White Tears

by Hari Kunzru

English language

Published Oct. 7, 2017

ISBN:: 978-0-451-49369-9

(10 reviews)

From one of the most talented fiction writers at work today: two ambitious young musicians are drawn into the dark underworld of blues record collecting, haunted by the ghosts of a repressive past.

Two twenty-something New Yorkers. Seth is awkward and shy. Carter is glamorous and the heir to one of America's great fortunes. They have one thing in common: an obsession with music. Seth is desperate to reach for the future. Carter is slipping back into the past. When Seth accidentally records an unknown singer in a park, Carter sends it out over the Internet, claiming it's a long lost 1920s blues recording by a musician called Charlie Shaw. When an old collector contacts them to say that their fake record and their fake bluesman are actually real, the two young white men, accompanied by Carter's troubled sister Leonie, spiral down into the heart of the nation's darkness, encountering …

From one of the most talented fiction writers at work today: two ambitious young musicians are drawn into the dark underworld of blues record collecting, haunted by the ghosts of a repressive past.

White Tears is a ghost story, a terrifying murder mystery, a timely meditation on race, and a love letter to all the forgotten geniuses of American music.

2 editions

GG reviewed White Tears by Hari Kunzru

Review of 'White Tears' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The NYT review of this book neatly summarizes the premise: “Every time America listens to its music it comes to grips, whether we realize it or not, with the chapter of a story we haven’t wanted to hear for 150 years.” I really loved the point the author was trying to make and the plot vehicle he used to make it, but I think the writing was a bit too meandering, and I wish he had edited it a little bit more cleanly to get rid of extraneous characters and scenes that detracted from the overall effect. It’s still a powerful and entertaining read that underscores how racism and the legacy of Jim Crow continues to infect modern-day American culture.

greystar reviewed White Tears by Hari Kunzru

Review of 'White Tears' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Wow. What to say? So well written, I hated the characters, the synopsis left out the super natural aspects of the book, and the climax was a plot twist. This book caught me and held me to the end, but I’m not sure I liked it and I don’t think it was worth my time. I’d move on.