'25':22C 'a':1A 'after':24C 'and':5A 'audr':8B 'burn':19C 'burst':2A 'cancer':15C 'death':26C 'essay':7A 'her':25C 'injustic':18C 'intersect':16C 'light':4A 'lord':9B,10C 'magazin':30C 'o':27C 'of':3A 'on':13C 'oprah':29C 'other':6A 'parenthood':17C 'race':14C 'relev':21C 's':11C 'the':28C 'with':20C 'word':12C 'year':23C

"Lorde's words — on race, cancer, intersectionality, parenthood, injustice — burn with relevance 25 years after her death." — O, The Oprah Magazine

A Burst of Light: And Other Essays

'a':1A,5A 'adult':39C 'and':4A,13C,36C,47C,53C,55C,65C,72C,80C 'anoth':50C 'another-through':49C 'await':15C 'breath':78C 'cast':66C 'cecil':35C 'charact':68C 'day':2A 'de':21C 'dollar':6A 'dream':79C 'each':41C 'entir':56C 'exuber':64C 'famili':28C 'family-matriarch':27C 'forc':22C 'four':38C 'full':73C 'hallmark':63C 'her':31C,62C 'herald':12C 'husband':34C 'introduc':24C 'kid':40C 'late':3A 'life':46C,75C 'life-and':45C 'long':14C 'matriarch':29C 'mcmillan':9B,17C 'much':11C 'much-herald':10C 'novel':23C 'of':42C,67C,74C 'off':83C 'on':57C 'one':48C 'own':59C 'page':85C 'price':26C 'resili':71C 'right':82C 's':18C 'sassi':70C 'see':44C 'short':7A 'shout':81C 'so':69C 'sometim':33C 'sometimes-husband':32C 'term':60C 'terri':8B,16C 'that':76C 'the':25C,84C 'their':37C,58C 'they':77C 'thick':52C 'thin':54C 'through':51C 'tour':20C 'tour-de-forc':19C 'viola':30C 'whom':43C 'with':61C

Much-heralded and long awaited, Terry McMillan's tour-de-force novel introduces the Price family-matriarch Viola, her sometimes-husband Cecil, and their four adult kids, each of whom sees life-and one another-through thick and thin, and entirely on their own terms. 

With her hallmark exuberance and cast of characters so sassy, resilient, and full of life that they breathe, dream, and shout right off the page.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

'a':9C,63C,76C,80C 'achiev':82C 'and':11C,41C,57C,71C 'as':73C,75C 'babi':53C 'beauti':33C 'belov':1A,66C,78C 'bitter':69C 'born':8C 'but':15C 'by':48C 'die':55C 'eighteen':16C 'engrav':61C 'escap':12C 'farm':34C 'fill':67C 'free':23C 'ghost':50C 'happen':40C 'has':25C 'haunt':47C 'her':52C 'hideous':38C 'home':31C,45C 'is':20C,46C,60C,79C 'it':5C 'later':18C 'mani':27C,37C 'memori':28C 'morrison':3B 'nameless':56C 'new':44C 'not':22C 'of':29C,51C 'ohio':14C 'poetri':70C 'protagonist':6C 'rope':77C 's':43C 'seth':4C,42C 'she':19C,24C 'singl':64C 'slave':10C 'so':36C 'still':21C 'suspens':72C 'sweet':30C 'taut':74C 'the':32C,49C 'thing':39C 'to':13C 'tombston':59C 'toni':2B 'too':26C 'tower':81C 'was':7C 'where':35C 'who':54C 'whose':58C 'with':62C,68C 'word':65C 'year':17C

Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.

Beloved

'a':16C,37C,44C,55C,62C 'about':110C,123C,135C 'act':2A,108C 'and':12C,24C,27C,43C,65C,80C,105C,115C,128C,132C,138C 'as':9C,91C 'away':71C 'bank':53C 'be':68C 'bittersweet':10C 'brooklyn':63C 'brownston':64C 'burden':117C 'can':127C,129C,144C 'chocol':11C 'compel':89C 'construct':41C 'could':67C 'coupl':90C 'daddi':49C 'dark':8C 'desir':114C 'disappear':1A,107C 'divorc':48C 'employ':40C 'faith':104C 'fiction':86C 'find':145C 'franklin':34C,79C 'from':94C,98C 'funni':74C 'gorgeous':14C 'gritti':75C 'he':5C 'his':32C 'imposs':13C 'in':61C,72C 'independ':25C 'is':109C 'it':121C,126C,133C 'join':82C 'just':31C 'layoff':99C 'limit':102C 'love':77C,143C 'mcmillan':4B 'melt':19C 'met':60C 'most':88C 'move':93C 'mysteri':112C 'no':69C 'not':28C,46C 'not-quite-divorc':45C 'of':50C,85C,103C,113C,118C 'onli':142C 'past':120C 'petit':26C 'place':140C 'pretti':23C 'quit':47C 'rank':84C 'respect':124C 's':87C,122C,134C 'safe':137C 'scrabbl':95C 'secret':139C 'sex':97C 'she':21C 'singer':57C 'skinni':30C 'smile':20C 'sometim':39C 'sometimes-employ':38C 'songwrit':58C 'stori':78C 'surviv':131C 'swift':35C 't':130C 'tall':7C 'teacher':56C 'terri':3B 'that':141C 'the':83C,101C,111C,116C,119C,136C 'there':66C 'they':59C,92C 'this':73C 'to':96C,100C 'too':29C 'trust':106C 'two':51C 'type':33C 'urban':76C 'walk':70C 'was':6C,22C,36C,54C 'what':125C 'with':15C 'woman':18C 'woman-melt':17C 'worker':42C 'zora':52C,81C

He was tall, dark as bittersweet chocolate, and impossibly gorgeous, with a woman-melting smile. She was pretty and independent, petite and not too skinny, just his type. Franklin Swift was a sometimes-employed construction worker, and a not-quite-divorced daddy of two. Zora Banks was a teacher, singer, songwriter. They met in a Brooklyn brownstone, and there could be no walking away...

In this funny, gritty urban love story, Franklin and Zora join the ranks of fiction's most compelling couples, as they move from Scrabble to sex, from layoffs to the limits of faith and trust. Disappearing Acts is about the mystery of desire and the burdens of the past. It's about respect, what it can and can't survive. And it's about the safe and secret places that only love can find. --

Disappearing Acts

'a':34C 'act':50C 'and':11C,21C,61C,66C,71C,79C 'anoth':86C 'at':33C 'been':89C 'bernadin':10C 'best':6C 'breath':101C 'broken':18C 'concess':20C 'crossroad':35C 'defin':38C 'deserv':70C 'do':74C 'dream':68C 'each':32C 'earn':82C 'exhal':94C 'faith':83C 'fifteen':90C 'final':98C 'for':28C,44C 'friend':7C 'from':25C 'futur':40C 'get':1A,48C 'gloria':9C 'grant':29C 'had':14C 'happi':3A,27C 'hard':81C 'hard-earn':80C 'have':13C 'heal':58C 'hurt':60C 'in':84C 'it':41C,75C,87C 'joy':65C 'learn':24C,99C 'lesson':23C 'marriag':19C 'mcmillan':5B 'now':30C,95C 'of':17C 'on':54C 'one':85C 'past':59C 're':53C,73C,97C 'reclaim':63C 'robin':12C 's':42C,88C 'sass':78C 'savannah':8C 'share':16C 'sinc':92C 'spirit':77C 'take':26C 'terri':4B 'that':36C 'the':22C,64C,67C 'their':15C,39C,49C,55C 'these':45C 'they':52C,69C,72C,93C,96C 'time':43C 'to':2A,47C,57C,62C,100C 'togeth':51C 'way':56C 'will':37C 'with':31C,76C 'women':46C 'year':91C

Best friends Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine, and Robin have had their share of broken marriages, concessions, and the lessons learned from taking happiness for granted. Now, with each at a crossroads that will define their future, it’s time for these women to get their act together. They’re on their way to healing past hurts and to reclaiming the joy and the dreams they deserve. And they’re doing it with spirit, sass, and hard-earned faith in one another. It’s been fifteen years since they exhaled: now they’re finally learning to breathe.

Getting to Happy

'a':7C,17C,38C,113C 'about':19C 'adult':34C 'and':9C,28C,60C,90C,104C,126C 'anger':93C 'at':35C 'beauti':57C 'black':49C 'blue':48C 'blue-black':47C 'bold':59C 'booker':85C 'bride':44C,88C,106C 'but':66C 'call':42C 'can':26C 'caus':68C 'center':37C 'child':4A,15C,98C 'childhood':25C 'children':124C 'come':116C 'confid':61C 'cross':102C 'deni':75C 'do':122C 'element':54C 'even':77C 'fieri':8C 'final':105C 'forget':130C 'form':80C 'god':1A,12C 'help':2A,13C 'her':56C,58C,62C,69C,76C 'herself':43C,109C 'in':64C 'is':51C,84C 'life':31C,65C 'lifetim':114C 'light':71C 'light-skin':70C 'lose':91C 'love':82C,89C 'man':87C 'matter':125C 'might':128C 'misshap':29C 'morrison':6B 'mother':73C,108C 'mysteri':96C 'never':129C 'novel':11C 'of':24C,32C,55C,81C 'one':53C 'onli':52C 'path':103C 'provoc':10C 'rain':94C 's':107C 'shape':27C 'she':101C 'simplest':79C 'skin':50C,72C 'stun':46C 'success':63C 'suffer':23C 'sweet':110C 'take':112C 'tale':18C 'that':119C 'the':3A,14C,20C,22C,30C,33C,36C,78C,86C,95C 'there':83C 'they':127C 'to':74C,92C,115C,117C,123C 'toni':5B 'understand':118C 'way':21C 'weav':16C 'what':120C 'which':67C 'white':97C 'who':41C,111C 'whom':100C 'whose':45C 'with':99C 'woman':40C 'you':121C 'young':39C

A fiery and provocative novel, God Help the Child weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape, and misshape, the life of the adult. 

At the center: a young woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life, but which caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love. There is Booker, the man Bride loves, and loses to anger. Rain, the mysterious white child with whom she crosses paths. And finally, Bride’s mother herself, Sweetness, who takes a lifetime to come to understand that “what you do to children matters. And they might never forget.”        

God Help the Child

'a':2A,6A,13C,17C 'about':26C 'african':39C 'all':106C 'america':126C 'american':40C 'an':21C,76C 'and':28C,31C,34C,67C,81C,114C,122C 'appreci':115C 'archiv':68C 'are':107C 'as':75C,91C,93C 'author':77C 'bite':88C 'brought':43C 'challeng':71C 'class':32C 'classic':109C 'collect':23C 'concept':72C 'contribut':124C 'crook':7A,18C 'cultur':42C,100C 'current':101C 'eight':54C 'enrich':111C 'except':118C 'fiction':80C 'first':47C 'flash':85C 'folk':41C 'for':45C 'forgotten':65C 'found':63C 'gem':83C 'gender':30C 'harlem':59C 'her':87C,123C 'hit':1A,12C 'humor':90C 'hurston':11B,56C,74C,103C 'in':49C,64C 'includ':53C,82C 'is':20C 'lick':4A,15C 'literari':128C 'lost':58C 'love':27C 'migrat':29C 'more':94C 'neal':10B 'of':24C,55C,73C,78C,98C,102C,116C 'one':50C 'our':112C 'outstand':22C 'period':66C 'proud':37C 'racism':33C 'reflect':38C,97C 'rural':79C 's':57C,104C,120C,127C 'satir':89C 'serious':95C 'sexism':35C 'stick':8A,19C 'stori':25C,60C,70C 'straight':3A,14C 'tale':96C 'that':36C,84C,110C 'the':46C,99C 'these':69C 'they':52C 'this':117C 'time':48C 'timeless':108C 'to':125C 'togeth':44C 'tradit':129C 'understand':113C 'voic':121C 'volum':51C 'well':92C 'were':62C 'which':61C 'with':5A,16C,86C 'world':105C 'writer':119C 'zora':9B

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is an outstanding collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism that proudly reflect African American folk culture. Brought together for the first time in one volume, they include eight of Hurston’s “lost” Harlem stories, which were found in forgotten periodicals and archives. These stories challenge conceptions of Hurston as an author of rural fiction and include gems that flash with her biting, satiric humor, as well as more serious tales reflective of the cultural currents of Hurston’s world. All are timeless classics that enrich our understanding and appreciation of this exceptional writer’s voice and her contributions to America’s literary traditions.

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

'a':37C,85C 'abov':93C 'after':27C 'all':94C 'and':22C,74C,92C 'are':72C 'armi':9C 'at':78C 'be':84C 'becom':49C 'befor':56C 'began':54C 'behind':19C 'buri':70C 'but':47C 'cee':26C 'cherish':21C 'clear':50C 'come':99C 'escap':11C 'fragil':23C 'frank':5C,76C 'georgia':35C 'he':17C,30C 'heal':91C 'his':12C,20C,33C,45C 'home':1A,100C 'hometown':66C 'in':42C 'it':48C,81C,88C,96C 'join':7C 'journey':31C 'last':79C 'learn':77C 'left':18C 'littl':24C 'lotus':68C 'man':86C 'mean':82C,97C 'money':6C 'morrison':3B 'nativ':34C 'of':40C,44C,67C 'purpos':41C 'renew':38C 'return':62C 'rural':65C 'search':43C 'secret':71C 'sens':39C 'separ':59C 'sister':25C,46C 'small':15C 'take':89C 'that':51C 'the':8C,28C 'their':52C,57C,64C 'they':61C 'to':10C,32C,63C,83C,90C,98C 'togeth':60C 'toni':2B 'too':14C 'too-smal':13C 'troubl':53C 'unearth':73C 'war':29C 'wartim':58C 'well':55C 'what':80C,87C,95C 'when':4C 'where':69C,75C 'with':36C 'world':16C

When Frank Money joined the army to escape his too-small world, he left behind his cherished and fragile little sister, Cee. After the war, he journeys to his native Georgia with a renewed sense of purpose in search of his sister, but it becomes clear that their troubles began well before their wartime separation. Together, they return to their rural hometown of Lotus, where buried secrets are unearthed and where Frank learns at last what it means to be a man, what it takes to heal, and—above all—what it means to come home.

Home

'a':16C,131C,204C 'about':216C,228C 'age':189C 'all':33C,67C,120C,221C 'alon':99C 'an':159C 'analyst':21C 'analyz':53C 'and':29C,59C,77C,119C,156C,158C,182C,185C,196C,214C,226C,230C 'ani':82C 'anyway':126C 'are':81C 'attract':163C 'back':6A 'bacon':63C 'bed':95C 'been':89C 'bmw':76C 'bring':60C 'but':127C,165C 'by':149C,166C 'carpool':50C 'cast':193C 'cataclysm':205C 'chic':72C 'citrus':181C 'come':202C 'confront':211C 'core':146C 'divorc':15C 'do':40C 'doe':31C,65C 'doesn':38C,43C,104C 'done':46C 'duti':51C 'effect':152C 'eleven':25C 'eleven-year-old':24C 'energi':116C 'expect':224C 'fact':35C 'fallout':125C 'fear':215C 'fold':56C 'for':117C 'forti':13C 'forty-two':12C 'from':47C 'full':161C 'get':45C,142C 'got':3A 'groov':5A 'half':187C 'has':201C,234C 'have':114C,192C 'he':171C 'her':4A,71C,78C,94C,101C,140C,188C,212C,223C 'high':18C 'high-pow':17C 'home':61C 'hope':213C 'hous':73C 'how':1A 'idea':227C 'if':36C,70C,86C 'in':34C,169C 'indic':83C 'invest':20C 'is':11C,186C 'island':160C 'it':32C,41C,42C,66C,107C,236C 'jamaica':139C 'jamaican':178C 'junctur':206C 'just':148C 'late':97C 'laundri':58C 'leagu':49C 'lean':174C 'let':98C 'life':229C 'littl':48C 'live':235C 'love':79C,118C,122C,217C 'man':168C 'mcmillan':8B 'men':164C 'mind':106C 'moment':136C 'mother':22C 'much':109C 'must':209C,219C 'nasti':124C 'no':90C 'not':147C,207C 'ocean':184C 'of':23C,121C,134C,153C,162C,180C,222C 'old':27C 'one':91C,167C 'onli':208C 'particular':170C 'passion':225C 'payn':10C 'person':74C 'portfolio':54C 'power':19C 'probabl':111C 'question':220C 'quinci':28C 'realiz':199C 'relax':151C 'rock':100C,143C 's':88C,123C,172C 'sea':157C 'share':93C 'she':30C,37C,64C,110C,200C,210C,218C,233C 'smell':179C 'so':84C 'soft':176C 'soft-spoken':175C 'son':80C 'soon':198C 'spell':195C 'spoken':177C 'spur':133C 'spur-of-the-mo':132C 'stella':2A,9C,103C,129C,197C 'sun':155C 't':39C,44C,105C,113C 'take':130C 'tall':173C 'terri':7B 'the':57C,62C,115C,135C,145C,150C,154C,183C,190C,231C 'their':194C 'there':87C 'to':52C,55C,92C,138C,144C,203C 'too':69C,108C 'trainer':75C 'tropic':191C 'two':14C 'vacat':137C 'way':232C 'well':68C 'what':85C 'when':128C 'with':96C 'world':102C,141C 'wouldn':112C 'year':26C

Stella Payne is forty-two, divorced, a high-powered investment analyst, mother of eleven-year-old Quincy- and she does it all. In fact, if she doesn't do it, it doesn't get done, from Little League carpool duty to analyzing portfolios to folding the laundry and bringing home the bacon. She does it all well, too, if her chic house, personal trainer, BMW, and her loving son are any indication. So what if there's been no one to share her bed with lately, let alone rock her world? Stella doesn't mind it too much; she probably wouldn't have the energy for love—and all of love's nasty fallout—anyway.

But when Stella takes a spur-of-the-moment vacation to Jamaica, her world gets rocked to the core—not just by the relaxing effects of the sun and sea and an island full of attractive men, but by one man in particular. He's tall, lean, soft-spoken, Jamaican, smells of citrus and the ocean—and is half her age. The tropics have cast their spell and Stella soon realizes she has come to a cataclysmic juncture: not only must she confront her hopes and fears about love, she must question all of her expectations, passions, and ideas about life and the way she has lived it.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

'1926':8C 'a':66C 'age':22C 'ahead':17C 'and':56C,61C,75C 'as':65C 'assembl':69C 'at':38C 'attack':45C 'back':60C 'beauti':30C 'black':79C 'bring':58C 'but':14C 'cleopatra':29C 'corps':49C 'death':37C 'deep':76C 'door':24C,26C 'door-to-door':23C 'emot':72C 'everybodi':10C 'everywher':11C 'fear':74C 'forth':62C 'from':70C 'funer':40C 'girl':47C 'good':15C 'his':33C 'hope':73C 'in':4C,63C 'is':68C 'jazz':1A 'joe':18C,41C 'life':81C 'love':55C 'lover':35C 'middl':21C 'middle-ag':20C 'morrison':3B 'narrat':67C 'noth':13C 'obsess':57C 'of':7C,28C,54C,78C 'passion':51C 'product':31C 'profound':52C 'realiti':77C 's':42C,48C 'salesman':27C 'see':12C 'shoot':32C 'stori':53C 'teenag':34C 'the':5C,39C,46C,71C 'thing':16C 'this':50C 'time':64C 'to':25C,36C 'toni':2B 'trace':19C 'urban':80C 'us':59C 'violet':44C 'when':9C 'wife':43C 'winter':6C

In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees nothing but good things ahead, Joe Trace, middle-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe’s wife, Violet, attacks the girl’s corpse. This passionate, profound story of love and obsession brings us back and forth in time, as a narrative is assembled from the emotions, hopes, fears, and deep realities of black urban life.

Jazz

'a':61C 'affect':10C 'almost':17C 'and':50C,68C 'anyth':18C 'as':38C 'be':30C 'bill':6C 'claim':45C 'cosey':7C,47C 'creat':60C 'daughter':34C 'death':24C 'do':16C 'employe':36C 'enjoy':8C 'erot':67C 'estat':51C 'even':31C 'everyth':53C 'favor':22C 'from':54C 'funni':66C 'furious':44C 'gain':20C 'granddaught':35C 'heartwrench':69C 'his':21C,25C 'hold':26C 'in':4C,23C 'intrigu':55C 'is':64C 'life':5C 'love':1A 'mani':12C 'may':29C 'memori':49C 'mistress':37C 'morrison':3B,39C 'of':11C 'on':27C,46C 'outright':57C 'protagonist':41C 's':40C,48C 'she':59C 'shrewd':65C 'stake':42C 'stronger':32C 'that':63C 'the':9C 'their':43C 'them':28C 'to':19C,56C 'toni':2B 'use':52C 'violenc':58C 'who':14C 'wife':33C 'women':13C 'work':62C 'would':15C

In life, Bill Cosey enjoyed the affections of many women, who would do almost anything to gain his favor. In death his hold on them may be even stronger. Wife, daughter, granddaughter, employee, mistress: As Morrison’s protagonists stake their furious claim on Cosey’s memory and estate, using everything from intrigue to outright violence, she creates a work that is shrewd, funny, erotic, and heartwrenching.

Love

'1930':36C 'a':18C,27C,46C,58C,68C,85C,88C,124C,137C 'about':17C 'african':8C,70C 'age':25C 'also':57C 'america':163C 'american':9C,71C 'an':154C 'and':49C,78C,100C,127C,144C 'annje':84C 'as':43C,136C 'aunt':120C,129C 'award':13C 'award-win':12C 'black':19C,147C 'blue':138C 'boy':20C,72C 'brilliant':47C 'but':56C 'centuri':153C 'cling':115C 'come':23C 'coming-of-ag':22C 'countri':103C 'divid':162C 'earli':151C 'employ':107C 'establish':40C 'faith':118C 'famili':81C,91C 'father':94C 'first':15C,33C 'for':87C 'gift':59C 'give':141C 'grandmoth':112C 'greatest':7C 'guitar':99C 'hager':113C 'harlem':54C 'harriet':130C 'her':117C 'his':80C,82C,92C,108C,119C,128C 'histori':159C 'housekeep':86C 'hugh':5B,42C,140C 'import':155C 'in':26C,35C,61C,73C,104C,149C,157C 'irrespons':93C 'it':135C 'jimboy':95C 'kansa':30C,77C 'langston':4B,41C 'larg':28C 'laughter':3A,39C 'lead':50C 'life':148C 'light':51C 'lineament':145C 'long':143C 'make':134C 'man':126C 'marri':123C 'mother':83C 'not':1A,37C,44C 'novel':16C 'novelist':60C 'of':24C,52C,65C,79C,106C,146C,160C 'onli':45C 'our':6C 'place':156C 'play':97C 'poet':10C,48C 'publish':34C 'racial':161C 'renaiss':55C 'rich':125C 'roger':67C 's':11C,21C 'sandi':66C 'search':105C 'singer':139C 'small':75C 'small-town':74C 'stori':64C 'strong':110C 'strong-wil':109C 'struggl':132C 'tell':62C 'tempi':121C 'the':53C,63C,98C,102C,142C,150C,158C 'to':116C,133C 'town':31C,76C 'travel':101C 'twentieth':152C 'wealthi':89C 'when':32C 'white':29C,90C 'who':96C,114C,122C,131C 'will':111C 'win':14C 'without':2A,38C 'young':69C

Our greatest African American poet’s award-winning first novel, about a black boy’s coming-of-age in a largely white Kansas town

When first published in 1930, Not Without Laughter established Langston Hughes as not only a brilliant poet and leading light of the Harlem Renaissance but also a gifted novelist. In telling the story of Sandy Rogers, a young African American boy in small-town Kansas, and of his family—his mother, Annjee, a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his irresponsible father, Jimboy, who plays the guitar and travels the country in search of employment; his strong-willed grandmother Hager, who clings to her faith; his Aunt Tempy, who marries a rich man; and his Aunt Harriet, who struggles to make it as a blues singer—Hughes gives the longings and lineaments of black life in the early twentieth century an important place in the history of racially divided America.

Not Without Laughter

'a':45C,77C,109C,138C,172C,183C 'all':90C 'all-black':89C 'an':16C,37C,88C 'and':12C,31C,34C,44C,83C,104C,125C,144C,154C,168C,185C 'angel':189C 'anoth':131C 'arc':14C 'as':27C 'away':130C 'begin':69C 'belief':26C 'black':91C 'built':118C 'but':127C 'by':98C 'can':64C 'challeng':21C 'chronicl':84C 'citizen':159C 'communiti':114C 'death':153C 'debat':187C 'descend':100C 'despair':155C 'detail':176C 'enforc':122C 'epic':17C 'ever':52C 'exil':134C 'exodus':107C 'far':47C 'far-off':46C 'fascin':173C 'fear':126C 'fierc':24C 'first':59C 'flight':151C 'folklor':30C 'for':182C 'found':97C 'freed':102C 'from':108C,152C 'gather':136C 'gender':43C 'genesi':86C 'girl':58C 'grandeur':11C 'group':132C 'has':135C 'held':25C 'histori':32C 'horrifi':78C 'hostil':110C 'in':4C,87C,94C,106C,137C,150C 'into':36C 'is':51C,117C,146C,179C 'it':85C,145C 'land':140C 'law':124C 'lay':163C 'los':188C 'male':158C 'mass':81C 'medit':39C 'memori':33C 'mile':129C 'moral':123C 'morrison':3B,20C,71C 'most':23C 'murder':170C 'myth':35C 'nine':157C 'of':15C,80C,101C,115C,133C,141C,160C 'off':48C 'oklahoma':96C 'on':40C,119C 'open':75C 'our':22C 'own':143C 'pain':165C 'paradis':1A,73C 'past':49C 'patriarch':113C 'poem':18C 'present':53C 'profound':184C 'promis':139C 'prose':5C 'provoc':186C 'race':41C 'rage':171C 'religion':42C 'rest':62C 'rhythm':10C 'righteous':120C 'rigid':121C 'rubi':116C,161C 'rural':95C 's':72C 'scene':79C 'seventeen':128C 'she':28C 'shoot':55C 'slave':103C 'small':92C 'so':68C 'soar':7C 'stage':181C 'stori':174C 'survivor':105C 'take':65C 'terror':167C 'that':6C,50C,156C 'the':9C,56C,61C,99C,112C,177C,180C 'their':66C,142C,164C,166C,169C 'these':148C 'they':54C,63C 'time':67C,190C 'toni':2B,19C,70C 'town':93C,178C 'tragic':13C 'unforgett':38C 'upon':147C 'violenc':82C 'weav':29C 'which':74C 'white':57C 'will':162C 'with':8C,60C,76C 'women':149C 'wonder':175C 'world':111C

In prose that soars with the rhythms, grandeur, and tragic arc of an epic poem, Toni Morrison challenges our most fiercely held beliefs as she weaves folklore and history, memory and myth into an unforgettable meditation on race, religion, gender, and a far-off past that is ever present. 

“They shoot the white girl first. With the rest they can take their time.” So begins Toni Morrison’s Paradise, which opens with a horrifying scene of mass violence and chronicles its genesis in an all-black small town in rural Oklahoma. Founded by the descendants of freed slaves and survivors in exodus from a hostile world, the patriarchal community of Ruby is built on righteousness, rigidly enforced moral law, and fear. But seventeen miles away, another group of exiles has gathered in a promised land of their own. And it is upon these women in flight from death and despair that nine male citizens of Ruby will lay their pain, their terror, and their murderous rage.

“A fascinating story, wonderfully detailed. . . . The town is the stage for a profound and provocative debate.” —Los Angeles Times

Paradise

'a':21C,44C,105C,135C,146C 'abandon':115C 'african':28C,64C,90C 'after':39C,88C 'again':120C 'all':34C 'allur':70C 'ambiti':16C 'american':29C,65C,92C 'american-centr':91C 'and':15C,31C,67C,71C,85C,116C,121C,141C,152C 'as':43C,54C 'bernard':151C 'black':111C 'both':139C 'by':73C,149C,154C 'can':117C 'centric':93C 'childhood':49C 'chosen':59C 'clare':4C,47C,74C,98C 'communiti':66C 'davi':157C 'decid':40C 'decis':77C,129C 'edg':10C 'edit':144C 'eleg':14C 'embrac':119C 'emili':150C 'engag':79C 'featur':145C 'for':83C,108C,132C 'forc':124C 'frequent':89C 'friend':50C 'gain':87C 'gather':94C 'grappl':126C 'harlem':97C 'has':32C,58C 'her':27C,37C,128C 'heritag':30C 'homoerot':106C 'ident':112C 'in':80C,96C,101C,134C 'interest':100C 'into':104C 'introduct':148C 'iren':51C,102C,109C 'is':6C,18C,68C,123C,138C 'just':53C 'kendri':5C 'larsen':3B 'light':12C,56C 'light-skin':11C,55C 'live':7C 'long':107C 'm':156C 'man':24C 'marri':19C 'masquerad':82C 'nella':2B 'never':118C 'new':147C 'note':153C 'of':26C 'on':8C 'pass':1A,42C,131C 'past':38C 'person':84C 'racial':81C 'racist':22C 'redfield':52C 'remain':61C 'repel':72C 'riski':76C 's':48C,75C,99C,110C 'sever':33C 'she':17C,114C,122C 'simultan':69C 'skin':13C,57C 'societ':86C 'tell':142C 'thadious':155C 'that':113C,137C 'the':9C,63C 'this':143C 'tie':35C 'to':20C,36C,41C,60C,78C,125C,130C 'togeth':95C 'tragic':140C 'turn':103C 'unawar':25C 'way':136C 'white':23C,45C,133C 'with':127C 'within':62C 'woman':46C

Clare Kendry is living on the edge. Light-skinned, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past after deciding to “pass” as a white woman. Clare’s childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, and is simultaneously allured and repelled by Clare’s risky decision to engage in racial masquerade for personal and societal gain. After frequenting African American-centric gatherings together in Harlem, Clare’s interest in Irene turns into a homoerotic longing for Irene’s black identity that she abandoned and can never embrace again, and she is forced to grapple with her decision to pass for white in a way that is both tragic and telling. This edition features a new introduction by Emily Bernard and notes by Thadious M. Davis.

Passing

'a':16C,53C,106C,131C 'accord':75C 'admir':150C 'africanist':93C 'america':87C 'american':21C,33C,159C 'an':7C,144C 'and':25C,43C,46C,60C,73C,82C,102C,156C 'artist':120C 'as':67C,151C,153C 'author':66C,130C 'avid':148C 'black':54C 'brilliant':89C 'came':62C 'cather':101C 'chang':28C 'chapter':18C 'characterist':112C 'chicago':78C 'critic':13C,155C 'dark':4A,142C 'depend':48C 'desir':74C 'dialogu':22C 'discuss':90C 'dramat':107C 'earn':124C 'embodi':68C 'emin':134C 'essenti':111C 'exist':51C 'fear':72C 'fiction':97C 'for':147C 'freedom':42C 'has':123C 'hemingway':103C 'her':88C 'how':37C 'immens':8C 'in':2A,19C,95C,136C,140C 'individu':44C 'innoc':47C 'invalu':145C 'is':143C 'lead':104C 'letter':138C 'literari':12C,115C 'literatur':34C,160C 'manhood':45C 'manifest':58C 'melvill':100C 'modern':137C 'morrison':6B,35C,80C,149C 'much':38C 'new':17C 'nobel':126C 'of':11C,41C,52C,69C,86C,91C,98C,109C,113C,158C 'on':23C,49C 'open':15C 'our':114C 'own':71C 'persuas':9C 'place':135C 'play':1A,139C 'poe':99C 'popul':55C 'possibl':85C 'pre':133C 'pre-emin':132C 'presenc':94C 'prize':128C 'prize-win':127C 'promis':26C 'race':24C 'read':32C,146C 'reapprais':108C 'reimagin':81C 'remap':83C 'scholar':157C 'serv':64C 'show':36C 'student':154C 'that':14C,56C,61C,122C 'the':3A,20C,29C,39C,50C,77C,84C,92C,96C,110C,119C,125C,141C 'their':70C 'theme':40C 'to':27C,63C,76C,105C 'toni':5B 'tradit':116C 'tribun':79C 'unfre':59C 'vision':121C 'was':57C 'way':30C 'we':31C 'well':152C 'white':65C 'win':129C 'with':118C 'work':10C 'written':117C

An immensely persuasive work of literary criticism that opens a new chapter in the American dialogue on race -- and promises to change the way we read American literature.

Morrison shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires. According to the Chicago Tribune, Morrison "reimagines and remaps the possibility of America." Her brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition. 

Written with the artistic vision that has earned the Nobel Prize-winning author a pre-eminent place in modern letters, Playing in the Dark is an invaluable read for avid Morrison admirers as well as students, critics, and scholars of American literature.

Playing in the Dark

'a':73C,98C,137C 'action':76C 'after':123C 'ageism':64C 'an':21C 'and':13C,44C,57C,66C,68C,77C,84C,105C 'are':131C 'as':72C 'audr':3B,16C 'awar':45C 'be':33C 'black':10C,152C 'but':88C 'by':101C 'call':138C 'celebr':20C,110C 'centuri':27C 'chang':78C 'chao':149C 'charg':52C 'cheryl':107C 'clark':108C 'class':67C 'close':141C 'collect':53C 'commemor':95C 'creativ':155C 'dark':161C 'differ':71C 'edit':96C 'essay':56C 'essenti':7C 'eye':143C 'femal':158C 'feminist':14C 'fifteen':55C 'first':126C 'for':75C 'foreword':100C 'grow':40C 'her':79C 'homophobia':65C 'hope':93C 'import':34C 'in':24C,39C,50C,113C,132C 'incis':82C 'includ':97C 'influenti':22C 'intellig':43C 'interest':38C 'is':81C,151C,154C,157C,160C,163C,166C,169C 'landmark':129C 'lesbian':11C 'literatur':28C 'lord':4B,17C,29C,59C,103C,115C,133C 'lorde-scholar':102C 'lyric':85C 'messag':91C 'messi':167C 'more':119C 'never':140C 'new':47C,99C 'of':9C,54C,92C 'offer':90C 'on':61C 'our':142C 'outsid':2A,19C 'own':135C 'philosophi':117C 'poet':12C,106C 'present':5C 'propound':69C 'prose':80C 'publish':127C 'racism':63C 'reflect':86C 'reject':164C 'reson':118C 's':30C,116C,134C 'scholar':104C 'sensit':42C 'sexism':62C 'sister':1A,18C 'social':70C 'speech':58C 'struggl':87C 'take':60C 'terror':146C 'than':120C 'the':6C,46C,111C,145C,148C 'these':128C 'they':124C 'this':51C,94C 'those':36C 'time':49C 'to':35C,139C,144C,147C 'truli':37C 'twenti':121C 'twentieth':26C 'twentieth-centuri':25C 'ultim':89C 'unflinch':83C 'up':41C 'vehicl':74C 'voic':23C 'way':112C 'were':125C 'which':114C,150C,153C,156C,159C,162C,165C,168C 'who':109C 'will':32C 'word':136C 'work':31C 'write':8C,130C 'writer':15C 'year':122C 'york':48C

Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature.

“[Lorde's] works will be important to those truly interested in growing up sensitive, intelligent, and aware.”—The New York Times 

In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope. This commemorative edition includes a new foreword by Lorde-scholar and poet Cheryl Clarke, who celebrates the ways in which Lorde's philosophies resonate more than twenty years after they were first published.

These landmark writings are, in Lorde's own words, a call to “never close our eyes to the terror, to the chaos which is Black which is creative which is female which is dark which is rejected which is messy which is . . . ”