Langston Hughes Reads

by Langston Hughes

A Rare and Exceptional Recording of Langston Hughes Reading His Own Poetry.

"Langston Hughes belongs to whoever is listening. A possession in common, like the sights and sounds of a streetcorner hangout or the barbershop debate over pretty girls' legs and baseball players; open your ears and your heart if you've got one, Langston will walk right in and do the rest. Always public, his poems have no front door; not fully alive in the unspoken state; never quite satisfied unless they are talking to somebody. His thoughts come naked, conceived in the open only at home in the public domain. Free, without charge, like water, like air--like salted peanuts at a Harlem rent party. Come in, have one on me--that's Langston's style; a great host; a perfect bartender; profligate--not of pigs' feet but of poetry--dishing it up, iambic pentameter, on the rocks and on the house, fresh wrote this morning. Dead now, but still alive. Ol' Langston in the corners of my mind." -- Ossie Davis

Contents:


One Way Ticket
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Puzzled
Trumpet Player
Ballad of the Gypsy
Kid Sleepy
Southern Mammy Songs
Migrant
Mama and Daughter
Sylvester's Dying Bed
Intern at Provident Hospital
Merry-Go-Round
Ku Klux Klan
The South
Mulatto
Out of Work
The Explanation of Our Times
Dinner Guest: Me
Cultural Exchange This recording also includes rare commentary and reflections from the author.

Genres: Poetry

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Through poetry, prose, and drama, American writer James Langston Hughes made important contributions to the Harlem renaissance; his best-known works include Weary Blues (1926) and The Ways of White Folks (1934).

People best know this social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry, for his famous written work about the period, when "Harlem was in vogue."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langsto...

Reviews

[grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

can langston narrate my life, please?

[Marthe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a unique experience! Truly lovely and wonderful to hear Hughes read his own poems and provide the listener with contextualising anecdotes as well as socially and culturally engaged commentary. Really interesting diction and an impressive self-possessedness, intentionality, and critical analysis.

[A. B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved hearing this with his voice!

[Elias · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.

[Marina Delben · Rating 4 out of 5]

encontré su poesía en Spotify de pura suerte y me encantó, además también tiene versiones de los mismos poemas comentados explicando el contexto donde surgieron.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though it lacks substance a little, I can't imagine a better introduction to Hughes and his poetry than this recorded lecture by the author illustrated with readings of him poems. He covers his beginning as a poet, prentice work, themes to which he returned, Harlem, and other topics and themes. It lacks the substance of a biography or survey of Hughes as a writer, but this is a wonderful way to learn if you want to know more.

[Jim Ogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful discovery on Spotify. I did not realize they had a variety of audiobooks in audio narration. It was fascinating to hear Hughes tell his stories and narrate his own poetry.