Stock photo. Cover may not represent actual copy or condition available.
Standing at the Scratch Line
by Guy Johnson
ISBN: 0375501584
ISBN-13: 9780375501586
Format: Hardcover
|
Customer Reviews
Be the first to review this book!
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: Random House Inc
Published date: 1999
Edition: 1th edition
Size: 7 x 9.75 inches
Weight: 1.95 pounds
Pages: 548
Publisher's Notes
"The thick, low-lying fog covered the contours and waterways of the swamp. Only mature trees and shrubs were visible above the milky gray mist. Darkness was beginning to fade in the early-morning light, creating the surreal landscape of a nightmare."So begins Standing at the Scratch Line, a breathtaking journey through thirty years of the African-American experience in America in a brilliant debut novel by Guy Johnson. The story opens in 1916 in the steamy bayous of Louisiana. Young LeRoi "King" Tremain and his uncle Jake attempt a raid on a rival familys compound. In doing so, Jake dies, but not before LeRoi kills two corrupt white deputies. Forced by his family to leave everything he knows until the heat dies down, LeRoi embarks on a vivid adventure that first takes him to France during World War I, where he finds it is just as easy to kill vicious, bigoted U.S. soldiers as it is to kill Germans. Dubbed "le Roi du Mort"-the king of death-by the French because of his coldhearted, machinistic killing on the battlefield, King returns to America an ambitious man. Driven to create a family dynasty much like the one he was forced to leave, he battles the Mob in Jazz Age Harlem, fights the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana, and outwits crooked politicians trying to control a black township in Oklahoma. Those who cross him are left bloodied, bruised, or dead. Along the way, he marries Serena Baddeaux, a woman strong enough to stand by King's side, and who matches his determination, courage, and grit. Though more concerned with skin color and social standing than with the truth, she nonetheless knows no boundaries when it comes to protecting her family. Standing at the Scratch Line is a sweeping novel that heralds the arrival of Guy Johnson, a bold new voice in fiction. In King Tremain, Johnson has created one of the most stalwart characters to walk the pages of fiction, as well as a brutally honest depiction of the African-American experience during the first half of this century.
Other Editions
Similar books
Red Grass River
by James Carlos Blake
James Carlos Blake is a masterful chronicler of the restless, outcast, the lawless, and the lonelyheart. His previous novel, In the Rogue Blood, was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. Now he has written a powerful and rousing historical saga of family loyalties, blood feuds, and betrayed friendships; of bank robberies and bootlegging; and of a passionate love as wild at heart as the Everglades. It is the story of sworn enemies: John Ashley, a criminal and folk hero, the brightest star in a family destined to become the most notorious in south Florida; and Bobby Baker, a lawman born of lawmen, a violent, hard-hearted man driven by the searing memory of past affronts and the enduring hatreds the engendered. Ashley and Maker will clash many times over many decades. And as the twentieth century encroaches on their world--and the wildlands give grudging way to the rising boomtown of Miami--a feral, sensual mating will place one man in gravest peril...while his adversary contrives a dark, personal vengeance that could leave countless lives--his own included--in ruin.
Absalom, Absalom
by William Faulkner
Recounts the story of the Sutpens, a Southern family, and how their dynasty fell into decadence after the Civil War.
A Conversation With the Mann
by John Ridley
Dreaming of making it big in the world of entertainment, aspiring black comic Jackie Mann will do anything to achieve his goal, sacrificing friends, family, love, and his own self-respect as he journeys from Harlem to the heights of fame and fortune, in a novel set during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement.
A Lesson Before Dying
by Ernest J. Gaines
Set in a small Cajun community in the late 1940s, "A Lesson Before Dying" is an "enormously moving" ("Los Angeles Times") novel of one man condemned to die for a crime he did not commit and a young man who visits him in his cell. In the end, the two men forge a bond as they both come to understand the simple heroism of resisting--and defying--the expected. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.
And All Our Wounds Forgiven
by Julius Lester
The multilayered story of the brief, turbulent, charismatic life of John Calvin Marshall, the man who became a leader in the nascent civil rights movement of the 1960s, And All Our Wounds Forgiven "exudes a pungent sense of the tragedy of American life" (New York Newsday).
|
|
Ready to buy this book?
Below are all of the copies of 0375501584 we currently have available for purchase, sorted by lowest price first. If you would like to refine your search, use the advanced options in the search box above.
|
|
1)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line: A Novel
Guy Johnson
Random House. Used - Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! ( more information) Offered by Better World Books (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
2)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line: A Novel
Guy Johnson
Random House. Used - Acceptable. 1st ed. ACCEPTABLE with noticeable wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. We offer a no hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders are generally shipped no later than next business day. We offer a no hassle guarantee on all our items. ( more information) Offered by River City Books, LLC (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
3)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line
Johnson, Guy
New York: Random House, 1998. 550 pages, library markings & wear, reading copy only. ISBN: 0375501584. Hardcover. Fair/Fair. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Ex-Library. Johnson, guy; Novel. ( more information) Offered by Highway Book Shop (Canada)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
4)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line
Johnson, Guy
New York:: Random House,, 1998. Advance Reading Copy. Trade Paperback. Signed by Guy Johnson (the son of Maya Angelou) on a label affixed to the half-title page. Pre-publication state of the author's first book. A Fine, unread copy. ( more information) Offered by Handee Books, LLC (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
5)
|
Standing At The Scratch Line
Johnson, Guy
New York: Random House, 1998. Copy has bumped endspines and corners with the bright DUST JACKET showing the same. . First Edition. Hard Cover. VG/VG. 8vo. ( more information) Offered by Spivey's Rare Books, Maps and Fine Art (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
6)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line
Johnson, Guy
New York, NY, U.S.A.: Random House Reference & Information Publishing. 1998. F Advance Reader's Edition. S Trade Paperback. Near Fine. PAPERBACK. Advance Reader's Edition ( more information) Offered by Vashon Island Books (Greenwood Warehouse) (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
7)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line
Johnson, Guy
New York: New York: Random House, 1998, 1998. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 548 pp., Novel of the Black experience in America, World War I, Ku Klux Klan, etc. written by Maya Angelou's son.. ISBN: 0375501584. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. BLACK AMERICA LITERATURE. ( more information) Offered by Ross & Haines (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
8)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line: A Novel (Qty: 4)
Guy Johnson
Random House. Hardcover. Very Good. Satisfaction Guaranteed! ( more information) Offered by more books (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
9)
|
Standing at the Scratch Line
Guy Johnson
NY, Random House, 1998, 1st . Hardcover . NF/NF. SIGNED BY AUTHOR HALF TITLE PAGE. Trace of edgwear; remainder mark. DJ w/ bit of edgwear/rubbing; in new Brodart protecter. ( more information) Offered by Cossel Books (United States)
Favorite bookseller : you've previously added this bookseller to your favorites list.
|
|
|
0 items in cart
Muze Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved. Some content for books is owned by Baker & Taylor, Inc. or its licensors and is subject to copyright and all other protections provided by applicable law.
