It's been a long time since I came across a novel that gripped me as much as Edward P. Jones' Pulitzer Prize winner, The Known World. Mr. Jones has created some of the most complex, intriguing and "real" fictional characters I have encountered in a long time. As he says in his interview at the end of the audiobook, even the most minor characters are very dynamic and rich. The story itself is masterfully woven, told in the third person narrative, but subtly reminiscent of an oral tradition of history that is less popular these days than it once was. Based on this novel, I plan purchasing both of Mr. Jones' short story collections as soon as possible.