Witness

‘Brinkley’s sentences are daggers’ RAVEN LEILANI ‘Extraordinary … moving, compelling and virtuosic’ OBSERVER ‘A triumph’ COLIN BARRETT An electric collection of stories set in contemporary New York, from the award-winning author of A Lucky Man and National Book Award finalist, Jamel Brinkley. What does it mean to take action? To bear witness? What does it cost? These stories take us into the heart of contemporary New York City and its residents’ lives. We meet children, grandmothers and even ghosts as they strive to connect, to stand up for, and to really see each other. Their relationships shape not only their own futures but those of their families and their city. In its portraits of families and friendships, Witness enacts its own testimony. Here is a world where fortunes can be made and stolen in a generation, where strangers sometimes show kindness while those we trust—doctors, employers, siblings—too often turn away, where joy comes in snatches. With prose as upendingly beautiful as it is artfully crafted, Jamel Brinkley offers nothing less than the full scope of life and death and change in the great, unending drama of the city. ‘Exhilarating and impactful … Each story is a gift’ New York Times ‘A dazzling collection by a masterful storyteller’ Yiyun Li, author of The Book of Goose ‘Read everything this man writes, and regard the world anew’ Justin Torres, author of We the Animals ‘Jamel Brinkley is brilliant, the real thing, a revelation’ Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You ‘These are stories of rare beauty and insight, that glitter with humour and hurt, written with lambent clarity and tenderness’ David Hayden, author of Darker With the Lights On ‘There is all the involvedness and complexity of a novel in each story, which makes Witness so abundant and wise. A brilliant writer’ Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Wild Laughter ‘Read Witness and allow yourself the pleasure of seeing the world as Brinkley sees it' Angela Flournoy, author of The Turner House

‘Brinkley’s sentences are daggers’ RAVEN LEILANI ‘Extraordinary … moving, compelling and virtuosic’ OBSERVER ‘A triumph’ COLIN BARRETT An electric collection of stories set in contemporary New York, from the award-winning author of A Lucky Man and National Book Award finalist, Jamel Brinkley. What does it mean to take action? To bear witness? What does it cost? These stories take us into the heart of contemporary New York City and its residents’ lives. We meet children, grandmothers and even ghosts as they strive to connect, to stand up for, and to really see each other. Their relationships shape not only their own futures but those of their families and their city. In its portraits of families and friendships, Witness enacts its own testimony. Here is a world where fortunes can be made and stolen in a generation, where strangers sometimes show kindness while those we trust—doctors, employers, siblings—too often turn away, where joy comes in snatches. With prose as upendingly beautiful as it is artfully crafted, Jamel Brinkley offers nothing less than the full scope of life and death and change in the great, unending drama of the city. ‘Exhilarating and impactful … Each story is a gift’ New York Times ‘A dazzling collection by a masterful storyteller’ Yiyun Li, author of The Book of Goose ‘Read everything this man writes, and regard the world anew’ Justin Torres, author of We the Animals ‘Jamel Brinkley is brilliant, the real thing, a revelation’ Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You ‘These are stories of rare beauty and insight, that glitter with humour and hurt, written with lambent clarity and tenderness’ David Hayden, author of Darker With the Lights On ‘There is all the involvedness and complexity of a novel in each story, which makes Witness so abundant and wise. A brilliant writer’ Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Wild Laughter ‘Read Witness and allow yourself the pleasure of seeing the world as Brinkley sees it' Angela Flournoy, author of The Turner House

#1 New York Times bestseller for 13 consecutive weeks! "As long as humanity speaks of virtue and dreams of freedom, the life and writings of Whittaker Chambers will ennoble and inspire." - PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN "One of the dozen or so indispensable books of the century..." - GEORGE F. WILL "Witness changed my worldview, my philosophical perceptions, and, without exaggeration, my life." - ROBERT D. NOVAK, from his Foreward "Chambers has written one of the really significant American autobiographies. When some future Plutarch writes his American Live, he will find in Chambers penetrating and terrible insights into America in the early twentieth century." - ARTHUR SCHLESINGER JR. "Chambers had a gift for language....to call Chambers an activist or Witness a political event is to say Dostoevsky was a criminologist or Crime and Punishment a morality tract." - WASHINGTON POST "Chambers was not just the witness against Alger Hiss, but was also one of th articulators of the modern conservative philosophy, a philosophy that has something to do with restoring the spiritual values of politics." - SAM TANENHAUS, author of Whittaker Chambers "One of the few indispensable autobiographies ever written by an American - and one of the best written, too." - HILTON KRAMER, The New Criterion First published in 1952, Witness is the true story of Soviet spies in America and the trial that captivated a nation. Part literary effort, part philosophical treatise, this intriguing autobiography recounts the famous Alger Hiss case and reveals much more. Chambers' worldview and his belief that "man without mysticism is a monster" went on to help make political conservatism a national force. Regnery History's Cold War Classics edition is the most comprehensive version of Witness ever published, featuring forewords collected from all previous editions, including discussions from luminaries William F. Buckley Jr., Robert D. Novak, Milton Hindus, and Alfred S. Regnery.

#1 New York Times bestseller for 13 consecutive weeks! "As long as humanity speaks of virtue and dreams of freedom, the life and writings of Whittaker Chambers will ennoble and inspire." - PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN "One of the dozen or so indispensable books of the century..." - GEORGE F. WILL "Witness changed my worldview, my philosophical perceptions, and, without exaggeration, my life." - ROBERT D. NOVAK, from his Foreward "Chambers has written one of the really significant American autobiographies. When some future Plutarch writes his American Live, he will find in Chambers penetrating and terrible insights into America in the early twentieth century." - ARTHUR SCHLESINGER JR. "Chambers had a gift for language....to call Chambers an activist or Witness a political event is to say Dostoevsky was a criminologist or Crime and Punishment a morality tract." - WASHINGTON POST "Chambers was not just the witness against Alger Hiss, but was also one of th articulators of the modern conservative philosophy, a philosophy that has something to do with restoring the spiritual values of politics." - SAM TANENHAUS, author of Whittaker Chambers "One of the few indispensable autobiographies ever written by an American - and one of the best written, too." - HILTON KRAMER, The New Criterion First published in 1952, Witness is the true story of Soviet spies in America and the trial that captivated a nation. Part literary effort, part philosophical treatise, this intriguing autobiography recounts the famous Alger Hiss case and reveals much more. Chambers' worldview and his belief that "man without mysticism is a monster" went on to help make political conservatism a national force. Regnery History's Cold War Classics edition is the most comprehensive version of Witness ever published, featuring forewords collected from all previous editions, including discussions from luminaries William F. Buckley Jr., Robert D. Novak, Milton Hindus, and Alfred S. Regnery.