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New York Times
SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW
‘A Brief History of Seven Killings,’ by Marlon James
By ZACHARY LAZAR
OCT. 23, 2014
“A Brief History of Seven Killings” is based in part on the real-life story of the Shower Posse, who began their rise in *early-'60s Kingston and spread to America, where, by the 1980s, they controlled much of the crack trade in New York and Miami — in the book, they form an alliance with Griselda Blanco of the Medellín *cartel.
The partnership echoed another one, when Jamaica’s prime minister Edward Seaga and his Jamaica Labour Party used the gang as enforcers in the slums of Tivoli Gardens (called Copenhagen City in James’s novel), which became that party’s fief. Both the J.L.P. and their rival party, the P.N.P. (People’s National Party), had armed gangs in their service, for whoever controlled the slums controlled Kingston, and whoever won the Kingston vote won the nation’s elections.
New York Times
SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW
‘A Brief History of Seven Killings,’ by Marlon James
By ZACHARY LAZAR
OCT. 23, 2014
“A Brief History of Seven Killings” is based in part on the real-life story of the Shower Posse, who began their rise in *early-'60s Kingston and spread to America, where, by the 1980s, they controlled much of the crack trade in New York and Miami — in the book, they form an alliance with Griselda Blanco of the Medellín *cartel.
The partnership echoed another one, when Jamaica’s prime minister Edward Seaga and his Jamaica Labour Party used the gang as enforcers in the slums of Tivoli Gardens (called Copenhagen City in James’s novel), which became that party’s fief. Both the J.L.P. and their rival party, the P.N.P. (People’s National Party), had armed gangs in their service, for whoever controlled the slums controlled Kingston, and whoever won the Kingston vote won the nation’s elections.
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