with the words First Edition printed underneath in Random House style; some edge wear to boards and dust jacket; a few watermarks on top edge; one crease on front dust jacket flap; otherwise a solid, clean copy in collectible condition. Book. Seller Inventory # 004105
Seller: MyLibraryMarket, Waynesville, OH, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. ***please read*** no marks on text - DJ inside a mylar sleeve - my shelf location 22-F-8*. Seller Inventory # 200623024
Seller: Lowry's Books, Three Rivers, MI, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. This first edition has little corner bumping or edge wear. Clipped DJ has some light rubbing, wear. Interior text has darkened with age, clean and tight in binding, Seller Inventory # 605536
Seller: Du Bois Book Center, Englewood, NJ, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 179pp. Red lining papers. Red paper and cloth boards with with bright title and gilt title on spine. Pictorial Dust Jacket with title and title on spine panel. Seller Inventory # 2256
Seller: zenosbooks, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
hardcover. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. First Edition. New York. 1974. October 1974. Random House. 1st American Edition. Previous Owner's Name Penned in Front, Otherwise Very Good in Faded Dustjacket. 0394491882. 179 pages. hardcover. Cover design suggested by Ishmael Reed. keywords: African American America Literature. DESCRIPTION - Louisiana Red is more than just Tabasco's chief rival. Not only will it burn your tongue, it can kill as well. All over the Americas people do each other in because they are full of Louisiana Red, which causes them to slam the door, fly off at the handle and feel the need to cut somebody. After the murder of a 'Business' associate who made an eloquent attempt to put Louisiana Red into its Last Days where it belongs, Papa LaBas, private eye and noonday HooDoo travels to Berkeley, California, 'The City of Many Churches, 'and runs right smack into Louisiana Red and its physical incarnation, Minnie the Moocher, an old rival. Will old Louisiana Red, this hot-headed, red-eyed monster which provokes people to harm each other over a hamburger, prevail? Or will Papa LaBas once again break the case wide open by Using his customary techniques of taking a long shot, dropping hints, planting leaks and sending out feelers? It's an eternal question. inventory #12533 Previous Owner's Name Penned in Front, Otherwise Very Good in Faded Dustjacket. Seller Inventory # z12533
Seller: Glands of Destiny First Edition Books, Sedro Woolley, WA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Publisher: Random House, NY, 1974. First Edition, First Printing. FINE- hardcover book in FINE- dust-jacket. A previous owner's name faintly rubber stamped atop front free end paper. Tiny bit of shelf rub on rear. Not remaindered marked. Not price-clipped. Not a book club edition. Not an ex-library copy. All of our books with dust-jackets are shipped in fresh, archival-safe mylar protective sleeves. Seller Inventory # SKU1023418