Five favorites from African-American literature:
1. Native Son by Richard Wright
Native Son was the first bestseller written by an African American author, and tells the story of Bigger Thomas, an unconventional (and, at least from my perspective, a somewhat unlikeable) protagonist. Bigger, a product of oppressive racism and poverty in 1930s Chicago, kills two women, but despite the fact that he has to pay for his crimes, he experiences a kind of redemption. The genius of Native Son is that it is narrated in a limited third person from Bigger’s point of view, forcing readers to confront the world though his eyes, which are eyes from which many readers might not want to see. It’s not the easiest novel to sit down and fall in love with, but absolutely a worthwhile one.
2. Passing by Nella Larsen
The last of Nella Larsen’s two novels, Passing is the story of Irene and Clare, two light-skinned black women who were childhood friends. While Irene lives in Harlem and is married to a black doctor, Clare passes as white and marries a racist white man who refers to her as “Nig” because he thinks her skin has gotten darker. It has a great ending that is wonderfully ambiguous. The book is short (I am a definite fan of short books), but it packs a lot into under 200 pages. It’s so amazingly written and it makes me wish that Larsen wrote more.
3. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X with Alex Haley
What to say? I’ve read this book twice, and I’ve written a lot about it in the past (not here on LitKicks, however) and I definitely wanted to mention it on this list, but yeah, what to say? The Autobiography of Malcolm X. American history from the perspective of one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century. There you go.
4. Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note by LeRoi Jones
Despite what anybody thinks about Amiri Baraka these days, a few years after the post-9/11/Poet Laureate of New Jersey flap, he has written some wonderful poetry over the course of his career, and I’ve read a lot of it. This collection was written during his so-called “Beat Period” when he was hanging with and publishing writing by fellow Beat writers. This collection isn’t about racial issues — he was quoted during this period as saying, “I’m fully conscious all the time that I am an American Negro, because it’s part of my life. But I know also that if I want to say, ‘I see a bus full of people,’ I don’t have to say, ‘I am a Negro seeing a bus full of people,'” (this view changed for him quite a lot later on) — but it’s hard for me not to prefer it over some of his later work. Even though I can appreciate political literature and its importance, it’s sometimes pretty hard not to make it, well, preachy, and Baraka’s later poetry really skates along the edge of that. But the title piece of Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note is easily one of my favorite poems. It’s lovely.
5. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
I read The Bluest Eye when I was a junior in high school and it was at that point the most incredible thing I had ever read in my entire life. Though I haven’t read it since (it’s one of the things I mean to do, but then, there are so many books I haven’t even read once that it makes it hard for me to go back and read other things multiple times) and I sometimes wonder if it would still punch me in the gut like it did back then, the fact that I still think about it (and often) makes me believe it probably would, and that it deserves a place on this list of five. I’ve read quite a few Toni Morrison books since The Bluest Eye, and from the opening (which tells you everything you’re going to read, even though you don’t yet know that’s what it’s telling you) to the heartbreaking ending, it’s an incredible book, about a girl named Pecola Breedlove who believes being beautiful will help her be something special in the world, and that she would be beautiful if only she had blue eyes.
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Another good one is
Another good one is “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison.
Ellison’s “Invisible Man” is
Ellison’s “Invisible Man” is one of my favorite books from any genre.
And speaking of Amiri Baraka, aka LeRoi Jones, there is an interesting account in Diane di Prima’s autobiography, “Recollections of My Life As a Woman”, of how she and Jones started a monthly literary journal in 1961 called “The Floating Bear,” in New York’s Greenwich Village.
That “Invisible Man” is not
That “Invisible Man” is not on this list is a sin.
Also read James Baldwin,
Also read James Baldwin, especially the early novels. My fave, incidentally, is Giovanni’s Room, his first novel. Interestingly, there are no Black people in this novel, including the first-person narrator!
The Panther and the Lash:
The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times by Langston Hughes was my first book of poetry and will remain one of my favorites forever.
That “Invisible Man” is not
That “Invisible Man” is not on this list is a sin.
I’ll just add it to the list of reasons why I’m going to hell.
Baldwin is phenomenal. I’ve
Baldwin is phenomenal. I’ve always found “Another Country” particularly fascinating, and I can never figure out why it doesn’t get more love from queer and gender studies depts., as it’s just as insightful there as it is on matters of race. There are so many hot-button issues explored in that novel, yet they never once overwhelm it, or even seem to be its primary focus. Amazing novel.
My reading of The
My reading of The Autobiography of Malcolm X is colored by Spike Lee’s film, in a positive sense, but I still remember its excellent prose. The book’s only failure was conveying the transcendence of Malcolm X’s two epiphanies. Possibly the poetic license of the film did such a good job.
My favorite Baldwin story–title forgotten–was when he went to a tent revival in the South and didn’t find Jesus as promised.
Giovanni’s Room would be in
Giovanni’s Room would be in my top five. I love Baldwin. His has some spectacular essays including one about Native Son called Everyone’s Protest Novel.
Larsen’s Passing and Quicksand would be on my list too. Passing is great, not just for the social issues of class and race but also for the interior look in female relationships.
I have to say that Richard
I have to say that Richard Wright probably more than any other author introduced the world of literature to me. I was a white boy in a high school English class in the 1970’s being taught by an exageratedly beautiful black woman. We read Black Boy and I loved the way Wright told the story. I went away and read others of his books and Native Son became my favorite book for a long time. I also wonder why you didn’t add Baldwin to this list.
Well, she can’t add
Well, she can’t add everybody.
I think Robert Hayden’s Angle
I think Robert Hayden’s Angle of Ascent: New and Selected Poems, is both essential and one of my favorite volumes of poems. Everyone knows “Those Winter Sundays” and “A Plague of Starlings,” but the rest are equally crafty and thoughtful.
Well, she can’t add
Well, she can’t add everybody.
I could’ve, if I’d just tried harder.
Nice to see the James Baldwin love… I thought because I’d included him on at least two other lists (plays and short stories, that I can think of) I would give him a rest and give some other authors a chance.
I have a problem similar to a
I have a problem similar to a Toni Morrison character. I believe I would be beautiful if only I looked like Jamelah.
One of my top 5 favorite
One of my top 5 favorite poets is Yusef Komunyakaa..
Sum really great stuff here.. highly recommend him!
‘Poetry you can dance to’ is the best way I can describe it.