Such Sweet Thunder

by Vincent O. Carter

Book Overview

Set in Kansas City, Missouri, during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and '30s, Such Sweet Thunder is a majestic evocation of childhood and parental love told through the eyes of a remarkable boy, Amerigo Jones. This vivid portrait of an era marred by racial segregation and relentless, daily injustices is nonetheless rendered with love and longing for a time and place that was enriched by a vibrant, burgeoning, and widely influential African American culture...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581952171
• ISBN13: 9781581952179
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Steerforth Press
• Length: 440 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Captivating Coming of Age Story

SUCH SWEET THUNDER is a posthumously released novel written in 1963 by Vincent O Carter. Several publishers rejected Carter?s orginal manuscript and Carter died before he could see his work published. However, the manuscript was found 30 years later by Herbert Lottman in the possession of Carter?s girlfriend. Lottman writes the foreword for the reborn manuscript and the only changes he made to the novel was the name from its original title ? The Primary Colors.?SUCH SWEET THUNDER begins in 1944 when the reader meets Amerigo Jones who is a solider fighting in World War II. He is visiting a French prostitute and in her eyes, Amerigo envisions a woman from his youth. The story from this point is lyrical flashback to a segregated Kansas City of the 1920 and 30. The reader sees life from Amerigo?s perspective as he deals with independence, love, sexuality and respect. Amerigo is a dreamer who realizes many of dreams will be unfulfilled because of his skin color. SUCH SWEET THUNDER is a captivating coming of age story. It is well written and the novel enthralls the reader with the vivid descriptions of a young man?s life. I am glad that Mr. Lottoman found the manuscript and completed the process that Carter started 40 years earlier.Reviewed by Robilyn Heath of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers