BANJO - Softcover

MCKAY, CLAUDE

3.47

488 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846686342 ISBN 13: 9781846686344

Publisher: Serpent's Tail, 2008

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Lincoln Agrippa Daily, known to his drifter cohorts on the 1920s Marseille waterfront as 'Banjo', passes his days panhandling and dreaming of starting his own little band. At night Banjo, Malty, Ginger, Dengel, Bugsy, Taloufa, Goosey, and even Jake of Home to Harlem prowl the rough waterfront bistros, drinking, looking for women, playing music, fighting, loving, and talking - about their homes in Senegal, the West Indies, or the American South; about Garvey's Back-to-Africa Movement; about being black. When Ray, a writer, joins the group, it triggers his rediscovery of his African roots and his feeling that, at last, he belongs to a race,?weighed, tested and poised in the universal scheme?.

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Review:

An unforgettable picture of waterfront life in Marseilles (The Nation)

A vigorous and full-blooded piece of writing...extraordinarily well done...packed with incident (Times Literary Supplement)

This lively, invigorating read paints a vivid picture of 1920s France. (Amina Taylor Pride 2008-12-01)

[A]n interesting and vibrant piece of writing which has withstood the test of time. (Steve Andrew Morning Star 2008-12-08)

Banjo deals with race, politics and African identity but never in a heavy-handed way...Fascinating stuff. (Doug Johnstone The List 2008-12-11)

A picaresque, politicised novel pulsing with life (Claire Allfree Metro 2009-01-22)

From the Back Cover:

'A true pioneer of literary transnationalism ... McKay is a writer who understood that for a great number of twentieth century people, "imaginary homelands" are often more real than the places they presently inhabit. Nowhere is this engagement with "home" and longing, and belonging, more dynamically demonstrated than in his great "French" novel, Banjo.' - Caryl Phyllips Lincoln Agrippa Daily, known to his drifter cohorts on the 1920s Marseille waterfront as Banjo, passes his days panhandling and dreaming of starting his own little band. At night Banjo and his buddies prowl the rough waterfront bistros, drinking, looking for women, playing music, fighting, loving, and talking - about their homes in Senegal, the West Indies, or the American South; about Garvey's Back-to-Africa Movement; about being black.When Ray, a writer, joins the group, it triggers Banjo's rediscovery of his African roots and his feeling that, at last, he belongs to a race weighted, tested and poised in the universal scheme. 'A vigorous and full-blooded piece of writing ... extraordinaril well done ... packed with incident' Times Literary Supplement

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