"For fifteen years, Mr. Sitwell has worked as the groundskeeper for the Barclays, a well-to-do white family. He is part of the household's all-black staff, along with "Miss Mamie," the talented cook, and new maid Jennie Williams. But the Barclays' fortunes have fallen, and their money is almost gone. When a business associate proposes selling Miss Mamie's delicious rib sauce under the brand name "The Rib King" -- using a caricature of a wildly grinning...

"Set in post-World War II Chicago and Omaha, the novel features Manfred Banks, a young, harmonica-blowing blues singer who is always writing music in his head. Torn between his friendships with fellow musicians and nightclub life and his responsibilities to his wife and child, along with the pressures of dealing with a racist America that assaults him at every turn, Manfred seeks easy answers in 'Dirty Bird' (Old Crow whiskey) and in moving on. He...