Rating: 
Summary: A novel in progress
Review: This intriguing book succeeded in capturing my imagination, but wasn't the type of book I could really savor. Whitehead has reached far and wide, deconstructing a number of accounts to create a montage, or a stamp collection if you will, of John Henry Days. The premise was simple enough. A rat pack of free-lance writers covering the inaugural day celebration of the newest commemorative stamp issued by the post office. One black reporter stood out like a sore thumb, and we are reminded a little too much of this. A few other blacks were sprinkled into this tale set in a remote West Virginia town which still eats Wonder bread. Fortunately, Whitehead didn't stick to convenient racial stereotypes. Instead, he used this town to represent Middle America, which J had to navigate if he was going to come out with a story, and keep his "streak" alive.The best scenes in my mind were those that played with the John Henry theme more closely. The others seemed to be flights of fancy. Inticing sometimes, but straying wide of the mark on other occasions. Whitehead seemed to have taken Ellison's "Invisible Man" from his underground chamber and brought him to light in a comtemporary setting. John Henry Days seemed like the perfect foil, but Whitehead didn't go very far beyond character sketches. This novel read like a reporter's notebook, a novel in progress, not a full length work of fiction. As such, it left me a little disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Just point me to the buffet line
Review: Whitehead gives us J., a writer who has earned the official title of "junkateer" - freelancing his way from one buffet to the next open bar, via his ascendancy to the "List," a creation of master public relations Lucien (Lucifer?). He lives in New York City (of course), and doesn't have much in the way of family, love life, or hobbies - he is ever more a slave to the List. So much so that he finds himself half way to the record, hitting an event every day for three months. This is almost subconscious for J. - the List tells him where to go, and he goes. The event in question is John Henry Days, a festival put on by a small West Virginia town to celebrate the mythological hero John Henry, heralded in verse for beating a steam-driven steel driver in a contest, only to succumb to the mountain. The festival coincides with the Post Office releasing a John Henry stamp, which is the occasion for bringing J. and his colleagues descend like a swarm of locusts on rural West Virginia. The story bounces around between a large array of characters, from John Henry himself to a man who became obsessed with collection John Henry memorabilia. John Henry was also driven by fate, guided by a List of his own - a project manager with a timetable. J. and John Henry seem to be driven by external forces, destined to a battle between man and machine. This is a strong enough theme to keep the book together and moving forward - although at times the narrative of the different time periods makes for a choppy read.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Read!
Review: Whitehead has done it again-using the idea of man vs. machine as a backdrop as in "The Intuitionist", he's created a memorable story that you can't stop thinking about long after you've read the last page. The basic story revolves around J.Sutter, a mooching freelance writer who travels to Talcott ,West Virginia for the unveiling of a commemorative John Henry stamp. His motive for the trip starts out to be the free food and fare, but he gets much more that that as the story unfolds. Intertwined in J's weekend adventure are stories of others with John Henry connections-a Black academic trying to chronicle Henry's life, a blues musician who recorded the ballad of John Henry, Paul Robeson who did a play on John Henry's life, and the daughter of an obsessed man who started a John Henry museum in Harlem. John Henry foklore completes the mosaic. It may sound complicated but actually it's quite enjoyable reading -causing you to laugh out loud one minute and be seriously pensive the next. I still have a few loose ends to clear up on my second read-looking forward to it.
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