Bunyan and Henry; Or, the Beautiful Destiny -- Mark Cecil, Hardcover

A large-hearted reimagining of beloved all-American legends, this epic debut novel brings men of myth Paul Bunyan and John Henry alive like never before, teaming up for an adventure quest with deeper interrogations of race, class, and industrialization.

Paul Bunyan--legendary larger-than-life American lumberjack--is a man down on his luck. With a load of family debts on his broad back, he ekes out a miserable miner's life in Lump Town, a bleak hamlet controlled by famed industrialist El Boffo. When Bunyan's wife Lucette falls ill with a disease caused by the toxic mineral Lump, he embarks on a quest to save her. His only guide: the Chilali--a mysterious creature who speaks only in questions.

Bunyan's path leads to The Windy City--and to John Henry. Henry is not yet the "steel-drivin'" man known to folklore, but a fugitive on the run from a rigged, racist prison system. As Bunyan and Henry strive to reunite with the families they love, they must work together to solve riddles, forge weapons, brawl with a behemoth, and confront at every turn the relentless, duplicitous El Boffo.

A richly imaginative reinvention of myth, Bunyan and Henry is at once a timeless quest, a fresh origin story, and an urgent modern fable that wrestles with the two sides of the American dream--its wild idealism and cruel underbelly--to inspire the awakening of the folk hero in us all.

Author: Mark Cecil
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Published: 03/26/2024
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.34lbs
Size: 9.43h x 6.44w x 1.26d
ISBN: 9780593471166

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 10/01/2023 pg. 5
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2024
Publishers Weekly 01/22/2024
Booklist 03/01/2024 pg. 29

About the Author
MARK CECIL is host of The Thoughtful Bro show, for which he conducts interviews with an eclectic roster of award-winning and breakout storytellers. Formerly a journalist for Reuters, he is Head of Strategy for literary social media startup A Mighty Blaze and has taught writing at Grub Street in Boston. This is his first book.