From Reflex and Bone Structure

Abstract

Part One of the book contains excerpts from six of Clarence Major’s novels: Reflex and Bone Structure, My Amputations, Such Was the Season, Painted Turtle: Woman with Guitar, Dirty Bird Blues, and One Flesh. Reflex and Bone Structure (1975) is a narrative of subtle clues regarding Majors’s Manhattan characters; the story then shifts to a road trip. Painted Turtle is an examination of Zuni life from the perspective of the narrator, who meets the title character as an adult and, from the stories she has told him, pieces together her existence from childhood on. The novel incorporates cultural language, traditions, and mental illness linked to the legacy of attempted race extermination. My Amputations chronicles a fictional African American poet abroad in Nice and Oxford for conference and readings. One Flesh centers on John and Susie, a black painter and a Chinese American poet in San Francisco, who are considering marriage.