All Man's Land (Expanded with "Don Miguel—The Wise")

All Man's Land (Expanded with "Don Miguel—The Wise")

MAVERICK WINNER Will Rogers Medallion Awards, FINALIST Best Novel Western Writers of America Spur Awards. Inspired by the great activist, actor, and singer Paul Robeson, ALL MAN'S LAND is the story of Benjamin Neill, a former slave and decorated Civil War hero who rides into a frontier town with a sack of books, a gift for song, and a powerful message. Here is a modern take on the singing cowboy—only Benjamin Neill is as able with a spiritual as he is with a Hebrew chant. Those who don't know him, fear him. Those who know him, fear him even more. By his trials, we will know him. All Man's Land is a uniquely American story about the fight for racial and social justice. In this expanded edition, author D. Laszlo Conhaim adds a powerful, fictional remembrance of Spanish thinker Miguel de Unamuno with "Don Miguel—The Wise." In his last public act, Unamuno faces off against a fascist general in the first months of the Spanish Civil War. Conhaim's longtime editor Diane Piron-Gelman writes, "These two pieces of fiction are strikingly different in style and tone—novel vs. short story, former slave and Civil War hero living through tumultuous events in a small Wyoming town vs. aging Spanish academic relating his own past in the context of a different civil war. But they share certain hallmarks: spare but evocative prose, complex characters with rich inner lives, and themes that make us think long after the story ends. Thematically, both these works explore the power of memory, how the past shapes the present, and the price of courage. "Benjamin Neill of All Man's Land is a reluctant hero, a former soldier weary of battling a society that has little place for any Black man, let alone one who speaks for human dignity with the voice of a prophet. He has come to Wyoming to right an old wrong, even though he may pay for it with his life. Ben's encounter with David Cohen, the Jewish youth he befriends, leads David to a pivotal choice." As did Miguel de Unamuno, Paul Robeson lent his voice to the fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War, singing in Spain in 1937 to the Lincoln Brigade of American volunteer soldiers. But by then, Unamuno had met his suspicious end. The exploration of a black-Jewish relationship in frontier times would seem challenge enough, but Conhaim blends this reality-based novel with a striking consideration of the overall prejudices and sentiments of the times, injecting fictional drama and embellishments into a kind of memoir that is absorbing and enlightening on many levels. One strength in Conhaim's story undoubtedly lies in its evolutionary process, because his manuscript sat forgotten for thirty years until he resurrected and revised All Man's Land for publication. Perhaps this lends to an even more powerful retrospective piece, for having aged gracefully in the years since its original incarnation. All Man's Land returns to a world that has largely moved away from Western popular fiction and memories of Paul Robeson, but it lives on as a tribute to this powerful individual and resurrects a sense of his multifaceted talents while providing a social commentary on America's early years ... [it] weaves a powerful story of how times change, and how one man's purpose becomes an inspiring message for new generations. Replete with powerful messages for modern times, All Man's Land drives its story with a blend of social inspection, historical precedent, and cultural insights. Readers of literary fiction will find it earns a place in any collection. -- Donovan's Bookshelf A fictional tribute to renaissance man Paul Robeson, All Man's Land is a solid literary work ... of social inspection, historical precedent,and cultural insights ... readers will delight in a story that is far more literary and intellectual than the typical Western entertainment. --Midwest Book Review Conhaim draws on various elements of the classic Western ... to tell a story inspired by his longtime fascination with the singer and activist Paul Robeson ... Benjamin is a compelling, multilayered protagonist who movesbeyond his Robeson inspiration ... The prose is vivid and often dramatic,which makes for a memorable read ... A well-developed and thoughtful novel of right and wrong in the Old West. --Kirkus Reviews Inspired by the music and life of Paul Robeson, D. László Conhaim's All Man's Land ... reminds the reader that the most unlikely of relationships can form even in spaces where they should not exist ... Seeing the humanity in another person is a meaningful sub theme ... I thoroughly enjoyed this book ... It is a book that should be read in classrooms and community book clubs. It is one to add to the discussion of race relations as this country should be All Man's Land. --Christian Starr "In 2019, this reviewer first wrote about All Man's Land , a novel about Benjamin Neill, a former slave and reluctant Civil War hero whose appearance in a frontier town with a sack of books and a storyteller's compulsion challen