Vincent O Carter (Books)

Vincent O Carter Books

Vincent O. Carter's literary voice is deeply informed by his experiences as a soldier during World War II, a period that instilled a profound sense of displacement and a quest for identity in his writing. His work often delves into themes of cultural navigation and the search for belonging across continents, viewed through the lens of a life lived in various international settings. Carter's prose is marked by its introspective depth and an unflinching examination of the human condition, offering readers a unique perspective on the aftermath of conflict and the complexities of self-discovery.

Such Sweet Thunder

532 pages
19 hours of reading

Told from the perspective of a boy, Amerigo Jones, Such Sweet Thunder is set in Kansas City during the 1920s and '30s, an era marred by racial segregation and relentless daily injustices. And yet Vincent Carter's account of a black youth whose dreams collide with the bitter realities of the day is filled with love and longing for a time and place enriched by a vibrant, burgeoning, and widely influential jazz culture and a fierce feeling for family and community. When Richard Wright's widow, Elle, first read Such Sweet Thunder in the 1960s, she praised it as the first great picture of childhood by a black male writer. Such Sweet Thunder is a jazz song of a book whose sweeping orchestral feel and extended dialogue riffs make it unforgettable.