Isaac's Song by Daniel Black

*A Washington Post Best Book of January 2025* *A Southern Review of Books Best Southern Book of January 2025* *A Book Riot 13 of the Best New Queer Books Out in January 2025* *A Book of the Month Pick for January 2025* *From the Viral Clark Atlanta University Commencement Speaker* *From the Georgia Author of the Year Award Winner* "Black beautifully chronicles one man's heroic quest to find the source of his generational trauma, a cure for his pain, and ultimately, himself."—Michael Harriot, New York Times bestselling author of Black AF History The beloved author of Don’t Cry for Me and Perfect Peace returns with a poignant, emotionally exuberant novel about a young queer Black man finding his voice in 1980s Chicago—a novel of family, forgiveness and perseverance, for fans of The Great Believers and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Isaac is at a crossroads in his young life. Growing up in Missouri, the son of a caustic, hard-driving father, he was conditioned to suppress his artistic pursuits and physical desires, notions that didn’t align with a traditional view of masculinity. But now, in late ’80s Chicago, Isaac has finally carved out a life of his own. He is sensitive and tenderhearted and has built up the courage to seek out a community. Yet just as he begins to embrace who he is, two social catalysts—the AIDS crisis and Rodney King’s attack—collectively extinguish his hard-earned joy. At a therapist’s encouragement, Isaac begins to write down his story. In the process, he taps into a creative energy that will send him on a journey back to his family, his ancestral home in Arkansas and the inherited trauma of the nation’s dark past. But a surprise discovery will either unlock the truths he’s seeking or threaten to derail the life he’s fought so hard to claim. Poignant, sweeping and luminously told, Isaac's Song is a return to the beloved characters of Don’t Cry for Me and a high-water mark in the career of an award-winning author.