Mumbo Jumbo

Mumbo Jumbo Synopsis

Ishmael Reed's inspired fable of the ragtime era, in which a social movement threatens to suppress the spread of black culturehailed by Harold Bloom as one of the five hundred greatest books of the Western canonIn 1920s America, a plague is spreading fast. From New Orleans to Chicago to New York, the ';JesGrew' epidemic makes people desperate to dance, overturning social norms in the process. Anyone is vulnerable and when they catch it, they'll bump and grind intoa frenzy.

Working to combat theJesGrew infection are the puritanicalAtonists, a group bent on cultivating a ';Talking Android,' an African American who will infiltrate the unruly black communities and help crush the outbreak. ButPaPaLaBas, ahounganvoodoo priest, is determined to keep his ancient cultureincluding a key spiritual textalive.Spanning a dizzying host of genres, from cinema to academia to mythology,Mumbo Jumbois a lively ride through a key decade of American history.

In addition to ragtime, blues, and jazz, Reed's allegory draws on the Harlem Renaissance, the Back to Africa movement, and America's occupation of Haiti. His style throughout is as avant-garde and vibrant as the music at its center.Thisebookfeatures an illustrated biography of Ishmael Reed including rare images of the author.