The Known World
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
From Edward P. Jones comes one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory—winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.
The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order, and chaos ensues.
Edward P. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.
"A masterpiece that deserves a place in the American literary canon."—Time
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Level 5.8, 22 Points
Edward P. Jones. (2009). The Known World. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Edward P. Jones. 2009. The Known World. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Edward P. Jones, The Known World. HarperCollins, 2009.
MLA Citation (style guide)Edward P. Jones. The Known World. HarperCollins, 2009.
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 2 | 2 |
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Edward P. Jones, the New York Times bestselling author, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, for fiction, the National Book Critics Circle award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Lannan Literary Award for The Known World; he also received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2004. His first collection of stories, Lost in the City, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was short listed for the National Book Award. His second collection, All Aunt Hagar's Children, was a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award. He has been an instructor of fiction writing at a range of universities, including Princeton. He lives in Washington, D.C.
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From Edward P. Jones comes one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory—winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.
The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order, and chaos ensues.
Edward P. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.
"A masterpiece that deserves a place in the American literary canon."—Time
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"Jones has written a book of tremendous moral intricacy." — The New Yorker
"A masterpiece that deserves a place in the American literary canon." — Time
"Breathtaking....A fascinating counterweight to Toni Morrison's Beloved....It is essential reading." — Entertainment Weekly
" An exemplar of historical fiction. . . [it] will subdue your preconceptions, enrich your perceptions and trouble your sleep.. . .The way Jones tells this story. . .recalls Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez." — Newsday
" An exemplar of historical fiction. . . [it] will subdue your preconceptions, enrich your perceptions and trouble your sleep.. . .The way Jones tells this story. . .recalls Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez." — Starred Library Journal
"Astonishingly rich. . .The particulars and consequences of the 'right' of humans to own other humans are dramatized with unprecedented ingenuity and intensity, in a harrowing tale that scarcely ever raises its voice. . . . It should be a major prize contender." — Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"A stunning debut novel." — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Fascinating...poignant....[A] complex and fine novel." — Baltimore Sun
"A strong, intricate, daring book by a writer of deep compassion and uncommon gifts." — Peter Matthiessen
"Stunning....His first novel is...likely to win acclaim." — New York Times
"If Jones. . .keeps up this level of work, he'll equal the best fiction Toni Morrison has written about being black in America." — Speakeasy
"One of those rare works of fiction that both wound and heal." — O Magazine
"'The Known World' is a great novel, one that may eventually be placed with the best of American Literature." — San Diego Union-Tribune
"Heartbreaking....fascinating." — Newsweek
"Brilliant....Glorious....[The Known World] belongs on the shelf with other classics of slavery, like Toni Morrison's "Beloved." — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Fascinating . . .There is grief and fear, genuine affection an envy in this complex and fine novel." — Philadelphia Inquirer
"A major achievement." — Time Out New York
"Extraordinary.....Nothing...quite prepares readers for the imaginative leaps and technical prowess of 'The Known World.'" — Seattle Times
"A profoundly beautiful and insightful look at American slavery and human nature." — Booklist (starred)
"Vivid....[An] epic novel." — Book Magazine
"Beautifully written . . .[it] ought to enjoy the massive readership that Charles Frazier's runaway hit, Cold Mountain did." — USA Today
"Brilliant...Jones' novel movingly evokes one small landscape of a larger map that so stubbornly yields up its truths today" — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Stunning....Pitch-perfect....Too much cannot be said about Mr. Jones gifts as a storyteller and a stylist." — The Washington Times
"Once you start the book you are hooked....Consider this novel necessary reading." — Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"This...magical novel will touch you in a profound way." — People (4-Starred Critic's...
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August 11, 2003
In a crabbed, powerful follow-up to his National Book Award–nominated short story collection (Lost in the City), Jones explores an oft-neglected chapter of American history, the world of blacks who owned blacks in the antebellum South. His fictional examination of this unusual phenomenon starts with the dying 31-year-old Henry Townsend, a former slave—now master of 33 slaves of his own and more than 50 acres of land in Manchester County, Va.—worried about the fate of his holdings upon his early death. As a slave in his youth, Henry makes himself indispensable to his master, William Robbins. Even after Henry's parents purchase the family's freedom, Henry retains his allegiance to Robbins, who patronizes him when he sets up shop as a shoemaker and helps him buy his first slaves and his plantation. Jones's thorough knowledge of the legal and social intricacies of slaveholding allows him to paint a complex, often startling picture of life in the region. His richest characterizations—of Robbins and Henry—are particularly revealing. Though he is a cruel master to his slaves, Robbins is desperately in love with a black woman and feels as much fondness for Henry as for his own children; Henry, meanwhile, reads Milton, but beats his slaves as readily as Robbins does. Henry's wife, Caldonia, is not as disciplined as her husband, and when he dies, his worst fears are realized: the plantation falls into chaos. Jones's prose can be rather static and his phrasings ponderous, but his narrative achieves crushing momentum through sheer accumulation of detail, unusual historical insight and generous character writing. Agent, Eric Simonoff. (Sept.) Forecast:This is a new tack for Jones, whose collection
Lost in the City was set in Washington, D.C., in the 1960s and '70s. Amistad is sending the novel off with a bang—a 10-city author tour, a 20-city national radio campaign—and it should attract considerable review attention.
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The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order, and chaos ensues.
Edward P. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.
"A masterpiece that deserves a place in the American literary canon."—Time
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