If I Had Two Wings by Randall Kenan

Skip to product information
1 of 1

If I Had Two Wings by Randall Kenan

Regular price £3.50
Condition - very good
1 in stock
Regular price £3.50
Condition - very good
1 in stock
Summary

Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction Finalist for the 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize Mingling the earthy with the otherworldly, these ten stories chronicle ineffable events in ordinary lives.

The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free delivery in the UK
  • Supporting authors with AuthorSHARE
  • 100% recyclable packaging
  • Proud to be a B Corp – A Business for good
  • Buy-back with World of Books - Sell Your Books

If I Had Two Wings by Randall Kenan

In Kenan’s fictional territory of Tims Creek, North Carolina, an old man rages in his nursing home, a parson beats up an adulterer, a rich man is haunted by a hog, and an elderly woman turns unwitting miracle worker. A retired plumber travels to Manhattan, where Billy Idol sweeps him into his entourage. An architect who lost his famous lover to AIDS reconnects with a high-school fling. Howard Hughes seeks out the woman who once cooked him butter beans. Shot through with humor and seasoned by inventiveness and maturity, Kenan riffs on appetites of all kinds, on the eerie persistence of history, and on unstoppable lovers and unexpected salvations. If I Had Two Wings is a rich chorus of voices and visions, dreams and prophecies, marked by physicality and spirit. Kenan’s prose is nothing short of wondrous.
"Randall Kenan is an American master and If I Had Two Wings is his latest gift to usThese unforgettable characters cannot be confined to a page. They are real; they are flawed; they are beautifully human. Each gorgeous story contains a world in miniature and a human spirit in full flower." -- Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage
"This is a riveting collection of stories with a vibrant cast of characters, both corporeal and fantastical, and a stunning sense of place. Stories—comic, tragic, and human; with themes of faith, fury, chicanery, miracles, and weather—swirl out from Down East North Carolina, touch down gently around the world, and come home to the magnetic center of Tims Creek. It was a pleasure to live in this book." -- Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State
"Oh, the magic and music Randall Kenan brings to the page. He is a beautiful writer, full of surprises, and his latest masterful collection, If I Had Two Wings, is a mesmerizing showcase of his many talents. He can make poetry of pigs feet, deliver brilliant social commentary, illuminate the ghosts of a time and place, and leave you aching for childhood memories of comfort and longing." -- Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life
"The slyly soulful Kenan takes his time between books. Now he rewards readers who have waited almost three decades for a return to his fictional Tims Creek, North Carolina... It is a feast. Ten artful stories conjure contemporary North Carolina, mouthwatering and matter-of-factly haunted." -- Kirkus (starred review)
Randall Kenan (1963–2020) was the former chancellor of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and a professor of English and comparative literature at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He lived in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
SKU GOR011104269
ISBN 13 9781324005469
ISBN 10 1324005467
Title If I Had Two Wings
Author Randall Kenan
Condition very good
Binding type Hardback
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Year published 2020-09-11
Number of pages 224
Prizes Short-listed for National Book Critics Circle Award 2020, Short-listed for Aspen Words Literary Prize 2021, Long-listed for National Book Award 2020
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us