 | Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Buy new: $7.50 / Used from: $0.01 The most famous of his novels. His short story, "Sonny's Blues" was one of the first in the African-American tradition to be included in intro to American Lit. It remains distinct due to it's use and description of music I love all of Baldwin's work.
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 | James Baldwin : Collected Essays : Notes of a Native Son / Nobody Knows My Name / The Fire Next Time / No Name in the Street / The Devil Finds Work / Other Essays (Library of America) by James Baldwin
Buy new: $16.45 / Used from: $14.70 His work as an essayist was breathtaking and included such themes as family, society and culture. One of the first writer's to really show the wealth of growing up poor in money and wealthy in family.
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 | Transbluesency: The Selected Poetry of Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones (1961-1995) by Amiri Baraka
Buy new: $14.00 / Used from: $4.80 Amiri wasn't taught in the classes I took but has since been included in most current text books, I love him. One of the greatest poets still living. Born in 1934, we can hope he stays around until he makes a 100.
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 | For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange
Buy new: $9.95 / Used from: $2.23 This is my favorite work by her and "No More Apologies" was covered in my very first African-American Lit class way back in 1996. My last one on 2005 was much more comprehensive and included more of her work.
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 | Native Son (Perennial Classics) by Richard Wright
Buy new: $10.79 / Used from: $0.41 |
 | Black Boy (The Restored Text Established by The Library of America) (Perennial Classics) by Richard A. Wright
Buy used from: $0.01 |
 | Uncle Tom's Children (Perennial Classics) by Richard Wright
Buy used from: $0.14 My favorite work by Wright opens with an illuminating essay.
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 | The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou by Maya Angelou
Buy new: $17.13 / Used from: $2.79 Touted as the premier African-American poet her work speaks to women everywhere.
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 | Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $1.65 The BOOK in African-American tradition. It broke a ton of barriers in the publishing world and paved a path for new writers.
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 | The Best Short Stories by Black Writers, 1899-1967: The Classic Anthology by James Baldwin
Buy new: $11.55 / Used from: $0.68 This would include Ellison's "Battle Royale" which is in the novel "Invisible Man" but is used in text books as a short story intro to this groundbreaking work.
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 | The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand, and The Stories by Nella Larsen
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $4.92 An engrossing read by one of the few biracial writer's in the Harlem ren, she remains a figure of dispute based on claims of plagirism and her ability to pass.
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 | The Complete Stories by Zora Neale Hurston
Buy used from: $1.92 We covered "Spunk" in intro to American Lit, long before Oprah brought her name back into the limelight. She is one of the reasons I took African-American Lit. After a rich sampling I longed for more.
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 | The Norton Anthology of African American Literature
Buy new: $56.55 / Used from: $31.50 My last text book and expensive but so worth it. It includes everybody on this list and others I love who didn't. I cannot describe how deeply this book manages to cover and include everyone and everything. This is the place to start.
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Listmania!
