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A biography of the African American poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 and whose poems reflect the experiences of African Americans. ... Read more

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This essential book collects reviews and essays on the art and career of Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize. While she is best known for her poetry, Brooks's essays, fiction, and children's collections have also drawn critical acclaim and are discussed in this volume.
Stephen Caldwell Wright's collection gathers essays and reviews from a remarkable range of sources: from long out-of-print journals to the New Yorker. Similarly, it draws from an eclectic group of writers, ranging from Eleanor Holmes Norton to Louis Simpson. The reviews reveal Brooks as a poet who, despite her vast knowledge and classical leanings, remains a voice of and for the people.
In 1968, Gwendolyn Brooks succeeded Carl Sandburg as Poet Laureate of Illinois. She has received two Guggenheim Fellowships and has served as Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress. Stephen Caldwell Wright is Professor of English, Seminole Community College.
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Customer Reviews (1)

A necessary critical literary text- a necessary book
Urban Rage in Bronzeville is a critical literary text which focuses on how poet Gwendolyn Brooks impacts Arts & Letters in America.Dr. B.J. Bolden's work focuses on the impact of Brooks in the areas of PoliticalScience, Social Science, Literature and Society, US History, City-Town lifein Literature, Afro-American Literature and Anger in Literature. Boldenexplains the three works in clear historical, racial, political, cultural,and aesthetic terms.The works examined in Bolden's book are: A Street inBronzeville (1945), Annie Allen (1949), and The Bean Eaters (1960). Boldenlooks at all three works with an emphasis on the historical, formal, andfeminist contexts. The slave experience and its long range effects on thelives of and values of Blacks in Bronzeville are identified and explainedby Bolden.The white-standard system of self hate, despair, poverty,disdain, filth, sickness, and death is contrasted with hope, joy, god, andideas of good.Bolden uses the works of Cayton, Drake, Myrdal and Williamsto set up the social context for a view of Brooks' treatment ofBronzeville.The formal treatment of Brooks by Bolden hits at the core ofcultural and aesthetic values.Brooks is considered the master of manyelements of the formal poetics.Bolden unlocks these complex poetic formsBrooks uses to develop the epic poem.In the third work, the Bean Eaters(1960), Bolden explicates the poem, "A Bronzeville Mother Loiters inMississippi, Meanwhile a Mother in Mississippi Burns Bacon."Thispoem about the Emmet Till incident is an example of Brooks' complex poeticsbecause it uses the view of the white female who made the accusation totell the story and transmit the sense of hate, horror, and death that gowith history.Bolden shows that the critics response to Brooks' poem washarsh despite the mastery and complexity of the piece. Bolden's work isimmensely important for the cultural, historical, racial implications, andis a critical and necessary book to read. Carnell Littlejohn, M.S.Mathematics, Chicago State University. This is a brief excerpt of alengthier review given by Mr. Littlejohn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good thinking
Remember the stories your parents told you about black experiences, then this is the book for you.

A Nice Collection of Short Stories!
Langston Hughes provides an introduction into this selected anthology of short stories by prominent African American writers like Langston Hughes' himself with his classic short story, "Thank You, Mam." We also have a short story by poet Gwendolyn Brooks and dancer/choreographer Katherine Dunham. There are the traditional authors like Zora Neale Huston, James Baldwin, Charles Chesnutt, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ralph Ellison, Ernest J. Gaines, Jean Toomer, and Richard Wright only to name a few. It's still a great anthology of assorted stories about African American life in America from the South to Chicago and New York.

The Best of The Best
This book is a collection of short stories that was put together by the great Harlem Renaissance writer, Langston Hughes. Some authors whose works are also featured in the book are Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston, and Alice Walker. These stories are fun to read and they speak about the current issues that Black America was facing during the time period. This book is for anyone who is trying to better understand black thought during the 20th century.

"The Best Short Stories by Black Writers" is a #1 classic!
This book is an excellent example of reality. In each short story, there is some kind of relivance of growing up in a nation filled with crime, love, kindenss, hardships, and friendships. The writers express themselvesso wonderfully, vivid pictures of the events are played in my head. Itkeeps middle-school children very attentive, mainly because they can easilyrelate to the troubles of growing up today. Teens can feel a sense ofcomfort in this book because they know they are not alone. This bookcontains collections by some of the best authors in the world. It reallymakes the african-american culture shine to where all cultures will enjoy! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Okay...
I wasn't feeling the long poems at all. It may be because there was a lot of name-dropping but I wasn't familiar with the names or maybe because the subject changed too much, but I usually enjoy long poems. I did enjoy the shorter poems like the one about the uncle who sits too close and the one about kids thinking school is vacation cause home is the worst place to be.She still has a knack for making simple words express deep emotion which is the reason why I love Brooks and hate Shakespeare (who tried to make the simplest task deep when it really wasn't). I respect Brooks and I love her poetry, but I just wasn't into this book.There were only about five poems that I'd enjoy reading again. ... Read more

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