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Imprint: Chatto & Windus
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Published: 09/08/2018
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ISBN: 9781781090633
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Length: 224 Pages
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Dimensions: 222mm x 24mm x 144mm
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Weight: 362g
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RRP: £14.99
**Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction 2019**
**Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction 2018**
*Finalist for the Kirkus Prize 2018*
*Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize 2019*
In this crackling debut collection Nafissa Thompson-Spires interrogates our supposedly post-racial era. To wicked and devastating effect she exposes the violence, both external and self-inflicted, that threatens black Americans, no matter their apparent success.
A teenager is insidiously bullied as her YouTube following soars; an assistant professor finds himself losing a subtle war of attrition against his office mate; a nurse is worn down by the demand for her skills as a funeral singer. And across a series of stories, a young woman grows up, negotiating and renegotiating her identity.
Heads of the Colored People shows characters in crisis, both petty and catastrophic. It marks the arrival of a remarkable writer and an essential and urgent new voice.
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Imprint: Chatto & Windus
-
Published: 09/08/2018
-
ISBN: 9781781090633
-
Length: 224 Pages
-
Dimensions: 222mm x 24mm x 144mm
-
Weight: 362g
-
RRP: £14.99
Reviews
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"[Thompson-Spires] writes satire of the Paul Beatty school, her humour as <b>daring as it is disarming</b>. This is a <b>firecracker</b> of a book, sizzling with politics, but it's also <b>a triumph of storytelling: intelligent, acerbic and ingenious</b>"
Financial Times
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"Every so often, a voice comes along that <b>knocks you sideways</b>; this debut collection of short stories was one such moment. From the first page <b>there’s an electricity and freshness to the voice that grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let me go</b>"
Observer
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"<b>Witty, mischievous</b>... These <b>coolly ironic and grimly funny</b> tales brim with <b>snap and verve</b>, and this is a debut collection of <b>daring and aplomb</b><b> </b>"
The Guardian
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"The kind of collection that makes you<b> shake your head in deligh</b>t. Her voice is <b>fresh-laundry-clean</b>: <b>I have not read anything like it in years</b>. The prose is <b>cunning</b>. It appears simple, but the overall effect is <b>powerful</b>. Her stories feel simultaneously like the poke of a stick and a comforting balm; a smack followed by a kiss. <b>I’m so into it.</b>"
Guardian
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"[Thompson-Spires] writes with <b>complete control</b>, building a story in <b>the precise shape of her anger</b>. Her sentences <b>intertwine and double back</b> on themselves, and each one <b>stings</b>"
Guardian
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"Her electric style is <b>extrovert, erudite and hugely entertaining</b>, despite the often grim subject matter... Thompson-Spires <b>invigoratingly hits the mark</b>... you end the collection greedy to read whatever is coming next from this <b>unmistakable talent</b>"
The Observer
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"<p>Thompson-Spires' stories are dark, have <b>a cutting sense of humour</b>, and are <b>entertaining and essential</b><br><b></b></p>"
Stylist
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"For <b>the freshest voice in literature</b>, look no further than Nafissa Thompson-Spires <b>blisteringly clever</b> short story collection, <i>Heads of the Colored People</i>… Sometimes, a voice comes around that is <b>so singular, so funny, so wholly original</b>, that you go back and reread each story once you finish it… In each of these <b>humorous, intelligent</b> vignettes, Thompson-Spires explores aspects of being Black and middle-class in today’s America. <b>This is a special collection. Buy it so you can read it more than once</b>"
Refinery29
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"<b>Superbly witty</b>... The topics she takes on are often deadly serious, but every story flashes grim humor. She is also a <b>brutally sharp</b> observer"
New York Times
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"<b>Intricate, playful</b>... Thompson-Spires crafts a narrative voice which always walks one step ahead, sometimes turning to us with a wink, before getting back to what really needs to be said... The minutiae of her characters’ lives are <b>a joy to read</b> for the purity of the unremarkable, and yet there is nothing light about her subject matter. Thompson-Spires’ juxtaposing of small normalities against larger, more crippling truths powerfully draws attention to the oppressively racialised realities of her characters’ lives... <b>A much longed-for portrayal of a black normality</b>"
The White Review
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"Nafissa Thompson-Spires <b>pulls no punches</b> in her <b>boundary-pushing</b> short-story collection ... With <b>gallows humour and brazen originality</b>, the author plunges us deep into the interiorities of quirkily indelible characters ... <b>Thompson-Spires's virtuosity is breathtaking</b> ... <b>Funny, smart and of the moment, this electrifying debut marks the emergence of a daring talent</b>"
O Magazine
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"<b>Every once in a while a book comes around that fills a need — that communicates ideas so effectively and humanely its social value leaps off the page. <i>Heads</i></b><b>, the debut of Nafissa Thompson-Spires, is such a book</b> ... Stories run the gamut from <b>intimate to uproarious to devastating</b> ... Writing in versatile prose and with a penchant for naturalistic dialogue...<b>she weaves timeless human conflict into a quietly political tapestry</b>."
Entertainment Weekly
