Why read Click Song?

Book cover of Click Song

Book description

At lunch in a restaurant on the East Side, Cato Douglas, a black novelist, learns that Paul Cummings, a white Jewish novelist and a friend for thirty years, has just committed suicide

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Topics

James Baldwin

Genres

Literary fiction

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Why read it?

1 author picked Click Song as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Christopher Conlon

Author

I’ve long been interested in the African-American authors of the mid-20th century—James Baldwin and Chester Himes are particular favorites—but until the past year, I’d never gotten around to the masterful John A. Williams.

!Click Song tells the story, in fluid, sensuous prose, of a black writer whose career begins just after World War II, and while he does enjoy some success, he is hampered, demeaned, and diminished in the New York publishing world of the time because of his race.

This book is about the terrible hidden costs and pains of racism among seemingly successful people. The fact that…

From Christopher's 3 favorite reads in 2023.