A review by cydelafield
John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead

4.0

Whitehead's novel is an exploration of folk culture, lore, and music. He tells the story of a collection of far-flung and different individuals who are brought together to commemorate a new stamp which features the legendary African-American steeldriver John Henry. Whitehead jumps from one perspective to another, one time to another, and the reader sees the folk song and story build from the eyes of an entire community - it's an interesting literary device that sometimes felt a little overworked to me, but was not without intriguing mysteries.