A Brief History of Seven Killings

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE

Marlon James author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oneworld Publications

Published:6th Jun '24

£10.99

This title is due to be published on 6th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

A Brief History of Seven Killings cover

Set against the backdrop of 1970s reggae culture, disco, sex and excess comes this remarkable re-imagining of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley

The extraordinary modern classic, reissued ten years after it exploded onto the literary scene

 

 

A SPECIAL EDITION OF THE 2015 BOOKER PRIZE WINNER, WITH A BRAND-NEW FOREWORD AND A Q&A WITH THE AUTHOR 

* With a new foreword by Bernardine Evaristo *

'Epic in every sense of the word' New York Times

Jamaica, 1976. Seven gunmen storm Bob Marley's house, machine guns blazing.

The reggae superstar survives, but the gunmen are never caught. 

In A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James reimagines the story behind this near-mythical event, chronicling the lives of a host of unforgettable characters from street kids, drug lords and journalists, to prostitutes and secret service agents. 

Gripping, inventive and ambitious, it is one of the most mesmerising and influential novels of the twenty-first century.

'Showcases the extraordinary capabilities of a writer whose importance can scarcely be questioned' Independent

  

'James has triumphed in capturing the tension, the politics, the heat, chaos, beauty and music of Jamaica.' Financial Times


'Vast and vastly ambitious... much to admire... fascinating... the author's imaginative and stylistic range are impressive.' The Sunday Times


‘Vast and teeming … A vivid novel that deserves all the praise it has received.’ Sunday Telegraph


‘Breaks new ground… A very fluid and superbly controlled work.’ Spectator


'The ambition is huge, but [James] pulls it off with huge style, confidence, imagination and wit... Extraordinary.' The Times


‘The hottest name in Caribbean literature right now.’ GQ, 'Best Books of 2014'


'When reading reviews of Night Women, James apparently became bored with comparisons to Toni Morrison; and with A Brief History, he’s got bored with comparisons to Quentin Tarantino. But it is hard not to see the strength of that comparison.' Guardian


'Epic in every sense of that word: sweeping, mythic, over-the-top, colossal and dizzyingly complex... A testament to Mr. James’s vaulting ambition and prodigious talent.' New York Times


'James’ intoxicating prose is relentless, feverishly up-close inside his characters’ rattled nerves even as the narrative scope widens into an evocative portrait of the author’s native Kingston.' Entertainment Weekly, 'Ten Best Fiction Books of the Decade'


‘Not only persuasive, but tragic, though in its polyphony and scope it’s more than that... Comic, surreal, nightmarish, parodic.’ New York Times Book Review

  • Winner of Man Booker Prize 2015

ISBN: 9780861545582

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

720 pages

Reissue B-format