genre: short stories
This collection of stories introduces us to a swath of humanity, Black Americans who are living in the Northern cities or the Southern country towns (or moving between the two). They are righteous or walking the razor's edge of sin. They are unabashedly unfaithful and abusive or they are head over heels in love and ready to walk the plank for the apple of their eye. They dream big or are content with the world they live in. These characters made me laugh out loud with their nonsense or cringe at their desperation and depravity. There is satire and revenge and sweet sweet comeuppance. There are mule bones and stolen turkeys and fur coats that are the final straw.
Hurston is a master of words and of writing in dialect. I am so glad I chose to listen because I think the humor, especially, is even more biting and hilarious when you hear it spoken aloud. I appreciate that these stories are settled into a place and time when people were on the move, trying out different ways of living. I especially liked the stories The Book of Harlem and She Rock, written in a Biblical form that just was so intriguing and often funny. Several of the stories are painful and violent but there is truth, there, too, and strong Black women who find ways to prevail even the harshest circumstances. Short fiction isn't something I usually enjoy so much but this is a collection I'd like to have on my shelf.
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