From the acclaimed author of Shackling Water comes the first great race novel of the twenty-first century, an incendiary and ruthlessly funny satire about violence, pop culture, and American identity. Macon Detornay is a suburban white boy possessed and politicized by black culture, and filled with rage toward white America. After moving to New York City for college, Macon begins robbing white passengers in his taxicab, setting off a manhunt for the black man presumed to be committing the crimes. When his true identity is revealed, Macon finds himself to be a celebrity and makes use of the spotlight to hold forth on the evils and invisibility of whiteness. Soon he launches the Race Traitor Project, a stress-addled collective that attracts guilty liberals, wannabe gangstas, and bandwagon riders from all over the country to participate in a Day of Apology—a day set aside for white people to make amends for four hundred years of oppression. The Day of Apology pushes New York City over the edge into an epic riot, forcing Macon to confront the depth of his own commitment to the struggle. Peopled with all manner of race pimps and players, Angry Black White Boy is a stunning breakout book from a critically acclaimed young writer and should be required reading for anyone who wants to get under the skin of the complexities of identity in America.

Discharge is the comic story of four gay sailors being released from the Navy in 1995. While stationed in Western Australia, Hospital Corpsman Mickey Matlin, the married father of two young children, is discovered in an intimate situation with 19-year-old Seaman Apprentice Eddie Vasquez. Journalist Jon Gates is dumped by the base dentist at the same time, and in a somewhat dramatic fashion, he informs the Legal Officer he is gay and requests a release from the Navy ASAP. No hard feelings. He simply wants to be free of the military in the same way Elizabeth Taylor wanted to be rid of Eddie Fisher after she met Richard Burton. Arrangements are made for the sailors to journey to Treasure Island, off the coast of San Francisco. In Perth, they meet up with Machinists Mate Lawrence Watts who is also en route to the states for a medical discharge. Their travels take them through New Zealand, Sidney, and Honolulu. They consider the trip a last fling of sorts that is, until they reach Treasure Island where they are tossed into a daytime jail disciplinary barracks, which allows them evening liberty in San Francisco. There is screaming and some sex, as each man struggles to construct a new life outside of the military. Young Vasquez deals with coming out issues. Watts learns to accept his HIV status, and Mickey Matlin must confront his wife, who joins them in San Francisco from their rural Illinois home. Their stories are related through letters, journal entries, and other fairy tales that document their military discharges.

A slapstick satire on race relations featuring Gunnar Kaufman, a black writer from Santa Monica who becomes famous by saying all the right things whites want to hear. The novel pokes fun at both blacks and whites. A first novel.

Actor and social commentator Joseph C. Phillips speaks powerfully about the topic of life as a conservative African-American actor, husband, father, and citizen. In today's political climate, with race such an issue, this collection of essays is not only timely, but thought provoking. Like Democratic candidate for President Barack Obama, Phillips has had his authenticity as a black man questioned by members of his own race, for trivial reasons such as the way he speaks, his choices in music, politics, faith, and family. Also like Obama, Phillips has often been accused of not being “black enough,” while, as an actor, he has encountered even more pointing fingers for not being liberal enough. With a frank voice, this brilliant and outspoken author presents a series of witty and provocative essays that examine life as a conservative African-American, and the simple fact that authenticity is far more complicated than one's choice of words.

A sixth-generation North Carolinian, highly-acclaimed author John Ehle grew up on former Cherokee hunting grounds. His experience as an accomplished novelist, combined with his extensive, meticulous research, culminates in this moving tragedy rich with historical detail. The Cherokee are a proud, ancient civilization. For hundreds of years they believed themselves to be the "Principle People" residing at the center of the earth. But by the 18th century, some of their leaders believed it was necessary to adapt to European ways in order to survive. Those chiefs sealed the fate of their tribes in 1875 when they signed a treaty relinquishing their land east of the Mississippi in return for promises of wealth and better land. The U.S. government used the treaty to justify the eviction of the Cherokee nation in an exodus that the Cherokee will forever remember as the “trail where they cried.” The heroism and nobility of the Cherokee shine through this intricate story of American politics, ambition, and greed. B & W photographs

In 1738, a great plague killed nearly half the Cherokee people and drove the survivors higher into the Smoky Mountains. Years later another kind of plague - the invasion of the white men - would ultimately lead to the forced exodus of the Cherokees in 1838 on the Trail of Tears. During this hundred-year span, murder and massacre prey on all people in the Enchanted Land, including the Africans who were brought to this land not by choice, but by slavery. Born into this world is Bucklee Brown, a boy destined to live in a mystical land where Cherokee spiritualism and Christian beliefs collide and blend. Unto this land come the soldiers following brutally clear orders to remove the Cherokees by any means necessary. Blood law and blood lust lead to battle in the blue smoke of the great mountains. This is a time of good and evil, of redemption and revenge. In the midst of tragedy and death, this is a time of spiritual strength found through faith in an amazing grace.