A Different Drummer

‘This book is astonishingly great… It should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the United States as it was, as it is, and as it could be’ – NetGalley user

‘A Different Drummer was first published well over 50 years ago, but its themes and it message are no less relevant now than they were then’ – NetGalley user

*****

In 1962, aged just 24, William Melvin Kelley's debut novel A Different Drummer earned him critical comparisons to James Baldwin and William Faulkner.

Fifty-five years later, author and journalist Kathryn Schulz happened upon the novel serendipitously and was inspired to write the New Yorkerarticle 'The Lost Giant of American Literature', included as a foreword to this edition.

June, 1957. One afternoon, in the backwater town of Sutton, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the southern state. And thereafter, the entire African-American population leave with him.

The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a different white townsperson. These are boys, girls, men and women; either liberal or conservative, bigoted or sympathetic - yet all of whom are grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination.

A lost masterpiece republished for 2018, A Different Drummer is for readers who have been waiting for the next rediscovered classic.

‘Brilliant . . . The rare first novel that makes future ones seem both inevitable and exciting.’ - Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker

 ‘Kelley blended fantasy and fact to construct an alternative world whose sweep and complexity drew comparisons to James Joyce and William Faulkner.’ - New York Times

 ‘[A] masterpiece . . . Kelley wrote intricate novels that identified with the rejection of dominant social orders.’ - Public Books

 ‘Superbly written . . . a stunning work.’ - Kirkus