Any Woman's Blues: Stories by Contemporary Black Women Writers

by Mary Helen. (Edited and with an introduction by). Washington (Editor), Mary Helen Washington (Editor)

These the old blues
and I sing em, sing em, sing em. Just like any woman do.
My life ain't done yet
Naw... My song ain't through.'
Any Woman's Blues, Sherley Anne Williams

* Toni Cade Bambara - "Witchbird", "Medley"
* Alexis DeVeaux - "The Riddles of Egypt Brownstones", "Remember Him a Outlaw"
* Frenchy Hodges - "Requiem for Willie Lee"
* Gayl Jones - "Asylum", "Jewata"
* Toni Morrison - "Eva Peace"
* Ntozake Shange - "aw, babee, you so pretty", "comin to terms"
* Alice Walker - "Laurel", "Advancing Luna and Ida B Wells"
* Paulette Childress White - "Alice", "The Bird Cage"
* Sherley Anne Williams - "Meditations on History"

This collection of short stories by nine Black women writers opens and extends the picture of Black women's lives as seen by themselves. The theme of these brilliant stories are universal: the search for self, for freedom, the dreams and realities of love and friendship, the prisons we make of race and sex. Timely, powerful and original, these stories are like the blues - they reach out to the world.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

274 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Bloodorange · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars. I actually had a discussion with myself on whether I should give it three or four stars.

The arguments for three:

1) It is a mixed bag, and mostly convinced me to read the writers who were on my radar already – two of whom, Alice Walker and Toni Cade Bambara, I haven’t read yet, and one I have a stormy relationship with - Toni Morrison.

2) It is an old anthology at this point, and possibly not one to be sought out.

The arguments for four stars:

1) Most of the stories were better than average,

2) There were names, new or almost new to me, that I sampled with curiosity (Ntozake Shange) or unexpected pleasure (Paulette Childress White). I might want to read a novel version of one of the stories anthologized in this book – Dessa Rose by Sherley Anne Williams, whose "Meditations on History" was a little unsatisfactory at first, but felt very well-researched.

Strongest points, to my taste:

Toni Cade Bambara - "Witchbird", "Medley"
Toni Morrison - "Eva Peace" (fragment of Sula, which now I know I must read)
Ntozake Shange - "comin to terms"
Alice Walker - "Laurel", "Advancing Luna and Ida B Wells" – the bfirst one hilarious and dramatic at the same time, the other a true eye opener.
Paulette Childress White - "Alice", "The Bird Cage" (I wish she wrote more)
Sherley Anne Williams - "Meditations on History"

Honorable mention: Gayl Jones’ "Asylum" and "Jewata" were written flatly (as she herself admitted), but well.