The Early Simple Stories (Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Vol 7)
Language: English
Published by University of Missouri, 2002
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Amnesty Bookshop, Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomAmnesty Bookshop, Bristol
AbeBooks seller since August 2, 2002
Condition: Used - Very good
US$ 41.01
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
In a black cloth hardcover with silver titles to spine. With an unclipped dust jacket with black, blue and white titles to spine and front and a black and white photograph of the writer to the front. 400 pp. The book is in very good condition. About .8" of the top edge of the front board is rubbed, otherwise the cover is free of shelf-wear. The binding is tight. There is very minor damage to the top corner of the text block, otherwise the pages are clean and unmarked. The dust jacket is also very good. There is minor damage to the top edge and to .8" of the front fore edge. Otherwise it is clean and unmarked. Gift Aid no. 3081. This item is being sold under the Retail Gift Aid scheme to support Amnesty International UK Section Charitable Trust. Gift Aid enables us to increase the value of donations by 25%. Amnesty International UK Section is acting as an agent selling this item on behalf of one of our Gift Aid Donors.
Seller Inventory # 914153
- Title
- The Early Simple Stories (Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Vol 7)
- Author
- Hughes, Langston
- Publisher
- University of Missouri
- Publication year
- 2002
- Condition
- Very Good
- Dust jacket
- Very Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0826213707
- ISBN 13
- 9780826213709
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Dimensions
- 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall
Jesse B. Semple first sprang to life in Langston Hughes's weekly Chicago Defender column in 1943. Almost immediately, the "Simple stories," as they were routinely called, had a large and ever-increasing audience. Simple soon became Harlem's Everyman—an ordinary black workingman, representative of the masses of black folks in the 1940s.
Simple had migrated to Harlem, like many other blacks, seeking to escape the racism of the South, and he celebrated his new freedoms despite the economic struggles he still confronted. Simple's bar buddy and foil in the stories is the better-educated, more articulate Boyd, who has never lived in the South. Their conversations permit Simple to speak the wisdom of the working class.
By the time the first book of Simple stories was published, Hughes had honed and polished these two characters, enhancing the distinctions between the vernacular language of Simple and the more educated diction of his friend. Remaining within the Afrocentric world that was his chosen sphere, Hughes makes clear the message that Simple and Boyd are very much alike; both are black men in a racially unbalanced society. Both exist in a world within a world, in Harlem, the separate black community of New York City.
"You imply that there is no fun to be had around white folks."
"I never had none," said Simple.
"You have a color complex."
"A colored complexion," said Simple.
"I said complex, not complexion."
"I added the shun myself," said Simple. "I'm colored, and being around white folks makes me feel more colored—since most of them shun Negroes."
Countless exchanges between Simple and his companion offer wit and wisdom that remind contemporary readers why Langston Hughes is so special.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Donna Akiba Sullivan Harper is Professor of English at Spelman College in Atlanta. She is the author of Not So Simple: The "Simple" Stories of Langston Hughes.
About the Author
Langston Hughes was one of the most influential and prolific writers of the twentieth century.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Amnesty Bookshop, Bristol
Bristol, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since August 2, 2002
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The Amnesty Bookshop Bristol is a charity book shop that raises money for Amnesty International. We stock second-hand, rare and out of print books and have an ever changing stock.
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Amnesty International United Kingdom Section
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