From the home of literature, the DUBLIN Literary Award is proudly sponsored by Dublin City Council & administered by Dublin City Libraries
DUBLIN Literary Award
DUBLIN Literary Award
           
Facebook Twitter Pinterest linkedin Telegram
DUBLIN Literary Award
  • Home
  • The Books
  • The Judges
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
Menu
DUBLIN Literary Award
Sold out
HomeBooks2021 We Cast a Shadow
Previous product
The White Girl
Back to products

We Cast a Shadow

Author: Maurice Ruffin

2021 Longlist

“You can be beautiful, even more beautiful than before.” This is the seductive promise of Dr. Nzinga’s clinic, where anyone can get their lips thinned, their skin bleached, and their nose narrowed. A complete demelanization will liberate you from the confines of being born in a black body—if you can afford it. In this near-future Southern city plagued by fenced-in ghettos and police violence, more and more residents are turning to this experimental medical procedure. Like any father, our narrator just wants the best for his son, Nigel, a biracial boy whose black birthmark is getting bigger by the day. The darker Nigel becomes, the more frightened his father feels. But how far will he go to protect his son? And will he destroy his family in the process? This electrifying, hallucinatory novel is at once a keen satire of surviving racism in America and a profoundly moving family story. At its center is a father who just wants his son to thrive in a broken world. Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s work evokes the clear vision of Ralph Ellison, the dizzying menace of Franz Kafka, and the crackling prose of Vladimir Nabokov. We Cast a Shadow fearlessly shines a light on the violence we inherit, and on the desperate things we do for the ones we love.

About the Author

Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of We Cast a Shadow, which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the PEN/ Open Book Award and longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. A recipient of an Iowa Review Award in fiction, his work has appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review, AGNI, Kenyon Review, Massachusetts Review, and Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas. A native of New Orleans, he is a graduate of the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop and a member of the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance.

Librarian’s Comments

Ruffian’s debut novel is a piercing exploration of the harrowing experience of being Black in America. Ruffian uses the backdrop of a near-future Southern city where an unnamed black narrator is trying to protect his mixed-race son. This dystopian satire is sharply observed and employs unsettling humor to explore the deep scourge of racism in America. Chicago Public Library, USA

  • Additional information
  • Libraries Ireland - Find This Book
Additional information
Author

Maurice Ruffin

Nominating Library

Chicago Public Library, USA

Publisher

One World

Libraries Ireland - Find This Book

Libraries Ireland Encore System

Search for this book in the Dublin City Library Encore system and arrange a suitable location for loaning it.

Search Encore for We Cast a Shadow

This search result is offered as a helping hand to find books in the Library Ireland Encore System. Some results may not be accurate where book titles have common words with similar titles. 

Category: 2021
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest linkedin Telegram
ABOUT DUBLIN CITY LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

Dublin City Libraries, a service of Dublin City Council, is Ireland’s largest library service, with responsibility for the delivery of high quality, effective public library, information and archive services to a resident population of over half a million people.

Designated as a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, Dublin City Libraries aims to maximise opportunity for all – individuals and communities – through guided access to ideas, learning, literature, information and heritage resources supported by cultural programming.

Cookie Information

This website uses Cookies. Continued use of the site will be deemed as your acceptance of this necessity.

Connect with us
           
Quick Links
  • Home
  • The Books
  • The Judges
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
DUBLIN Literary Award. Dublin City Library & Archive. 138 - 144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Ireland. Email: literaryaward@dublincity.ie. Tel +353 1 6744802. Copyright © 2019 Dublin City Libraries.
Website by JET Design
close
Start typing to see products you are looking for.
  • Home
  • The Judges
  • The Books
  • The Libraries
  • FAQs
  • The Archive
  • News
Scroll To Top