Cotton - by Christopher Wilson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Lee Cotton is a black boy born white-skinned in segre­gated Eureka, Mississippi, in 1950. Over the course of Lee's first twenty years, he will fall in love with the daughter of a local Klansman, get kicked senseless and left for dead on a freight train headed north, end up in St. Louis as a white man, and be drafted into the psych-ops corps in Nevada. There, a drunken accident will separate Lee from another part of his identity and change his fate yet again. Before he returns to Mississippi, he will experience up close and personal the women's liberation movement and the dawn of the Lesbian Nation.

Lee Cotton's voice--equal parts Delta Blues and Motown--takes us on an exhilarating freedom ride through America's preoccupation with identity politics. His funny, forgiving charm ultimately embodies a serious message: The freaks and oddities of this world may well be divine.

From the Back Cover

"[Wilson's ] sense of humor and snappy pacing make this an appealing tale of a bygone America where truly anything can happen." --People
* A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
"If you re looking for a breathless ride of a novel, one that s filled with more plot twists than most authors could even dream of, let alone include in one 320-page book, don t miss Cotton . . . Irresistible." --Nancy Pearl, author of Book Lust
Meet the unforgettable Leifur Kristjansson Saint Marie du Cotton (you can call him Lee). Lee is a black boy born white-skinned in segregated Eureka, Mississippi, in 1950. As if that weren t trouble enough, he s also inherited the ability to hear les voix spirits from his Mambo grandmother. By the age of twenty he has fallen in love with a Klansman s daughter, been kicked senseless and left for dead on a northbound freight train, and gotten drafted into a psy-ops corps in Nevada. Before he returns to Mississippi, he will experience up close and personal the women s liberation movement and the dawn of the Lesbian Nation.
Lee Cotton s voice equal parts Delta Blues and Motown takes us on an exhilarating freedom ride through the upheavals of three decades, and whispers its secret: The freaks and oddities of this world may well be divine.

"Huck Finn meets Myra Breckinridge? Candide meets Yossarian? . . . [Cotton] is, paradoxically, a complete original." --The Washington Post Book World

"Brilliant, scathing and hilarious . . . Cotton is an odd, inventive, entertaining and whip-smart novel--a rare combination in fiction. Enjoy it."--The Denver Post

Reading Group Guide available at www.hmhbooks.com.

CHRISTOPHER WILSON earned his Ph.D. in humor and works as a consulting semiotician. Both Cotton and his first novel, Mischief, were short-listed for Whitbread awards. He lives in London. "

Review Quotes

UK PRAISE FOR MISCHIEF

"A nerve-jangling experience . . . Mr. Wilson has a wicked sense of fun"--The Times

"Works superbly as a social satire and examination of the human condition . . . hugely recommended."--The Independent