7.4 /10 1 Votes
Language English Media type Print Originally published 1974 Page count 177 Publisher Random House | 3.7/5 Goodreads Publication date 1974 Pages 177 ISBN 0394491882 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Yellow Back Radio Broke‑Down, The Free‑Lance Pallbearers, Mumbo Jumbo, Reckless eyeballing, Japanese by spring | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Last Days of Louisiana Red (1974) is a novel written by Ishmael Reed. It is considered a model novel of the Black Arts Movement and contains many elements of postmodernism. It continues the story of the character Papa LaBas introduced in Reed's previous novel, 1972's Mumbo Jumbo. The book revolves heavily around voodoo.
Contents
Plot summary
A satiric look at 1960s politics, The Last Days of Louisiana Red follows investigator Papa LaBas as he tries to figure out who murdered Ed Yellings, the proprietor of the Solid Gumbo Works. In the story, Labas finds himself fighting the rising tide of violence propagated by Louisiana Red and the militant opportunists, the Moochers. Eventually, Labas learns that the murder has been a conspiracy to dethrone the Gumbo business because Ed was trying to create medicine that would stop heroin addiction.