At his death in 1994, Ralph Ellison left behind roughly two thousand pages of his unfinished second novel, which he had spent nearly four decades writing. Long awaited, it was to have been the work Ellison intended to follow his masterpiece, Invisible Man. Five years later, Random House published Juneteenth, drawn from the central narrative of Ellison's unfinished epic. Three Days Before the Shooting . . . gathers together in one volume, for the first time, all the parts of that planned opus, including three major ...
Read More
At his death in 1994, Ralph Ellison left behind roughly two thousand pages of his unfinished second novel, which he had spent nearly four decades writing. Long awaited, it was to have been the work Ellison intended to follow his masterpiece, Invisible Man. Five years later, Random House published Juneteenth, drawn from the central narrative of Ellison's unfinished epic. Three Days Before the Shooting . . . gathers together in one volume, for the first time, all the parts of that planned opus, including three major sequences never before published. Set in the frame of a deathbed vigil, the story is a gripping multigenerational saga centered on the assassination of the controversial, race-baiting U.S. senator Adam Sunraider, who's being tended to by "Daddy" Hickman, the elderly black jazz musician turned preacher who raised the orphan Sunraider as a light-skinned black in rural Georgia. Presented in their unexpurgated, provisional state, the narrative sequences form a deeply poetic, moving, and profoundly entertaining book, brimming with humor and tension, composed in Ellison's magical jazz-inspired prose style and marked by his incomparable ear for vernacular speech. Beyond its richly compelling narratives, Three Days Before the Shooting . . . is perhaps most notable for its extraordinary insight into the creative process of one of this country's greatest writers. In various stages of composition and revision, its typescripts and computer files testify to Ellison's achievement and struggle with his material from the mid-1950s until his death forty years later. Three Days Before the Shooting . . . is an essential, fascinating piece of Ralph Ellison's legacy, and its publication is to be welcomed as a major event for American arts and letters.
Read Less
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $8.71, good condition, Sold by Books For Life rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Laurel, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Book is in good condition. Minimal signs of wear. It May have markings or highlights but kept to only a few pages. May not come with supplemental materials if applicable.
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $9.19, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $13.20, fair condition, Sold by BayStateBooks rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Smithfield, RI, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. The book is complete and readable with all pages and cover intact. Dust jacket shrink wrap or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may have light notes highlighting or minor water exposure but nothing that affects readability. May be an ex-library copy and could include library markings or stickers.
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting...(Modern Library) to cart. $15.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $32.40, good condition, Sold by Robinson Street Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Binghamton, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Used: Good. Size: 9x6x2; Prompt shipment, with tracking. we ship in CLEAN SECURE boxes Contemporary Fiction: GOOD EX-LIBRARY HARDCOVER WITH DUST JACKET, POCKET STAMPS AND LABELS. CLEAN PAGES. PROMPT SHIPPING WITH TRACKING. DUST JACKET GLUED TO BOARD.
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $42.28, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $70.00, like new condition, Sold by J Mercurio Books Maps & Prints rated 1.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Garrison, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $71.91, new condition, Sold by Just one more Chapter rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Miramar, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
Add this copy of Three Days Before the Shooting... to cart. $131.76, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Modern Library.
I've read the chapters of the book that are the fragments of the unfinished Ellison 2nd novel, comprising about half of the 1100 pages here. (The rest include some other Ellison writings and explanations of the research done by the two editors) Ellison's unique writing style is on display, but I'm afraid that some of it, without a true story holding it all together, gets a bit ponderous to read - some of the reverie and flashback segments are virtually incomprehensible to this reader with respect to the plot. You can tell he struggled to figure out how the story would finally come together since a) he rewrote several sections multiple times and b) he worked on this thing for over 40 years. I'm glad I had the chance to read it, but doubtful it will ever get a second read.
