Sag Harbor »

Colson Whitehead is the award-winning author of several novels, including The Intuitionist and John Henry Days, as well as a collection of essays about New York City. His fiction, criticism, and reviews have appeared in several publications, such as The New York Times, Harper's, and Granta.

The warm, funny, and supremely original new novel from one of the most acclaimed writers in America

The year is 1985. Benji Cooper is one of the only black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. He spends his falls and winters going to roller-disco bar mitzvahs, playing too much Dungeons and Dragons, and trying to catch glimpses of nudity on late-night cable TV. After a tragic mishap on his first day of high school when Benji reveals his deep enthusiasm for the horror movie magazine Fangoria his social doom is sealed for the next four years.
But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of African American professionals have built a world of their own. Because their parents come out only on weekends, he and his friends are left to their own devices for three glorious months. And although he s just as confused about this all-black refuge as he is about the white world he negotiates the rest of...

The Barnes & Noble Review

Colson Whitehead's Sag Harbor is a high-spirited delight of a novel, a sunny surprise from Whitehead, a MacArthur Fellow who is a master of the ironic postmodern narrative. His satiric first novel, The Intuitionist, a philosophical detective story starring a black female elevator inspector, drew raves for originality as well as comparisons to Ellison, Morrison, Orwell, and Pynchon. His John Henry Days, a Pulitzer finalist and a National Book Critics Circle fiction finalist, poked fun at press junkets while asking serious questions about the "steel-driving man" behind the myth.

Notions of Roller-Rink Infinity 1

The Heyday of Dag 34

If I Could Pay You Less, I Would 70

The Gangsters 120

To Prevent Flare-Ups 160

Breathing Tips of Great American Beatboxers 105

Tonight We Improvise 223

The Black National Anthem 255