The Day the Klan came to Town

Name: The Day the Klan came to Town
Brand: Unknown
SKU: 9781629638720
Price: 48.0 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Bill Campbell

0.0 (0 reviews)

3.5

( 343 ratings, 72 reviews)

Summary

Set in 1923, The Day the Klan Came to Town recounts a disturbing chapter of American history when the Ku Klux Klan wielded vast influence far beyond the South. The story centres on Primo Salerno, a Sicilian immigrant with a troubled past, drawn unwillingly into a violent stand against the Klan as they descend on a small Pennsylvania town near Pittsburgh. This graphic novel portrays the struggle of ordinary people confronting racism and terror at a pivotal moment.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$48⁰⁰

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The Day the Klan came to Town

$48⁰⁰

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This graphic novel will resonate with readers interested in history, social justice, and graphic storytelling, particularly those keen to understand the complexities of early 20th-century America through a personal and political lens.

Description

The year is 1923. The Ku Klux Klan is at the height of its power in the US as membership swells into the millions and they expand beyond their original southern borders. As they grow, so do their targets. As they continue their campaigns of terror against African Americans, their list now includes Catholics and Jews, southern and eastern Europeans, all in the name of "white supremacy." But they are no longer considered a terrorist organisation. By adding the messages of moral decency, family values, and temperance, the Klan has slapped on a thin veneer of respectability and has become a "civic organisation," attracting ordinary citizens, law enforcement, and politicians to their particular brand of white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant "Americanism."

Pennsylvania enthusiastically joined that wave. That was when the Grand Dragon of Pennsylvania decided to display the Klan's newfound power in a show of force. He chose a small town outside of Pittsburgh named after Andrew Carnegie; a small, unassuming borough full of "Catholics and Jews," the perfect place to teach these immigrants "a lesson." Some thirty thousand members of the Klan gathered from as far as Kentucky for "Karnegie Day." After initiating new members, they armed themselves with torches and guns to descend upon the town to show them exactly what Americanism was all about.

The Day the Klan Came to Town is a fictionalised retelling of the riot, focusing on a Sicilian immigrant, Primo Salerno. He is not a leader; he's a man with a troubled past. He was pulled from the sulphur mines of Sicily as a teen to fight in the First World War. Afterward, he became the focus of a local fascist and was forced to emigrate to the United States. He doesn't want to fight but feels that he may have no choice. The entire town needs him—and indeed everybody—to make a stand.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as "a piece of American history in all its ugliness" that adeptly combines international perspective and political insight with "dazzling" art, this graphic novel is considered a crucial read for contemporary times (Thi Bui). The narrative is lauded for its incisive dialogue and evocative cartooning, bringing history alive to explore contested whiteness and antifascist resistance in a timely manner (Damian Duffy).

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781629638720

Publisher: PM Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 30 September 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: PM Press

Illustration: 128 Illustrations

Contributors:

Illustrated by Bizhan Khodabandeh

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 128

Collections

Adult Graphic Novels Bill Campbell Fiction Graphic Novels

About the Author

Bill Campbell is the author of Sunshine Patriots; My Booty Novel; Pop Culture: Politics, Puns, “Poohbutt” from a Liberal Stay-at-Home Dad; Koontown Killing Kaper; and Baaaad Muthaz. Along with Edward Austin Hall, he coedited the groundbreaking anthology, Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond. He has also coedited Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany; APB: Artists against Police Brutality (for which he won a Glyph Pioneer/Lifetime Achievement Award); and Future Fiction: New Dimensions of International Fantasy and Science Fiction. His latest anthology is a two-volume collection with over one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories from around the world, Sunspot Jungle: The Ever Expanding Universe of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Campbell lives in Washington, DC, where he spends his time with his family and helms Rosarium Publishing. Bizhan Khodabandeh is a visual communicator who moves freely across the professional boundaries as designer, illustrator, artist, and activist. His works vary from small graphic art projects to major public campaigns. Khodabandeh is particularly fascinated by how art and design can catalyze social change. He has received numerous international and national awards for his work, including: a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators, a silver medal from the International Design Awards, a finalist in the Cross-Cultural Design Competition, and best in show through the American Institute of Graphic Arts. He has received numerous international and national awards for his work as both an illustration and designer through various institutions such as: The American Institute of Graphic Arts, Creativity International, Adbusters, and Creative Quarterly. Khodabandeh has had work featured in publications such as Print, Creativity International, Adbusters, and Comic Bastards among others. Currently Khodabandeh teaches full-time at VCU’s Robertson School of Media & Culture and freelances under the name, Mended Arrow. Phenderson Djeli Clark is the award winning and Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, and World Fantasy nominated author of the novellas Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Fireside Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies including, Griots, Hidden Youth and Clockwork Cairo. He is a founding member of FIYAH Literary Magazine and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.

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