The Known World

0-06-055754-0OCLC51519698813/.54 21LC ClassPS3560.O4813 K58 2003

The Known World is a 2003 historical novel by Edward P. Jones. Set in Virginia during the antebellum era, it examines the issues regarding the ownership of Black slaves by both White and Black Americans.

The book was published to acclaim, which praised its story and Jones's prose. In particular, his ability to intertwine stories within stories received great praise from The New York Times.^[1]

The narration of The Known World is from the perspective of an omniscient figure who does not voice judgment.^[2]

Awards and nominations

The novel won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004.^[3][4] In 2005, it won the International Dublin Literary Award, one of the richest literary awards for a novel in the English language.^[5] It was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award.^[6]

In 2009, the website The Millions polled 48 critics, writers, and editors; the panel voted The Known World the second best novel since 2000.^[7] In 2015, the BBC polled American critics and ranked The Known World the "second greatest novel of the 21st century so far".^[8][9]

References

Further reading

• Ryan, Tim A. (2008). "Mapping the Unrepresentable: Slavery Fiction in the New Millennium". Calls and Responses: The American Novel of Slavery since Gone with the Wind. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 185–208. ISBN 978-0-8071-3322-4.

External links

Interviews

• Edward P. Jones on 'The Known World', official HarperCollins interview.
• Interview with the author, transcript from NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, September 19, 2003
• 'The Known World', audio from National Public Radio, Morning Edition, October 28, 2003
• The Known World at Open Library

Reviews

• 'The Known World', review in Pop Matters, by Stephen M. Deusner, 5 January 2004
• "A transcendent story of slavery unfolds in black and white", review in The Boston Globe, by John Freeman, October 19, 2003
• Review of The Known World, in storySouth, by Dan Schneider, 2007
• "People who owned people", review in The New York Times, by John Vernon, August 31, 2003
• A new novel charts some unpredictable relations of race and power in the antebellum South., review in The Washington Post, by Jonathan Yardley, August 24, 2003

Misc.

• Photos of the first edition of The Known World
• Two-part essay on Jones' use of a godlike omniscient narrator in "The Known World": Part 1, Part 2.

Awards
Preceded by This Blinding Absence of Light	International Dublin Literary Award recipient 2005	Succeeded by The Master