Product Description

This collection of forty-seven stories written between 1919 and 1963--the most comprehensive available--showcases Langston Hughes's literary blossoming and the development of his personal and artistic concerns. Many of the stories assembled here have long been out of print, and others never before collected. These poignant, witty, angry, and deeply poetic stories demonstrate Hughes's uncanny gift for elucidating the most vexing questions of American race relations and human nature in general.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3219304 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: School & Library Binding

Amazon.com Review
Sometimes called the Poet Laureate of Black America, Langston Hughes was also an accomplished writer of fiction, with a novel and several collections of stories to his credit. This collection brings together nearly 50 of Hughes's best stories. Many are drawn from three earlier collections, but some are between book covers for the first time. Of special note for anyone interested in Hughes's development as a writer are three stories written when Hughes was a high school student in Cleveland.

From Publishers Weekly
This collection of 47 stories, many previously out-of-print, is a welcome and overdue addition that clearly shows the evolution of Hughes's literary sensibility and craft. Harper, a Spelman College professor, has assembled these stories in order of their publication and has included an appendix of early work, some of which are from Hughes's high-school literary magazine. Largely autobiographical, and set in locations around the world (but most frequently in this country), many of these stories revolve around the same themes: the ultimately demeaning patronage of whites; the challenges of realizing dreams in a world of limited opportunity; and the timeless tensions between the sexes. By turns poignant and indignant, these stories achieve power by revealing small moments that betray more universal truths. In "Slave on the Block," a dilettante white painter doesn't understand the defiance of her model, posing as a slave for sale, who leaves abruptly before the work is complete. "Professor" describes the hidden humiliation of a black educator whose imagination sustains him as he endures an evening with wealthy white patrons from whom he is seeking funds for his small college. Stories inspired by Hughes's year aboard a freighter that plied the coast of West Africa are included, as are tales from his most famous collection, The Ways of White Folk. Princeton professor Arnold Rampersand's cogent introduction places the work in context. This is a thoughtfully assembled collection, in which readers can see Hughes mature, moving from idealism and broad sentiment toward a canny, worldly wisdom.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
What a pleasure to read literature from another time and another era, written by one of the masters of the genre. In this collection of short stories, Hughes (1902-67) explores race relations with a sense of humor, depicting the habits of white folks as well as those of black folks at the risk of angering his readers. Dating from 1919 to 1963, these pieces vary in theme, covering life at sea, the trials and tribulations of a young pianist and her elderly white patron, a visiting writer's experience in Cuba, a young girl's winning an art scholarship but losing it when it's learned she is black, and an ambitious black preacher trying to gain fame by being nailed to a cross. If you crave good reading, don't pass up this gem, for editor Harper (English, Spelman Coll.) has succeeded in bringing to light several of the best of Hughes's works. Highly recommended.?Ann Burns, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A Very Enjoyable Read
I have recently taken on the project of reading all the classic novels I was suppose to care about in high school and college. I started with Langston Hughes.
I found the introduction to this book most helpful in understanding where Mr. Hughes was writing from. It is odd how little has changed from pre WWII society to today. If you are looking for a wonderful look into the African American mind and world, this is the book to read. Such a vast array of different stories, form merchant steamer to Harlem to South America, this book has it all. I especially recommend you to spend time reading "Cora Unashamed" I read it four times in the first sitting and have now revisited it a number of times finding hidden colors and tones that are remarkable.

A must for Langston fans
This is a wonderful collection of classic Hughes stories. These are wonderful pieces to introduce some to his writings. Some of my favorites are "Cora Unashamed" which was made into a PBS movie, "Slave on the Block", "Spanish Blood", and "Who's Passing for Who" among so many. "The Blues I'm Playing" explores the patron/artis relationship so prevalent during the Harlem Renaissance that had black artists in a child/parent relationship with wealthy whites who often felt these talented young people owed them their lives. This is a book where you can read a couple of stories and come back and read some more. Along with the Semple stories and his poems this is a collection to have and keep.

The Dean of Black American Literature & American Lit
Langston Hughes entire body of work is a testament to his love and pride of being a black American. Though he never excluded his common bond of brotherhood with other people of non-African decent, black Americans occupied first place in his affections and concerns. He never turned his back to them to win the approbation of a larger audience by catering to stereotypes. He had a profound dislike for blacks ashamed of being black,ashamed or who denied their African heritage, ashamed of their skin, and who catered to the worst prejudices of the larger audience in any medium for profit and fame or just to be liked and accepted--like a worrisome number today.

Like his poetry, Hughes short stories reflected much of his philosophy about being proudly black and the shared commonality of all people. Here in LANGSTON HUGHES: SHORT STORIES, edited by Akiba Sullivan Harper with and introduction by Arnold Rampersad, is the proof. Many of the stories presented here are those that have been out of print for some time ,or, are being printed for the first time since they were created. Much like the COLLECTED POEMS by Rampersad, an effort has been made to put the stories in chronological order by the date they were written or published. In all the stories represent a brief overview of specific short stories, not "all" Hughes short stories, and are different in tone and universal in some topics while still embracing black identity. My favorites are "Blessed Assurance" (protesting homophobia in the black community and black church in Hughes's own understandably gay closeted way) and those inspired by his early sea travels. The appendix of this book contains those stories written when Hughes was still in high school.

Like much of Hughes body of work, what he produced is still relevant today in one way or another as in the day he first put pen to paper or struck the keys of a typewriter to entertain and make a statement.