Cutting Time

by Robert Dunn

Willie Lee Reed, a young guitarslinger from Detroit, blows into the South Side of Chicago to challenge the master of the blues, Heddy Days, in a cutting session—only to be beaten by one perfect note. But Willie Lee's genius is clear; it's just that he has a lot to learn. This is a novel of fierce competitions, murder, desire, civic corruption, and powerful hoodoo, exploring how we suffer and fight for the lives we are born to fulfill.

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Robert Dunn is a writer, teacher, and musician. He has published widely, including work in the New Yorker and an O. Henry Prize story, as well as the musical novels Pink Cadillac (a Book Sense 76 pick), Cutting Time, Soul Cavalcade, Meet the Annas, Look at Flower, and Stations of the Cross.

Dunn has worked for the New Yorker magazine and Sports Illustrated, as well as teaching fiction writing at The New School in New York City. In the 1980s he was Bernard Malamud’s personal assistant.

Lately, Dunn has taken up photography; his photobooks (OWS, Angel Parade, and Meeting Robert Frank) are available at the ICP Bookstore, Dashwood, the Strand, and numerous other art bookstores.

Dunn is married to a film art director and lives in New York City.