New York: Random House, 1998. SIGNED first edition - SIGNED on the title page. First novel by this African American writer, the son of Maya Angelou. At over 500 pages, it is a massive book covering the period from World War I to Jazz Age Harlem, rum-running in prohibition New Orleans and finally life in an all-black township in Oklahoma. I found the book to be both deeply flawed and mesmerizing - an unusual debut. 548 pp.