The Unicorn Woman

Gayl Jones's work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her form is impeccable; from a historical standpoint, she stands at the very cutting edge of understanding the modern world, and as a Black woman writer, her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humour, and incisiveness, is unmatched. Jones is a writer's writer, and her influence is found everywhere -- Imani Perry

Through Buddy's picaresque journey, Gayl Jones
shows her mastery of both dialogue and interiority.
There is a bare minimum of scene-setting and little
indication of actions such as standing, sitting or
leaving a room. Instead we find encounter after
encounter with richly individuated characters, each
sporting his or her own verbal idiosyncrasies, as
noted by a well-read travelling man with an acute ear
for speech patterns, just like his creator.

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