The City of Refuge: The Collected Stories of Rudolph Fisher

by Rudolph Fisher (Editor), John McCluskey, John A. McCluskey

Book by

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, African American, Literature

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Born in Washington, DC in the late nineteenth century, Fisher grew up in Providence, Rhode Island graduating from Classical High School and attending Brown University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Brown in 1919, where he delivered the valedictory address, and received a Master of Arts a year later.[citation needed] He went on to attend Howard University Medical School and graduated in 1924.

Fisher came to New York City in 1925 to take up a fellowship at College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, during which time he published two scientific articles of his research on treating bacteriophage viruses with ultraviolet light. Fisher married Jane Ryder in 1925, and they had one son, Hugh, who was born in 1926.

After his fellowship ended, Fisher had a private practice on Long Island. In 1930, he became superintendent of International Hospital, a black-owned private hospital on Seventh Avenue in Harlem, but the hospital went bankrupt in October 1931.

Fisher died after unsuccessful abdominal surgery in 1934 at the age of 37.

Reviews

[Hans Ostrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fisher was a remarkable man, a highly successful scholar and medical researcher was well as a fiction writer during the Harlem Renaissance. He is especially good at writing about working-class African Americans, including those who moved north during the Great Migration. A very pleasurable read.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. Very poignant. I really enjoyed it....don't know if anyone who is not a New Orleans native would find it as intriguing.

[Kelly Coons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rudolph Fisher died young. That is a sad fact. Thus, he is not one of the people who is commonly featured in discussions about the minds of the Harlem Renaissance, and that is sad because his intriguing ambivalence is evident in his writing. This is a great collection to explore that ambivalence.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pop culture missed this collection’s greatness. Set in Renaissance Harlem, the plots sound fresh, whether it be a crisis of faith, betrayal of brothers or urban exploitation of newcomers from country. The dialogue reveals Rudolph Fisher did some serious ear training.

[libby reber · Rating 4 out of 5]

For class

[Jemima Piggott · Rating 4 out of 5]

too ill to write a review. thought it was neato.