Mr. Jones's Neighborhood

by Amy Shearn

In the first story of All Aunt Hagar's Children (HarperCollins, $25.95), the new collection by Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward P. Jones, a young woman finds an orphaned baby abandoned in a tree. "So this was Washington, she thought as she reached up on her tip-toes and cut the two pieces of rope that held the bundle to the tree's branch … a city where they hung babies in night trees." Yep, this is Washington, Edward P. Jones-style — it's kind of what would happen if Chekhov had grown up poor and black in DC. Throughout the book, haunting images and complex plots combine to create a singular portrait of the city. These dense tales of the lives of "ordinary folk" in the segregated and down-and-out neighborhoods feel like miniature novels, hinging on moments of epiphany and change in the characters' lives. So not only does this startling book make for a uniquely satisfying reading experience, but when you think about it, it's also just a darn good value.

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