Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights - Paperback

by Susan Straight (Author)

"A writer of exceptional gifts and grace." --Joyce Carol Oates

A young fireman battles to provide for his family--and struggles to avoid the traps of crime and poverty that surround him.

A 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. Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights is a stark and thoroughly convincing portrait of life on the margins.

Author Biography

Susan Straight has published eight novels and a memoir, In the Country of Women. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and received the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times 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.