264 pages / 5.50 x 8.50 inches / no illustrations
African-American Studies | Literary Criticism | Literary Criticism / African American
In his in-depth analysis of the works of Ann Petry (1908–1997), Keith Clark moves beyond assessments of Petry as a major mid-twentieth-century African American author and the sole female member of the “Wright School of Social Protest.” He focuses on her innovative approaches to gender performance, sexuality, and literary technique.
Keith Clark is the author of Black Manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines, and August Wilson and The Radical Fiction of Ann Petry, and the editor of Contemporary Black Men’s Fiction and Drama. He is professor of English and African and African American studies at George Mason University, focusing on African American fiction and drama, black literary masculinity studies, and African American LGBT literature and criticism.
“[Clark is] an astute and close reader of literary texts. . . . Clark has given to teachers, students (undergraduate and graduate), scholars, and others who enjoy reading, discussing, and rediscovering Ann Petry a very welcomed inclusion.”—Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature
“[A] groundbreaking study. . . . Keith Clark’s book does an excellent job of re-evaluating Petry, as it reveals the depth and dimension of a writer whose full importance in the literary canon is vastly underestimated by critics; it is a very important book that makes a significant contribution to the study of African American and American literature.”—African American Review
“Its grounding in masculinity studies enables The Radical Fiction of Ann Petry to introduce a more daring and complicated writer than we have previously recognized.”—Women’s Review of Books
“Clark’s admirable effort to situate Petry within the long tradition of American literature is both valuable and, at times, surprising. . . . Clark finds in Petry a largely novel approach to masculinity, a unique adoption of the American gothic, and a radical underappreciation of her fiction.”—Studies in American Naturalism
The Vision Series: Keith Clark - The Forgotten Fiction of Ann Petry (video)
Keith Clark interview with Vershawn Young (audio)
English Professor Pens New Book on ‘Forgotten’ Author Ann Petry
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