Thieving Three-Fingered Jack

"Finally, the study of Obi for which we’ve been waiting: one that moves across not just historical periods but also language, culture, and media. In Thieving Three-Fingered Jack, Frances Botkin gives us an extraordinary study for understanding transatlantic literary relations. Few figures possess the necessary power to illuminate a region or an era, but Jack Mansong — especially in Professor Botkin’s hands — proves such a vehicle."
 

~Michael Gamer, associate professor of English, University of Pennsylvania

"With its seamless blending of disciplinary methods, Thieving Three-Fingered Jack explains how a fugitive slave became a transatlantic legend. Botkin moves transhistorically and transnationally to describe how Jack became a fictional and theatrical icon. In the process, she highlights the many insights made possible when folklore and literary studies converge."
 

~Daphne Lamothe, author of Inventing the New Negro: Narrative, Culture, and Ethnography

"[Thieving Three-Fingered Jack: Transatlantic Tales of a Jamaican Outlaw] discusses plays and songs written about Jack Mansong, an escaped slave turned bandit who came to be revered as a freedom fighter in Jamaica for his attacks on colonial planters."

~Chronicle

Forthcoming African American Studies Titles, 2018: A list of the latest and soon-to-be-released publications through October 2018.

~Choice