作者簡介

威廉．史岱隆 William Styron

1925年生於維吉尼亞州，畢業於杜剋大學，曾在美國海軍陸戰隊服役，被譽為繼海明威和福剋納之後最偉大的作傢之一。1951年，長篇小說處女作《在黑暗中躺下》一問世就獲得美國文學藝術學會的大獎。1967年齣版的《奈特杜納的告白》為其摘下1968年普立茲文學獎桂冠。1978年由著名的蘭登書屋齣版的《蘇菲的抉擇》成為美國當代小說的經典之作，被譽為「西方小說史上的裏程碑作品」，為史岱隆贏得當年的美國國傢書捲獎。其小說慣於將死亡與性，殘酷與激情融為一體。另著有《漫長的行程》、《縱火焚屋》、《靜靜的灰塵》和《看得見的黑暗》等。

譯者簡介

謝瑤玲

美國伊利諾大學比較文學博士，東吳大學英文係及政治大學教授。從事翻譯工作多年，譯作超過兩百本，有《蘇菲的抉擇》、《玫瑰的名字》、《英美兒童文學簡介》、《女教皇》、《花園宴會》、《標點符號全麵通》、《最動人的英文》、《布萊森之英文超正典》、《死也要上報》等。目前從事教學、研究、論述，並持續翻譯，從不間斷。

In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery...

The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's Life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; is also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, Willie Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations--and hopes--which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who held his people in bondage.

From the Hardcover edition.