Screamin' Jay Hawkins' all-time greatest hits

By Mark Binelli

Subjects: Musicians, fiction, African americans, fiction, African American musicians, FICTION / Literary, New York Times reviewed, Fiction, FICTION / Biographical, Fiction, biographical

Description: "The R & B wildman Screamin' Jay Hawkins only had a single hit, the classic "I Put a Spell On You," and was often written off as a clownish novelty act -- or worse, an offense to his race -- but his myth-making was legendary. In [this] novel, Mark Binelli embraces the man and the legend to create a hilarious, tragic, fantastical portrait of this unlikeliest of protagonists. Hawkins saw his life story as a wild picaresque, and Binelli's novel follows suit, tackling the subject in a dazzling collage-like style."--