The Nickel Boys

Resumen del libro

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2020Winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction 2020Time 1 Novel of the Year 2019Author of The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in 1960s Florida. Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. Abandoned by his parents, brought up by his loving, strict and clear-sighted grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college.

But given the time and the place, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy his future, and so Elwood arrives at The Nickel Academy, which claims to provide 'physical, intellectual and moral training' which will equip its inmates to become 'honorable and honest men'. In reality, the Nickel Academy is a chamber of horrors, where physical, emotional and sexual abuse is rife, where corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended for the school, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear 'out back'. Stunned to find himself in this vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, 'Throw us in jail, and we will still love you.' But Elwood's fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks Elwood is naive and worse; the world is crooked, and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors.

The tension between Elwood's idealism and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long repercussions. Based on the history of a real reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped and destroyed the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative by a great American novelist whose work is essential to understanding the current reality of the United States. 'If greatness is excellence sustained over time, then without question, Whitehead is one of the greatest of his generation.

In fact, figuring his age, acclaim, productivity and consistency, he is one of the greatest American writers alive' Time'A commanding triumph' Sunday Times'Every chapter hits its mark' New York Times

Biografía del autor

Colson Whitehead, escriptor i professor universitari, va néixer el 1969 i ha crescut a Manhattan. Autor de diverses obres de ficció i assaig, va revolucionar lx{0026} x02019;escena literària estatunidenca amb El ferrocarril subterrani (Periscopi, 2017), una obra amb la qual va obtenir els prestigiosos National Book Award 2016 i el premi Pulitzer dx{0026} x02019;obres de ficció 2017. Això el va catapultar directament a lx{0026} x02019;exclusiva llista dels autors que han guanyat alhora aquests dos premis i entre els quals hi ha noms com William Faulkner, John Updike i Annie Proulx. Lx{0026} x02019;any 2020 va obtenir el seu segon premi Pulitzer dx{0026} x02019;obres de ficció per Els nois de la Nickel (Periscopi, 2020), un èxit que abans dx{0026} x02019;ell només han aconseguit Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner i John Updike. El ritme de Harlem és la seva tercera obra traduïda al català.