Times up! Today's the last day for the Harbors pre-ordering. If you purchase a copy today, you get the book, free shipping in the U.S., an e-book later in the year that can be given away, and a postcard from the author. If you don't care about the extras, the book will continue to be available for sale on our website. Order by 9/15/16 if you want it delivered 9/22/16. We've had so much buzz about this book—you're going to want a copy of your own!
“At a time when honest discussions of race, class, and violence are both necessary and too often simplistic, along comes Donald Quist. Perhaps this is what it takes—a uniquely positioned literary talent—to get us past familiar easy categories. In Harbors, Quist assembles fragments, memories, conversations both real and imagined to reveal people in all their complexity and contradictions as well as the shifting lines of privilege and oppression. As Quist writes of three continents, his slim volume becomes my passport.”
—Diane Lefer, author of Confessions of a Carnivore
“In Harbors, Donald Quist gathers those moments of clarity that shape one man’s consciousness about the black experience in a global environment. Whether it’s growing up in the American South or seeking adventure in places as far away as Thailand, there’s no escaping the fixed perceptions about class, race and masculinity. Quist’s poignant essays show us, however, what it’s like to move through tension, conflict and microaggression with hard-won dignity and grace—not unscathed, not unphased, though certainly undefeated. A timely stellar collection!”
—Rigoberto González, author of Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa
“In Harbors, Donald Quist bravely chronicles his attempts to find safe haven, to carve a space for himself and his humanity in a world where his blackness marks him for second-class citizenship. Quist sifts through the wreckages of his self—of love, of family, of escape across continents—to show readers the scars he’s earned and the pain that still radiates from them. This is a much needed work, the rare collection that enlivens and enlarges the humanity of the reader.”
—Rion Amilcar Scott, author of Insurrections: Stories
Suspended between continents and cultures, Donald Quist charts the forceful undercurrents of an American identity. Through these essays Quist explores feelings of oppression and alienation as he wrestles with a single act of violence in a Washington, D.C. suburb, racial tensions in a rural South Carolina town, and the welcome anonymity of crowded Bangkok streets. These personal narratives are rich with Quist’s experience growing up as a person of color caught between parents, socioeconomic classes, and the countries he calls home.
Cover design by Maggie Chiang
Layout and design by LK James
Editing by Tatiana Ryckman
Copyediting by Emily Roberts