{"product_id":"blacker-than-a-thousand-midnights-isbn-9781640093614","title":"Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights","description":"\u003cb\u003e“A writer of exceptional gifts and grace.” —Joyce Carol Oates\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA young fireman battles to provide for his family—and struggles to avoid the traps of crime and poverty that surround him.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA resident of impoverished Rio Seco, California, Darnell Tucker works part–time as the lone black member of the fire department. Cutbacks to the state budget force him to search for new work, and the low–paying positions he finds rival firefighting in their peril. His path blocked by economics, institutionalized racism, and the dangers of the place he lives, Darnell must find a way to persevere. \u003ci\u003eBlacker Than a Thousand Midnights\u003c\/i\u003e is a stark and thoroughly convincing portrait of life on the margins.\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eBlacker Than a Thousand Midnights\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] nuanced, unsentimental portrait . . . [The characters] ring remarkably true.” —\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A writer of exceptional gifts and grace.” —Joyce Carol Oates\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Here [Susan Straight] has again reached into the hearts and hurts of her Rio Seco people and walked with sureness and tenderness on the land they inhabit. \u003ci\u003eBlacker Than a Thousand Midnights\u003c\/i\u003e is a beautifully told, smoldering book that says that survival with dignity shines brighter than the California sun.” —Shelby Hearon, \u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is a triumph, a portrait of a young black man trying to find his way that ends not in prison, drug dealing, or death, but with small moments of affirmation and the acceptance of responsibility that are a tribute to his will and intelligence. It counters all stereotypes about black men that are prevalent in contemporary writing.” —David Nicholson, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A lyrical and intelligent storyteller, [Susan Straight] burns clean the forbidding barriers of culture and race that blind people to one another.” —\u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eSusan Straight\u003c\/b\u003e has published eight novels and a memoir, \u003ci\u003eIn the Country of Women\u003c\/i\u003e. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and received the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize, the O. Henry Prize, the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family.","brand":"Counterpoint","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302335434981,"sku":"NP9781640093614","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781640093614.jpg?v=1767722731","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/blacker-than-a-thousand-midnights-isbn-9781640093614","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}