Apex Hides the Hurt - by Colson Whitehead (Paperback)

About the Book

From the MacArthur and Whiting Award-winning author of "John Henry Days" and "The Intuitionist" comes a new, brisk, comic tour de force about identity, history, and the adhesive bandage industry--in a brilliant and wry satire of contemporary culture.

Book Synopsis

This "wickedly funny" (The Boston Globe) New York Times Notable Book from the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys is a brisk, comic tour de force about identity, history, and the adhesive bandage industry.

The town of Winthrop has decided it needs a new name. The resident software millionaire wants to call it New Prospera; the mayor wants to return to the original choice of the founding black settlers; and the town's aristocracy sees no reason to change the name at all. What they need, they realize, is a nomenclature consultant. And, it turns out, the consultant needs them. But in a culture overwhelmed by marketing, the name is everything and our hero's efforts may result in not just a new name for the town but a new and subtler truth about it as well.

Review Quotes

WINNER OF THE PEN OAKLAND/JOSEPHINE MILES LITERARY AWARD

"Wickedly funny.... Whitehead is making a strong case for a new name of his own: that of the best of the new generation of American novelists." --The Boston Globe

"Breathtaking.... It's pure joy to read writing like this.... On almost every page there is a sentence to dazzle and delight." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A brilliant, witty, and subtle novel, written in a most engaging style, with tremendous aptness of language and command of plot." --The New York Review of Books

"Terrific.... Inspired.... Engaging, exuding energy.... Will have you nodding in wonder." --The Miami Herald

"Dazzling.... Gorgeous, expertly crafted sentences.... An eloquent novel about racial identity in America." --Newsweek

"Brilliant.... Exhilarating.... What keeps you reading this critique of language is its language, and our perverse delight in the ingenious abuse of words." --The New York Times

About the Author

COLSON WHITEHEAD is the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Underground Railroad. His other works include The Noble Hustle, Zone One, Sag Harbor, The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and one collection of essays, The Colossus of New York. A National Book Award winner and a recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, he lives in New York City.