On Becoming an American Writer
ByPublisher Description
—Jerald Walker, author of How to Make a Slave
“Powerfully written and provocative, with subtle but pointed polemics often in play.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“McPherson was a gifted outlier, and his essays shine with intuitive, canny, unironic, sometimes raw, sometimes disorderly brilliance.”
—Richard Ford, author of Independence Day
“I wish I could send a copy of this extraordinary book to everyone I hve ever met—and to everyone I have yet to meet.”
—Francine Prose, author of Vixen
“A writer of insight, sympathy, and humor and one of the most gifted young Americans I’ve had the privilege to read.”
—Ralph Ellison
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesOn Becoming an American Writer Reviews
James Duncan
Created 11 months agoJason Campbell
Created over 2 years agoAbout James Alan McPherson
James Alan McPherson was an essayist and fiction writer, the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Born in Savannah, Georgia and a graduate of Harvard Law School, McPherson was a contributor to The Atlantic, Esquire, Playboy, and many other publications. A professor emeritus at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Mr. McPherson died in 2016.
Anthony Walton
Anthony Walton is a poet and author of Mississippi: An American Journey. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Oxford American, and many other journals. He has also co-authored books with the Reverand Al Sharpton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Mr. Walton currently lives in Maine
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