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Title details for Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - Wait list

Chain Gang All Stars

A Read with Jenna Pick: National Book Award Finalist

by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Shayna Small
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A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION • A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America’s own in this explosive, hotly-anticipated debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Friday Black • LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE
“This book is so good. Brutal subject matter, beautiful writing. This one is from the heart.” —Stephen King

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Elle, Esquire, Chicago Tribune, Lit Hub, Kirkus Reviews
“Like Orwell’s 1984 and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Adjei-Brenyah’s book presents a dystopian vision so…illuminating that it should permanently shift our understanding of who we are and what we’re capable of doing.” —The Washington Post
She felt their eyes, all those executioners…
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of the Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly popular, highly controversial profit-raising program in America’s increasingly dominant private prison industry. It’s the return of the gladiators, and prisoners are com­peting for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
 
In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death matches before packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thur­war and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, Thurwar considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games. But CAPE’s corporate own­ers will stop at nothing to protect their status quo, and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar’s path have devastating consequences.
 
Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors, to the CAPE employees and beyond, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system’s unholy alli­ance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means from a “new and necessary American voice” (Tommy Orange, The New York Times Book Review).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    May 2, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593669143
      • File size: 393278 KB
      • Duration: 13:39:19

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 6, 2023
      Bestseller Adjei-Brenyah sets his breathtaking and pulse-pounding debut novel (after the short story collection Friday Black) in a dystopian alternate U.S. where people incarcerated in an expansive private prison system have the option to fight for their freedom in gladiator-style death matches. Fighters who partake in the Chain-Gang All-Stars operation can rise to fame and notoriety, a crucial profit-driving component for those who control CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment. Among these superstars are fighters Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker, who have made names for themselves as undefeated champions and “Links,” or teammates in a Chain-Gang. As Thurwar takes a step closer to freedom one match at a time, however, she begins to worry about leaving Hamara and her other Links behind. Through this brutal, fight-scene-studded story, the author delivers insightful critiques of the prison-industrial complex, capitalism, and the ways in which Hollywood and celebrity culture exploit Black talent. Both the political allegory and the edge-of-your-seat action work beautifully. Readers will be wowed. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, Gernert Co.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 1, 2023

      Adjei-Brenyah's debut novel (after the short story collection Friday Black) posits a not-so-distant future when prisoners are followed by cameras and streamed on reality television. The audience roots for their favorites as the prisoners compete in gladiator-style death matches. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker are superstar women fighters--and lovers too. Listeners follow Loretta and Staxxx through their inhumane incarceration, a barely concealed indictment of the prison industrial complex. Some protestors recognize this new world as cruel but are fighting against many others who accept this as a form of entertainment. Although this is a fictional tale, Adjei-Brenyah inserts real statistics, footnotes, and stories amid the novel's action. Narrator Shayna Small guides listeners through most of the book, accompanied by Aaron Goodson taking on the deep, strong narration of Hendrix Young, Michael Crouch as the inwardly focused Simon Craft, and Lee Osorio voicing wild Gunny Puddles. VERDICT A mix of voices, thought-provoking worldbuilding, and the forward momentum of the novel make this a captivating listen. Recommended for fans of dystopian fiction laced with social commentary.--Laura Stein

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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