![]() First edition cover | |
Author | Ta-Nehisi Coates |
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Audio read by | Joe Morton[1] |
Cover artist | Calida Garcia Rawles[2] |
Language | English |
Genre | Historical fiction, science fiction |
Publisher | One World |
Publication date | September 24, 2019 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Pages | 407 |
ISBN | 978-0-399-59059-7 |
813/.6 | |
LC Class | PS3603.O17 W38 2019 |
The Water Dancer is the debut novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates, published on September 24, 2019, by Random House under its One World imprint. It is a surrealist story set in the pre-Civil War South, concerning a superhuman protagonist named Hiram Walker who possesses photographic memory, but who cannot remember his mother, and, late in the novel, is able to transport people over long distances by using a power known as "conduction". This power is based in the power of memory and storytelling and can fold the Earth like fabric and allows him to travel across large areas via waterways.[3]
The novel debuted at number one on The New York Times fiction best-seller list and was selected for the revival of Oprah's Book Club.