King Comus
A Novel
$36.93
- Paperback
256 pages
- Release Date
12 May 2026
Summary
Past and present collide in this posthumous, semiautobiographical masterpiece, which tells the stories of two Black World War II servicemen, their white commanding officer, a famous gospel singer, and an enslaved man making his escape in the early nineteenth century.
In the present day, a Black American expat to Rome named D. reconnects with his former Army friend, Tillman, and their former commanding officer, Joe Stabat, to organize a gospel summit for the singer Little Antioch. In t…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9798217007370 |
|---|---|
| Author: | William Demby |
| Publisher: | Random House USA Inc |
| Imprint: | Vintage Books |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 256 |
| Release Date: | 12 May 2026 |
| Weight: | 280g |
| Dimensions: | 229mm x 132mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
“One of the great novelists of the last 100 years.” —Ishmael Reed, author of Mumbo Jumbo“Necessary reading.” —Los Angeles Review of Books“A splendid finale to the career of a profoundly gifted and vastly underappreciated American writer.” —Mosaic magazine
About The Author
William Demby
William Demby was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 25, 1922, and attended college in Clarksburg, West Virginia, before enlisting in World War II and serving in Italy. He graduated from Fisk University in 1947 then moved abroad to Rome, where he spent the next two decades working as a novelist, journalist, and script translator and screenwriter for the Italian cinema. In the late 1960s, Demby joined the faculty at The College of Staten Island, dividing his time between the United States and Italy. His works include Beetlecreek, The Catacombs, Love Story Black, and King Comus. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement. He died in Sag Harbor, New York, in 2013.
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