John Henry Days
by Colson Whitehead
Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2003, LA Times Finalist 2001, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2001, NY Times Finalist 2001, Pulitzer Finalist 2002
Date Read: November 29, 2020
Through multiple perspectives, Whitehead delves into the fact that all history is subjective. By telling the story of John Henry through varying times and attitudes, the reader gains glimpses of the legend of John Henry in anecdotes, songs, oral history and imagination. Only through these shifting aspects does the John Henry myth become a living, breathing slice of truth.
J. Sutter, whose first name we never know, lives a nomadic lifestyle as a junketeer – a rare breed of journalist that hops from one event to the next, selling the write-ups of these events to various newspapers, magazines and online publications. Sutter’s fellow junketeers are loud, obnoxious and somewhat slovenly. Their common bond is the uniqueness of their occupation as they stumble across the U.S. from one event to the next.
The characters presented here share one commonality: they are each pushed to their very limit by obsessions, whether it be setting a new record, stamps, ghosts, even The List. Even John Henry himself was obsessed with his own performance and power as he attempts to outperform a steam drill. Yet, I found the power in this novel by Whitehead’s handling of racism in the South. Sutter, being from New York, takes a cavalier approach to racism, accepting it as a given considering he is traveling in the South. His internal monologue during his taxi trip to the motel is genius.
Whitehead proves once again that he is a master at his craft and an American gem.
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