▁Sh ank ▁is ▁a ▁novel ▁lo os ely ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁life ▁of ▁Thomas ▁Gre ene ▁W igg ins , ▁a ▁nin ete enth - century ▁African - American ▁pian ist , ▁composer , ▁and ▁perform er , ▁who ▁played ▁under ▁the ▁stage ▁name ▁Bl ind ▁Tom . ▁Born ▁a ▁slave ▁in ▁Columb us , ▁Georgia , ▁in ▁ 1 8 4 9 , ▁Tom ▁began ▁giving ▁concert ▁rec it als ▁at ▁the ▁age ▁of ▁six ▁and ▁went ▁on ▁to ▁become ▁for ▁several ▁dec ades ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁famous ▁Americans ▁of ▁his ▁time . ▁Not ▁only ▁did ▁he ▁play ▁to ▁full ▁houses ▁across ▁the ▁US , ▁the ▁British ▁Is les , ▁and ▁Europe , ▁he ▁was ▁also ▁the ▁first ▁African ▁American ▁to ▁perform ▁at ▁the ▁White ▁House . ▁However , ▁he ▁has ▁for ▁the ▁most ▁part ▁disappeared ▁from ▁history , ▁in ▁part ▁because ▁music olog ists ▁have ▁come ▁to ▁view ▁him ▁as ▁an ▁aut istic ▁sav ant ▁who ▁lack ed ▁true ▁cre ative ▁ability . ▁ ▁Total ing ▁more ▁than ▁ 6 0 0 ▁pages , ▁the ▁novel ▁has ▁nine ▁sections ▁in ▁all , ▁each ▁told ▁in ▁third ▁or ▁first ▁person ▁from ▁the ▁point ▁of ▁view ▁of ▁varying ▁central ▁characters , ▁which ▁total ▁seven ▁in ▁all . ▁The ▁present ▁action ▁of ▁the ▁novel ▁covers ▁a ▁period ▁of ▁less ▁than ▁four ▁years , ▁from ▁ 1 8 6 6 ▁until ▁ 1 8 6 9 , ▁with ▁flash back s ▁to ▁the ▁earlier ▁years ▁of ▁Tom ' s ▁life . ▁When ▁the ▁novel