Mosquito: 9 (Bluestreak) - Softcover

Jones, Gayl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080708347X ISBN 13: 9780807083475

Publisher: Beacon Press, 2000

Synopsis

"Bury those easy-to-read Black romance books. Mosquito is where African-American literature is heading as we approach the twenty-first century." -E. Ethelbert Miller, Emerge "If you're acquainted with the lyrical tug of Alice Walker's The Color Purple, then you'll find something familiar and compelling about the narrative voice in Gayl Jones's newest novel, Mosquito. . . . Mosquito's voice is melodic, direct, and so conversational that it hooks us immediately and makes us surrender fully to the narrative. . . . To be sure, these observations crackle with wit and a joyful, almost child-like candor." -Quinn Eli, Philadelphia Inquirer "Gayl Jones is the black writer we all want to be when we grow up . . . Mosquito is Gayl Jones unbound, but certainly not untethered nor without her still prodigious storehouses of language, craft, and storytelling prowess." -Greg Tate, Voice Literary Supplement "Mosquito will amuse and confuse and instruct and pique and exhaust you. Sometimes the anecdotes are so good you call up friends to share them. There are a hundred times you want to shout, 'Right on!'" -Sandra Scofield, Chicago Tribune "Most apparent and most surprising, is Jones's sense of humor. When she's at her best, her sly, subversive wit echoes Ishmael Reed at his most sarcastic." -Jabari Asim, Washington Post Book World "Undoubtedly a literary tour de force." -James A. Miller, Boston Globe Gayl Jones was born in Kentucky in 1949. She attended Connecticut College and Brown University; she has taught at Wellesley and the University of Michigan. Her critically acclaimed books include Corregidora, Eva's Man, White Rat, Song for Anninho, Liberating Voices: Oral Tradition in African American Literature, and The Healing, a National Book Award finalist.

About this title

Review:

If you're acquainted with the lyrical tug of Alice Walker's The Color Purple, then you'll find something familiar and compelling about the narrative voice in Gayl Jones's newest novel, Mosquito. . . . Mosquito's voice is melodic, direct, and so conversational that it hooks us immediately and makes us surrender fully to the narrative. . . . To be sure, these observations crackle with wit and a joyful, almost child-like candor.--Quinn Eli, Philadelphia Inquirer

"Gayl Jones is the black writer we all want to be when we grow up . . . Mosquito is Gayl Jones unbound, but certainly not untethered nor without her still prodigious storehouses of language, craft, and storytelling prowess."--Greg Tate, Voice Literary Supplement

"Mosquito will amuse and confuse and instruct and pique and exhaust you. Sometimes the anecdotes are so good you call up friends to share them. There are a hundred times you want to shout, 'Right on!'"--Sandra Scofield, Chicago Tribune

"Most apparent and most surprising, is Jones's sense of humor. When she's at her best, her sly, subversive wit echoes Ishmael Reed at his most sarcastic."--Jabari Asim, Washington Post Book World

"Undoubtedly a literary tour de force."--James A. Miller, Boston Globe

From the Publisher:

Praise for Mosquito
"Her most ambitious novel to date. . . . Gayl Jones has written a novel that bears legitimate mention both in the gravity of its themes and virtuosity of its execution, with a classic of African-American literature written some 50 years ago, Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man'. That is high praise indeed, but not, in this instance unmerited." --Newark Star-Ledger (January 1999)

"Mosquito, opinionated, talkative perhaps to fault, always recalls herself to the story of sanctuary in contemporary America and makes that thread well worth finding again." --San Diego Union-Tribune (January 1999)

"By turns exhausting and exhilarating, 'Mosquito' is a stunning glimpse into one woman's search for her place in the cosmos. Highly recommended." --Library Journal (January 1999)

"Jones's ability to create bizarre yet believable characters is magical, requiring a subtle act of faith between writer and reader. . . . The command of language is spectactular, as is the breadth of knowledge and allusions." --Jill Nelson, The Nation

About this edition

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 080708347X
• ISBN 13: 9780807083475
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 624