And willing convicted wards of the state who are sentenced to at least 25 years can opt out of their sentence and then participate in this sport. And it's to the death, and so, yeah, it's absolutely sort of this gladiatorial blood sport that has become sort of the hottest craze in this imagined America. Prisoners held in private prisons fight in staged, trademarked matches for freedom.ĪDJEI-BRENYAH: For their freedom eventually. SIMON: Let's try and set the premise here. And so I think this book is really just considering that fundamental idea that we've established pretty clearly, which is if you do bad things, we as a society are allowed to do anything to you. If you - I mean, if you think closely about the incarceration system and just how willing we are to lock human beings in cages, it's really not hard to imagine all the other ways we might administer inhumane circumstances to people. SIMON: I often ask a novelist, where'd you get this idea from? But, I mean, where did you not get this idea from (laughter)?ĪDJEI-BRENYAH: Right. NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH: Thank you for having me. 'Chain-Gang All-Stars' is the new novel from Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, the bestselling author of 'Friday Black,' and he joins us now from Eugene, Ore. That's a trademarked enterprise of Criminal Action Penal Entertainment. 'Chain-Gang All-Stars' is a novel that drips with blood and violence from the first scene, but also with love between Loretta Thurwar and Hurricane Staxxx, the two top-rated gladiators of the Chain-Gang All-Stars.

Nana kwame friday black