{"product_id":"pictures-of-a-dying-man-hardcover","title":"Pictures of a Dying Man - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAgymah Kamau\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Gladstone Belle is found hanging from a beam in his own house, everyone in the village tries to understand who he really was, and why he killed himself. In this Caribbean \u003ci\u003eCitizen Kane\u003c\/i\u003e, the voices of Gladstone's past accumulate, complementing and contradicting each other, to arrive at an understanding of Gladstone's true identity and the circumstances that complicated his life. And his death.\u003cbr\u003eIs a human life merely the sum of other people's perceptions of it, a compilation of rumors and hearsay? What happens if those views are erroneous? Continuing in the vein of his critically acclaimed novel, \u003ci\u003eFlickering Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e, Agymah Kamau weaves a colorful story, full of deception, love, and loss, around a community's remembrances of a Gladstone Belle. We discover the intricacies of living in a small Caribbean community by seeing things through the eyes of an array of vivid characters, including Isamina, his wife; Esther and Sonny-Boy, his mother and father; Carl, the suspicious husband of his former lover; PeeWee, the village gangster; Theophilus Bascombe, a disgruntled coworker; and Marie Antoinette LaSalle, the histrionic clairvoyant.\u003cbr\u003eIn a diverse community and political world riddled with rumors of murder and disappearance, Gladstone's humble beginnings and honest manner win the community's trust. He quickly moves up the political ladder. But his life is cut short when he decides that he can no longer look the other way. He realizes that everything around him has suffered from this corruption: his marriage, his friendships, and his dignity. The narrative of Gladstone Belle's life and death illumines the complexity of class distinctions within a postcolonial community.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGladstone Belle, a man with a high position in island politics, is found hanging from the rafters of his home, which triggers gossip about his lief and tragic end. Did he kill himself in remorse for the wrongs, civil and social, he had committed or out of realization that his wife wa unfaithful? Or was he killed? A local schoolteacher, and the widow's lover, is the primary narrator of the life and times of this complicated man. From diaries reluctantly accepted from Gladstone's father, the narrator learns the deceased man's priv\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.93 x 9.31 x 6.39 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 01, 1999\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51771505377568,"sku":"9781566890878","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/49a60336c61e0d2ab18e8d5878fcb9e9.webp?v=1780387799","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/pictures-of-a-dying-man-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}