A Way Out of No Way: Writings About Growing Up Black in America (Edge Books) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805045708 ISBN 13: 9780805045703

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 1996

Synopsis

A collection of stories and poems about coming of age written by African American authors

About this title

Reviews

Grade 7 Up. This compilation of 18 excerpts, stories, and poems includes selections from such distinguished African-American writers as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Most of the fiction and verse are taken from previously published works, such as Hughes's "Passing" from The Ways of the White Folks (Random, 1990); Anna Deavere Smith's "Look in the Mirror" from Fires in the Mirror (Anchor, 1993); the title story from Toni Cade Bambara's Gorilla My Love (Random, 1992); and an excerpt from Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying (Knopf, 1993). More than just a coming-of-age compendium, this work covers all aspects of African-American life. The themes include social relations, community, love, lust, murder, treachery, loyalty, sadness, and joy. There is also humor. For instance, Paul Beatty's poem "Big Bowls of Cereal" is a funny and moving diversion into myriad possibilities and situations for youth trembling on the brink of adulthood. The entries in this collection, selected and introduced by Woodson, show a wide range of writing styles and content. This title will afford young adults the opportunity to sample the work of noted African-American authors and see the "bigger world."?Gebregeorgis Yohannes, San Francisco Public Library, CA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 8^-12. Some anthologies are personal. They represent not just the best or the chronological, but my best, what the compiler has read and loved and can't wait to share. Woodson communicates that excitement in her introduction to this fine collection: what it was like for her as a young adult to find writers such as James Baldwin, Toni Cade Bambara, and Langston Hughes, writers who showed her home and offered a way out of no way. In addition to the earlier writers, Woodson also includes some great contemporary pieces by Jamaica Kincaid, Ntozake Shange, and others. A few excerpts aren't easy to read as self-contained stories, but they will make readers search for more by these writers. The longest entry is Paul Beatty's "Big Bowls of Cereal," a witty, irreverent, painful, occasionally scatological poem that combines street talk and sophisticated allusion. In brief notes at the back, Woodson talks about each author and what the piece has meant in her life. Her comment on Bambara's "Gorilla, My Love" is eloquent: "At the core of the story is a strong-willed girl with a broken heart: It speaks to the strengths and weaknesses in all of us." Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805045708
• ISBN 13: 9780805045703
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 172
• Editor: Woodson Jacqueline