A long forgotten Beat poet brought back to life in utterly fantastical fashion.
In beautifully vivid journal entries, Black poet Mardou Fox chronicles her 1950s and 60s experiences with the Beat Generation--and her adventures in the mysterious, otherworldly realm over the fence. Characters based on star Beat authors like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac fight alongside Mardou or battle against her as she challenges racism and sexism to win happiness, freedom, and respect for her work. Are the answers shes seeking shrouded in the mists of magic? Inspired by the true story of Alene Lee, whose crucial role is often left out of Beat Generation lore.
Arvustused
A novel full of art and magic; sex, murder and love, The Day and Night Books of Mardou Fox casts a spell on the reader. Nisi Shawl tells the moving tale of a writers life, rich with insight and meaning, pain and pleasure. A short book, but not a small book.
Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women
Step back, Kerouac! I loved this fabulist reckoning with the legacy of the Beats from the perspective of an overlooked member of their circle: a singular black writer who is no ones muse. Shawls generous gifts bring Marlene Todd, a.k.a. Mardou Fox, to complex vibrancy in a brilliant act of literary comeuppance.
Alaya Dawn Johnson, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Trouble the Saints
"Shawl (Everfair) wows in this alternate history of the Beat generation told through the diaries of an overlooked Black poet. This concise novel packs a powerful punch."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Whether shes writing immersive and imaginative fiction or tracing the history of a genre, Nisi Shawls work is never less than compelling. Her new novel The Day and Night Books of Mardou Fox combines these aspects of her work, drawing on the life of Beat poet Alene Lee to tell a story of literary dynamism and otherworldly visitations."
Reactor Magazine
Nisi Shawl's first novel, Everfair, was a finalist for the 2016 Nebula Award. In 2009 their Aqueduct story collection Filter House received the Otherwise Award. They have published three other short fiction collections--Something More and More (Aqueduct, 2010), A Primer to Nisi Shawl (Dark Moon Books, 2017), and Talk Like a Man (PM Press, 2019). Shawl is, with Cynthia Ward, the author of Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (Aqueduct, 2005), and has edited numerous anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning New Suns: Speculative Fiction by People of Color (Solaris, 2019), Strange Matings: Science Fiction, Feminism, African American Voices, and Octavia E. Butler with Rebecca Holden (Aqueduct, 2013), and Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany with Bill Campbell (Rosarium, 2015).
