{"product_id":"the-terrible-fours-9781771862431","title":"The Terrible Fours","description":"When Ishmael Reed wrote \u003ci\u003eThe Terrible Twos \u003c\/i\u003eabout the American infantile need for instant gratification, he could not have realized that in June 2020, journalist Nicole Wallace would be referring to a president as a \"toddler.\" Reed had parodied other genres, the gothic novel, the detective novel, the western, and the neo-slave narrative, a term that he coined in 1984, and which began a big academic payroll as it was included in syllabi nation-wide. From his first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Free-Lance Pallbearers\u003c\/i\u003e, Afro-Futurist before the critical term existed, Ishmael Reed has reshaped traditional forms and extended them. As a Jazz pianist, who has performed in clubs and even in a palace in Italy, he compares it to taking cliché chords and re-harmonizing them. \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Terrible Fours \u003c\/i\u003efollows \u003ci\u003eThe Terrible Twos \u003c\/i\u003e(1982) and \u003ci\u003eThe Terrible Threes \u003c\/i\u003e(1989). It is part science fiction, part Washington Novel (Think Drew Pearson's novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Senator\u003c\/i\u003e, films \u003ci\u003eSeven Days In May\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Manchurian Candidate\u003c\/i\u003e) and part Christmas Novel. Some characters have been dropped and some of the principals are back. St. Nicholas is here, but his sidekick Black Peter is missing. Dean Clift, the president who was removed from office, still resides in a Maryland sanatorium. Televangelist Clement Jones still runs the White House. \"The Rapture\" that Jones and the figurehead president Jesse Hatch promised hasn't arrived. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The citizens of the planet Dido await an invasion from earth and their planet, an alien in the body of a deceased television producer, works inside the government and attempts to disrupt the invasion. Termite Control, a follower of Odin and a necrophiliac who was dismissed as a political threat in \u003ci\u003eThe Terrible Threes\u003c\/i\u003e, is gaining in the polls, and more and more and more. Reviewing \u003ci\u003eThe Terrible Twos\u003c\/i\u003e, the late John Leonard wrote in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e: \"Mr. Reed is as close as we are likely to get to a Garcia Marquez, elaborating his own mythology even as he trashes ours.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-10486956\"\u003eIshmael Reed\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Baraka Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/15\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 182\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.35h x 5.43w x 0.55d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781771862431\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1771862432\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC052000\"\u003eSatire\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC049000\"\u003eAfrican American \u0026amp; Black | General\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIshmael Reed\u003c\/b\u003e is a poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and songwriter. He has won prizes and grants in each category. He is also an illustrator and Jazz pianist. His most recent awards include the Alberto Dubito Award for International Poetry, presented at the Ca'Foscari University in Venice in 2016 and The AUDELCO award for theater presented in 2017. In 2019, he began his 36th year as a professor at The University of California at Berkeley. He also teaches at the California College of the Arts where he is a distinguished professor. His most recent books published by Baraka Books are \u003ci\u003eWhy No Confederate Statues in Mexico \u003c\/i\u003e(2019) and \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Muhammad Ali \u003c\/i\u003e(Baraka, 2015).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Baraka Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42684393095405,"sku":"9781771862431","price":32.52,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_22f62e47-2551-43aa-97d8-800b29d5c98b.jpg?v=1649754040","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/the-terrible-fours-9781771862431","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}