Mercury House Authors: Clarence Major

	Clarence Major		DIRTY BIRD BLUES REFLEX AND BONE STRUCTURE SUCH WAS THE SEASON

	DIRTY BIRD BLUES Fiction 288 pages Cloth, $22.95 1-56279-083-8 World LOW / OUT OF STOCK CONTACT MERCURY HOUSE		DIRTY BIRD BLUES “With this gorgeously bluesy tale of love, hate, and doing right, Major will take center stage.… He thrills us with some of the wittiest, most melodious inner dialogue ever written and moves us with dramatic confrontations between loved ones that are remarkable for their sensitivity, authenticity, and significance.” — Donna Seaman, Booklist “Like the blues, the novel and its central character keep edging back into the reader's consciousness after the book itself is read and put away.” — Thomas Cobb, Washington Post

	REFLEX AND BONE STRUCTURE Fiction 144 pages Paper, $12.95 1-56279-084-6 US & Canada LOW / OUT OF STOCK CONTACT MERCURY HOUSE		REFLEX AND BONE STRUCTURE Reflex and Bone Structure, nominated in France for the Prix Maurice Edgar Coindreau Award for literary crime fiction, is a mystery story in which words both cloak and reveal, and in which what is real becomes confounded with what is imagined. It has established itself as a classic of modern African-American Literature. “An exhilarating trip, with a new view at every turn.” — New York Times Book Review “Breaking with the linear tradition in black literature, moving us from narrative to the crux of the moment.” — Ntozake Shange “Clarence Major has a remarkable mind and the talent to match.” — Toni Morrison


	SUCH WAS THE SEASON Fiction 224 pages Paper, $8.95 0-916515-68-0 US & Canada LOW / OUT OF STOCK CONTACT MERCURY HOUSE		SUCH WAS THE SEASON “A killer-diller … an old-fashioned, straight-ahead narrative crammed with action, a dramatic story line, and meaty characterization. But it's the widow Annie Eliza's melodic voice, by turns lilting and gruff, that salts and peppers and sweetens this story, enriching its flavor and meaning.” — New York Times Book Review “Highly intelligent and deeply moving … the sharpest, most compassionate and thorough-going insider's view of a Black middle-class family and the new South that I've ever read.” — Russell Banks


			CLARENCE MAJOR, “a distinguished novelist” (People), “a recognized pathfinder in the New Black literature” (Parnassus), and a winner of a 1970 National Council on the Arts Award, is the author of seven other novels and nine books of poetry, as well as works of nonfiction. His three most recent novels, My Amputations (Western States Book Award, 1986), Such Was the Season (Literary Guild selection, 1987 / New York Times Book Review “Summer Reading” citation, 1988) and Painted Turtle: Woman with Guitar (New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year, 1988), received wide critical attention.