A Different Drummer

'More than lives up to the hype' — Observer

'Set to become a publishing sensation' — Kirsty Lang, BBC Front Row

'An astounding achievement' — Sunday Times

'The lost giant of American literature' — New Yorker June, 1957.

One afternoon, in the backwater town of Sutton, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the southern state. And thereafter, the entire African-American population leave with him.

The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a different white townsperson. These are boys, girls, men and women; either liberal or conservative, bigoted or sympathetic — yet all of whom are grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination.

In 1962, aged just 24, William Melvin Kelley's debut novel A DIFFERENT DRUMMER earned him critical comparisons to James Baldwin and William Faulkner. Fifty-five years later, author and journalist Kathryn Schulz happened upon the novel serendipitously and was inspired to write the New Yorker article 'The Lost Giant of American Literature', included as a foreword to this edition.

ISBN: 9781787478039 | Published: 30 October 2018 | Paperback | 288 pages