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The Complete Stories
A landmark gathering of short fiction, spanning the career of Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God , and "one of the greatest writers of our time."--Toni Morrison
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
70 people are currently reading
2722 people want to read
About the author
Zora Neale Hurston
185 books5,432 followersNovels, including
Their Eyes Were Watching God
(1937), and nonfiction writings of American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston give detailed accounts of African American life in the South.
In 1925, Hurston, one of the leaders of the literary renaissance, happening in Harlem, produced the short-lived literary magazine Fire!! alongside Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman shortly before she entered Barnard College. This literary movement developed into the Harlem renaissance.
Hurston applied her Barnard ethnographic training to document African American folklore in her critically acclaimed book Mules and Men alongside fiction Their Eyes Were Watching God . She also assembled a folk-based performance dance group that recreated her Southern tableau with one performance on Broadway.
People awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to Hurston to travel to Haiti and conduct research on conjure in 1937. Her significant work ably broke into the secret societies and exposed their use of drugs to create the Vodun trance, also a subject of study for fellow dancer-anthropologist Katherine Dunham, then at the University of Chicago.
In 1954, the Pittsburgh Courier assigned Hurston, unable to sell her fiction, to cover the small-town murder trial of Ruby McCollum, the prosperous black wife of the local lottery racketeer, who had killed a racist white doctor. Hurston also contributed to Woman in the Suwanee County Jail , a book by journalist and civil rights advocate William Bradford Huie.
In 1925, Hurston, one of the leaders of the literary renaissance, happening in Harlem, produced the short-lived literary magazine Fire!! alongside Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman shortly before she entered Barnard College. This literary movement developed into the Harlem renaissance.
Hurston applied her Barnard ethnographic training to document African American folklore in her critically acclaimed book Mules and Men alongside fiction Their Eyes Were Watching God . She also assembled a folk-based performance dance group that recreated her Southern tableau with one performance on Broadway.
People awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to Hurston to travel to Haiti and conduct research on conjure in 1937. Her significant work ably broke into the secret societies and exposed their use of drugs to create the Vodun trance, also a subject of study for fellow dancer-anthropologist Katherine Dunham, then at the University of Chicago.
In 1954, the Pittsburgh Courier assigned Hurston, unable to sell her fiction, to cover the small-town murder trial of Ruby McCollum, the prosperous black wife of the local lottery racketeer, who had killed a racist white doctor. Hurston also contributed to Woman in the Suwanee County Jail , a book by journalist and civil rights advocate William Bradford Huie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
February 25, 2020
Hurston’s recognition as a key black author of the 20th Century has had its ups and downs. For anyone wanting to get to know Hurston, this is a good place to begin. This book gathers both published and unpublished short fiction from 1921 to 1955.
While familiar with some of her work, I was grateful for the afterword by Henry Louis Gates to help put things in perspective. Gates observes that: “The dark obscurity into which her career …lapsed reflects her staunchly independent political stances rather than any deficiency of craft or vision.” It is very unfortunate that her last decade or more was away from having time for her craft, serving as a maid in Florida and dying in a county welfare home. Her “rediscovery” by many including Alice Walker and Toni Morrison occurred posthumously.
What comes through in many of these stories in her deft use of imagery. This is true whether the subject matter is founded on oral folktales or Harlem situations. In all, her language is very rich and, perhaps, off-putting to some because it captures a lack of sophistication in its application.
Here is a sample from Cock Robin Beale Street in a “discussion” between Uncle July and A’nt Dooby.
“Jest heard Miz Pendleton reading out of some kind of a book how Cock Robin was a real-true bird with feathers on him and got kilt wid a arrow. Hit’s a sin and a shame! Tahin’t a word of it so! I knowed Cock Robin well---was right dere when he got kilt wid a forty-four, and was at de funeral.
A’nt Dooby was unimpressed. “I ain’t knowed nothing ‘bout no Cock Robin gitting kilt and you must a’ sneaked off to de funeral and never told me nothing ‘tall about it.”
“Oh, dat was back dere in Memphis. I used to git around right smart before I was saved…”
Another story (The Fire and the Cloud) consists of a dialogue between Moses and a lizard as he sat upon his grave on Mount Nebo, which likely came from the oral tradition.
It would be a mistake to confuse Zora Neale Hurston with Joel Chandler Harris and confine both to history’s dustbin as being too full of racial stereotypes to be studied and evaluated. My library has retained most of Hurston’s works; I hope yours has done the same.
While familiar with some of her work, I was grateful for the afterword by Henry Louis Gates to help put things in perspective. Gates observes that: “The dark obscurity into which her career …lapsed reflects her staunchly independent political stances rather than any deficiency of craft or vision.” It is very unfortunate that her last decade or more was away from having time for her craft, serving as a maid in Florida and dying in a county welfare home. Her “rediscovery” by many including Alice Walker and Toni Morrison occurred posthumously.
What comes through in many of these stories in her deft use of imagery. This is true whether the subject matter is founded on oral folktales or Harlem situations. In all, her language is very rich and, perhaps, off-putting to some because it captures a lack of sophistication in its application.
Here is a sample from Cock Robin Beale Street in a “discussion” between Uncle July and A’nt Dooby.
“Jest heard Miz Pendleton reading out of some kind of a book how Cock Robin was a real-true bird with feathers on him and got kilt wid a arrow. Hit’s a sin and a shame! Tahin’t a word of it so! I knowed Cock Robin well---was right dere when he got kilt wid a forty-four, and was at de funeral.
A’nt Dooby was unimpressed. “I ain’t knowed nothing ‘bout no Cock Robin gitting kilt and you must a’ sneaked off to de funeral and never told me nothing ‘tall about it.”
“Oh, dat was back dere in Memphis. I used to git around right smart before I was saved…”
Another story (The Fire and the Cloud) consists of a dialogue between Moses and a lizard as he sat upon his grave on Mount Nebo, which likely came from the oral tradition.
It would be a mistake to confuse Zora Neale Hurston with Joel Chandler Harris and confine both to history’s dustbin as being too full of racial stereotypes to be studied and evaluated. My library has retained most of Hurston’s works; I hope yours has done the same.
August 31, 2023
This is a joint book review of Zora Neale Hurston’s collection of short stories in The Complete Stories (1995) and Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance (2020). I recommend you read them together.
The 34 stories in these collections span across four decades (1921-1951) and show Zora’s depth, genius, and diversity as a writer. I read the short stories in chronological order by their publication year and then read the previously unpublished stories last. I especially love how Zora was able to experiment with the form in her stories. For example, Zora is mostly known for writing about Southern Blacks in her hometown of Eatonville, FL but she occasionally wrote short stories that took place in Biblical times (“Escape from Pharaoh” & “The Seventh Veil”) or would write a Harlem Renaissance story that was written like a book in the Bible (“Monkey Junk” & “She Rock”). She also wrote stories about romantic relationships, courtroom dramas, and of course my favorite, her stories of conjure and hoodoo. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sieglinde Lemke stated in the introduction to The Complete Stories that “morality is the issue in most of her stories, which usually end happily for the disenfranchised and powerless” (xxii).
Favorite Stories in the Two Collections
-John Redding Goes to Sea (1921)***
-The Conversion of Sam (ca 1922)**
-Black Death (ca 1920s)***
-The Bone of Contention (ca 1920s)***
-The Gilded Six-Bits (1933)***
-Mother Catherine (1934)*
-Uncle Monday (1934)*
-The Conscience of the Court (1950)*
-The Seventh Veil (previously unpublished)*
-The Woman in Gaul (previously unpublished)*
*In The Complete Stories only
**In Hitting A Straight Lick with A Crooked Stick only
***In both collections
This completes my challenge to read all of Zora Neale Hurston’s works that I had not previously read (aka The Zora Challenge), but it does not end my study of the amazing Zora Neale Hurston. I will continue to read more about her through her biographies by various writers (Robert Hemenway, Valerie Boyd, and others) and her other works including her plays.
The 34 stories in these collections span across four decades (1921-1951) and show Zora’s depth, genius, and diversity as a writer. I read the short stories in chronological order by their publication year and then read the previously unpublished stories last. I especially love how Zora was able to experiment with the form in her stories. For example, Zora is mostly known for writing about Southern Blacks in her hometown of Eatonville, FL but she occasionally wrote short stories that took place in Biblical times (“Escape from Pharaoh” & “The Seventh Veil”) or would write a Harlem Renaissance story that was written like a book in the Bible (“Monkey Junk” & “She Rock”). She also wrote stories about romantic relationships, courtroom dramas, and of course my favorite, her stories of conjure and hoodoo. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sieglinde Lemke stated in the introduction to The Complete Stories that “morality is the issue in most of her stories, which usually end happily for the disenfranchised and powerless” (xxii).
Favorite Stories in the Two Collections
-John Redding Goes to Sea (1921)***
-The Conversion of Sam (ca 1922)**
-Black Death (ca 1920s)***
-The Bone of Contention (ca 1920s)***
-The Gilded Six-Bits (1933)***
-Mother Catherine (1934)*
-Uncle Monday (1934)*
-The Conscience of the Court (1950)*
-The Seventh Veil (previously unpublished)*
-The Woman in Gaul (previously unpublished)*
*In The Complete Stories only
**In Hitting A Straight Lick with A Crooked Stick only
***In both collections
This completes my challenge to read all of Zora Neale Hurston’s works that I had not previously read (aka The Zora Challenge), but it does not end my study of the amazing Zora Neale Hurston. I will continue to read more about her through her biographies by various writers (Robert Hemenway, Valerie Boyd, and others) and her other works including her plays.
April 29, 2015
I was surprised to find I really enjoyed these stories by Hurston. I haven't read anything by her since Their Eyes Were Watching God. These stories were very engaging. For a black activist and feminist, I found her stories very entertaining.
John Redding Goes to Sea was sad.
Drenched in Light was fun, and showed how humans are.
Spunk was kind of scary.
Magnolia Flower was very good, like a tall tale.
Muttsy was kind of pointless.
The Eatonville Anthology kind of gave an overview of different people and their characters.
Sweat and The Gilded Six-Bits were very good stories about human nature.
She had some stories that were specifically about slavery and took place in slave-days. She also wrote a few stories that were written in a Biblical style (very interesting) and regarded the lives of Moses, John the Baptist, etc. Worth reading.
John Redding Goes to Sea was sad.
Drenched in Light was fun, and showed how humans are.
Spunk was kind of scary.
Magnolia Flower was very good, like a tall tale.
Muttsy was kind of pointless.
The Eatonville Anthology kind of gave an overview of different people and their characters.
Sweat and The Gilded Six-Bits were very good stories about human nature.
She had some stories that were specifically about slavery and took place in slave-days. She also wrote a few stories that were written in a Biblical style (very interesting) and regarded the lives of Moses, John the Baptist, etc. Worth reading.
March 10, 2009
I've just started reading Zora Neale Hurston. I began with Their Eyes Were Watching God, and I really enjoyed it. I love Alice Walker's work, and was interested to hear that Walker contributed to the 'rediscovery' of Zora Neale Hurston's work.
One of the things I really like about Hurston's stories is her cultural approach to storytelling. She was trained as an anthropologist, was a student of Franz Boas (often referred to as the father of modern anthropology) and a contemporary of Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead. Hurston dives into the beauty of cultures, weaving in her early life in Florida, Harlem in the 1920s, the fieldwork she did in the Caribbean, and time spent living in the American South. She really makes it all come alive.
One of the things I really like about Hurston's stories is her cultural approach to storytelling. She was trained as an anthropologist, was a student of Franz Boas (often referred to as the father of modern anthropology) and a contemporary of Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead. Hurston dives into the beauty of cultures, weaving in her early life in Florida, Harlem in the 1920s, the fieldwork she did in the Caribbean, and time spent living in the American South. She really makes it all come alive.
February 24, 2014
muttsy , conscience of the court, john redding goes to sea, sweat & Even Now you cooking with gas....Zora had this awesome ability of showing us who we were ...I love her depictions of The south & the venacular she wrote with...this is a must read & must have!
June 16, 2020
Wow. Reading this collection was like partaking in a tasting menu at a Michelin star restaurant. Variety and subtly, surprising combinations and deft presentation. A full, and excellent literary meal. I have not encountered language like this in some time.
The introduction and afterword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. are added treats (should I stick with the dinner metaphor?? Consider these the aperitif and digestif).
This quote from the introduction neatly describes one of the hallmarks of Hurston’s style:
“Above all else, Hurston is concerned to register a distinct sense of place- an African-American cultural space. The Hurston voice of these stories is never in a hurry or a rush, pausing over- indeed, luxuriating in- the nuances of speech or the timbre of voice that give a storyteller her or his distinctiveness.”
Later, in the afterword, Gates, Jr. explores Hurston’s career trajectory - how she differed from and even upset her male contemporaries, the post-humous decades in which she was forgotten and her resurgence to literary acclaim. He writes that,
“And she declared her first novel a manifesto against the ‘arrogance’ of whites assuming that ‘black lives are only defensive reactions to white actions.’ Her strategy was not calculated to please.”
As a white person reading these stories, I found myself realizing that I’ve come to expect black stories to be centrally concerned with white people and whiteness. And what Hurston does, and does exceptionally, is take these expectations and shove them aside. She makes space for the black legacies, mythologies, philosophies, histories and practically dares anyone to look on that space as less than.
But it’s not a dare. No, these stories are not about defiance. To say so would cheapen them because, like all masterpieces, these literary works are primarily focused on excavating the human experience with an honest spade. This collection, then, is not a dare or a challenge, it’s an invitation to see more clearly.
The introduction and afterword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. are added treats (should I stick with the dinner metaphor?? Consider these the aperitif and digestif).
This quote from the introduction neatly describes one of the hallmarks of Hurston’s style:
“Above all else, Hurston is concerned to register a distinct sense of place- an African-American cultural space. The Hurston voice of these stories is never in a hurry or a rush, pausing over- indeed, luxuriating in- the nuances of speech or the timbre of voice that give a storyteller her or his distinctiveness.”
Later, in the afterword, Gates, Jr. explores Hurston’s career trajectory - how she differed from and even upset her male contemporaries, the post-humous decades in which she was forgotten and her resurgence to literary acclaim. He writes that,
“And she declared her first novel a manifesto against the ‘arrogance’ of whites assuming that ‘black lives are only defensive reactions to white actions.’ Her strategy was not calculated to please.”
As a white person reading these stories, I found myself realizing that I’ve come to expect black stories to be centrally concerned with white people and whiteness. And what Hurston does, and does exceptionally, is take these expectations and shove them aside. She makes space for the black legacies, mythologies, philosophies, histories and practically dares anyone to look on that space as less than.
But it’s not a dare. No, these stories are not about defiance. To say so would cheapen them because, like all masterpieces, these literary works are primarily focused on excavating the human experience with an honest spade. This collection, then, is not a dare or a challenge, it’s an invitation to see more clearly.
October 29, 2018
Zora Neale Hurston’s collection of short stories is a collection of in-depth character studies. Every story features one or multipe fleshed-out characers that I almost feel like I know personally by the end of each story and the whole collection. She draws inspiration for many of her stories from people she actually knew, particularly from where she grew up. “The Eatonville Anthology,” a collection of brief vignettes detailing members of the community of Eatonville, introduces us to many characters that return in other stories, and many that don’t; even the ones that don’t return make a powerful impression on the reader.
These stories and the characters in them raise questions about gender roles, racial identity, and class that make this text relevant beyond this community and specific cast of characters. Teaching this text, teachers can focus on authorial voice and language drawing from Hurston’s experience of publishing and getting criticism on her work; students then might reflect on how Hurston’s own experience reflects gendered, racial, and class-based biases, just as her characters’ stories might prompt use of these critical lenses.
These stories and the characters in them raise questions about gender roles, racial identity, and class that make this text relevant beyond this community and specific cast of characters. Teaching this text, teachers can focus on authorial voice and language drawing from Hurston’s experience of publishing and getting criticism on her work; students then might reflect on how Hurston’s own experience reflects gendered, racial, and class-based biases, just as her characters’ stories might prompt use of these critical lenses.
February 11, 2012
Wonderful gift for character development. Accents are really thick, but man, she tells a good story. I am hooked.
July 16, 2015
Loved this!
July 13, 2015
Wonderful writer! I didn't finish all her short stories but will as the summer rolls on. Great afternoon reading.
March 31, 2023
I definitely would have liked this book more if I was expected to read it quickly. I liked the writing style of the author, it had a very eerie undertone. I would be up for reading more of her books in the future. I also liked how some of short stories connected to each other and had crossovers with others.
May 4, 2009
I am so grateful so many of Zora Neale Hurston's works survived. Several were burned or otherwise destroyed and Hurston died in obscurity. These are a wonderful example of her talent for capturing the Southern (Floridan) black poor people of the 1930's and 40's. Her using their dialect when speaking adds to the story and makes these people come alive. It is her masterful use of language that make me care about these people and look forward to the next story.
I'm purposefully choosing to read this collection slowly, so I can have time to reflect on each story, and extend the pleasure of reading each story for the first time.
The short biography at the end of the book, as well as Alice Walker's 1970's Ms. Magazine article reprint are great additions. I appreciated the insight into Hurston as a person each gave.
I'm purposefully choosing to read this collection slowly, so I can have time to reflect on each story, and extend the pleasure of reading each story for the first time.
The short biography at the end of the book, as well as Alice Walker's 1970's Ms. Magazine article reprint are great additions. I appreciated the insight into Hurston as a person each gave.
August 25, 2017
I used to shy away from her writing when I was younger, mainly because I couldn't understand/follow the dialect in which she wrote. As I've gotten older, I now appreciate the authenticity of her stories, with the dialect adding to that authenticity.
Some of these short stories made me laugh out loud, others made me reflect, while others stirred a flurry of emotions... some did all three at the same time.
Some of these short stories made me laugh out loud, others made me reflect, while others stirred a flurry of emotions... some did all three at the same time.
April 30, 2010
I enjoy most of Hurston's work and her stories are no different. I like the contrast of work available with portions from her novels and elsewhere. The fact that she studied Anthropology always added a level of depth and intrigue to the characters and settings in her work.
January 30, 2018
Magnificent work. Particularly considering the time and by whom it was written. As a folklorist she presents her tales humainly without being preachy, but the lessons of individuality/inequaltiy, and the ironies of society are potently and endearingly delivered.
February 22, 2013
I love love the way Zora Neale Hurston writes. She is amazing and her stories are simple but really touch the heart.
August 2, 2024
Ms Hurston's Eatonville is a much an imaginative location as Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha but I suppose there are reasons she is not considered as great a Southern author as Sir William. She doesn't fit into easy categories — she's Southern but wrote most of her work in New York, and uses both places as settings; she's black but, gosh!, writes from a black perspective that isn't solely about being oppressed by the white man (can you like, believe that black people like that even exist!? >:|), and she's a woman, and you know all the baggage that goes with that descriptor. Imagine if you will, if we didn’t give a flying F about such things but actually read her stories, novels and nonfiction. You might understand for yourself why she's so good (and to be fair, plenty have). She was a human being, which is enormously evident from her writing, and her range, like George Eliot's, is what makes her great no matter how difficult that makes it for simpler folk to categorize her.
These stories are a legit addition to her ouvre. The aforementioned range doesn't apply to characterization alone, but also to form.
There is the fiction, much of which takes place in the imaginative Eatonville, the setting for her famous Their Eyes Were Watching God. When she's in this mode there's a tenderness of spirit and deep characterization of townfolk, by no means sparing anyone's faults (cuz, like, black people aren't perfect nor are they victims all of the time). The way she descibes things and fits her characters into that world is really cool and rewarding to read, it is novelistic in a 19th century way, with a dose of modernism, which might be the best kind of novel. In Eatonville white people don't have much of a role, but that's because Eatonville was a black town, founded and run by black people in the late 19th century. Intersting bit of history, aye?
Then we have her actual historical fiction, meaning ancient history, with the Moses fables of Moses, Man of the Mountain and the tale of Antiphas and Herodias, where she imbues the same heartfelt critique of society and individualism, but applies it to settings that were enormously important and poignant to her people. Moses was the best book I've read that compares biblical times to our own. It reminds us that these stories are still here for a reason and asks, who are we in the story?
Then, and this gets really exciting, we have her investigative nonfiction, her chronicling of Southern hoodoo and Caribbean Vodou culture, from a perspective that needs to be treasured because it is from someone who is curious, appreciative, and crucially, an accepted participant in the various rites and cultural events. Reading a white colonist's views of Voodoo is not much fun in my experience, but with a talented creative writer at the helm, someone who realizes that "magic" is real and subtly infused all around us (as it is in her fiction) should you only look for it, we are able to get a sense of the flavor and feeling attached to a significant world religion. The Vodou aesthetic is easily one of the coolest; Vodou is Africa the way Europe is the Renaissance, meaning it is great and vast and wholly its own. Ms Hurston is the only writer I've encountered who can convey this.
For someone who has heard good things but doesn’t know where to start this isn’t a bad place. Just know that each morsel here is expanded upon, in all three modes, in book-length works. Which is pretty awesome when you think about it.
These stories are a legit addition to her ouvre. The aforementioned range doesn't apply to characterization alone, but also to form.
There is the fiction, much of which takes place in the imaginative Eatonville, the setting for her famous Their Eyes Were Watching God. When she's in this mode there's a tenderness of spirit and deep characterization of townfolk, by no means sparing anyone's faults (cuz, like, black people aren't perfect nor are they victims all of the time). The way she descibes things and fits her characters into that world is really cool and rewarding to read, it is novelistic in a 19th century way, with a dose of modernism, which might be the best kind of novel. In Eatonville white people don't have much of a role, but that's because Eatonville was a black town, founded and run by black people in the late 19th century. Intersting bit of history, aye?
Then we have her actual historical fiction, meaning ancient history, with the Moses fables of Moses, Man of the Mountain and the tale of Antiphas and Herodias, where she imbues the same heartfelt critique of society and individualism, but applies it to settings that were enormously important and poignant to her people. Moses was the best book I've read that compares biblical times to our own. It reminds us that these stories are still here for a reason and asks, who are we in the story?
Then, and this gets really exciting, we have her investigative nonfiction, her chronicling of Southern hoodoo and Caribbean Vodou culture, from a perspective that needs to be treasured because it is from someone who is curious, appreciative, and crucially, an accepted participant in the various rites and cultural events. Reading a white colonist's views of Voodoo is not much fun in my experience, but with a talented creative writer at the helm, someone who realizes that "magic" is real and subtly infused all around us (as it is in her fiction) should you only look for it, we are able to get a sense of the flavor and feeling attached to a significant world religion. The Vodou aesthetic is easily one of the coolest; Vodou is Africa the way Europe is the Renaissance, meaning it is great and vast and wholly its own. Ms Hurston is the only writer I've encountered who can convey this.
For someone who has heard good things but doesn’t know where to start this isn’t a bad place. Just know that each morsel here is expanded upon, in all three modes, in book-length works. Which is pretty awesome when you think about it.
December 8, 2024
These stories are written in a former era, slang or country talk and black stories. Hoodoo. Voodoo. Christian like phrases.
Stories I enjoyed:
1. Fire and cloud, Moses with the lizard
2. John redding goes to thy sea
3.possum or pig?
4. Mother Catherine, p 102 reads "some are weak to do wisdom things, but during to do wicked things. " think of paul when he says he's lead to do wicked things, thorn in his side, but will die to self to follow Christ.
I'll finish other stories, which took me over a year to read this.
2.5/3 🌟 🤩
Stories I enjoyed:
1. Fire and cloud, Moses with the lizard
2. John redding goes to thy sea
3.possum or pig?
4. Mother Catherine, p 102 reads "some are weak to do wisdom things, but during to do wicked things. " think of paul when he says he's lead to do wicked things, thorn in his side, but will die to self to follow Christ.
I'll finish other stories, which took me over a year to read this.
2.5/3 🌟 🤩
August 5, 2022
(3.5) Slices of a different life—which are decidedly valuable, and I’m grateful to have read. My enjoyment was just not what I had hoped!
October 13, 2025
Each of these stories is a treasure, and treated as such by the folks who assembled the collection. The introduction and afterword add vital context to the stories and their relationship to Hurston’s life. The stories themselves feel alive—funny, sharp, and tender all at once. An invaluable capsule of a literary legend.
August 7, 2014
An excellent collection of stories bounded together to create a wonderful book. At first, I was speed reading the book, my usual way for fiction, but I had difficulty comprehending the colorful black language used. This language was so powerful that I decided to read slowly and digest every sentence. I realized it was closely related to patois, which formed the riot for my translation.
I enjoyed most of the stories, especially "Hurricane" and "The Gilded Six-Bits". Hurricane illustrated this black family/community perception of the original native of the land, Indians, and then to realized how foolish they were not taking heed of the First People of the land warning and believing the teaching of "the white man". The core of the story is love, the love that Janie and Tea Cake shared. This story showed strong affection, strong family ties, basic human intrinsic love that exited in those days, circa 1946, between people of color that is not portray in today's stories. It is just wonderful, and so amusing the way "The Honorable" Zora Neale Hurston inflicted her humor on my karma. I wish this story and others, becomes or is a part of the American Literature taught in schools, from junior high to college level.
This collection of stories are indelible in my memory. My only regret is not knowing about Ms. Hurston until after so many decades consuming traditional fiction and missing the exposure to Black American Literature. Another regret is the neglect meted over the years that caused her teachings fallen by the wayside.
I enjoyed most of the stories, especially "Hurricane" and "The Gilded Six-Bits". Hurricane illustrated this black family/community perception of the original native of the land, Indians, and then to realized how foolish they were not taking heed of the First People of the land warning and believing the teaching of "the white man". The core of the story is love, the love that Janie and Tea Cake shared. This story showed strong affection, strong family ties, basic human intrinsic love that exited in those days, circa 1946, between people of color that is not portray in today's stories. It is just wonderful, and so amusing the way "The Honorable" Zora Neale Hurston inflicted her humor on my karma. I wish this story and others, becomes or is a part of the American Literature taught in schools, from junior high to college level.
This collection of stories are indelible in my memory. My only regret is not knowing about Ms. Hurston until after so many decades consuming traditional fiction and missing the exposure to Black American Literature. Another regret is the neglect meted over the years that caused her teachings fallen by the wayside.
March 2, 2023
Most of these stories read as fairy tales or popular fiction. They're interesting in that a lot of them are curiously deracialized, only subtly invoking the oppression, stratification, and dehumanization of the land in which they are set. They don't struggle or rail at society, but merely picture people within it, and are there as tales.
Beyond the use of dialect and occasional injections of voodoo, you could almost make the characters any race and the stories would still work as general archetypes, it is only in the small details that Hurston injects locality and life, which makes them feel a bit more vibrant and less mythological. And there is a certain shock in reading stories with rich white saviours and poor black villains that don't feel stereotyped or mean, though the disconnect from actual life is jarring.
But this commitment to telling unexamined tales isn't really my bag. They feel like fun, pass-the-time stories without a lot of depth. The entertainments are slapstick or maudlin, splashy but shallow. There's an verve to it told with some style but the stories are so broad and the characters so cut-out, they don't have much heft.
I can see why they fell out of popularity with the rise of more politically urgent and biting fiction that felt more real and engaged with contemporaneity, not tales that feel they could have been old radio serials. While I appreciate the revival of a forgotten literary figure, I'm not much one for the style of these nice, unchallenging entertainments.
Beyond the use of dialect and occasional injections of voodoo, you could almost make the characters any race and the stories would still work as general archetypes, it is only in the small details that Hurston injects locality and life, which makes them feel a bit more vibrant and less mythological. And there is a certain shock in reading stories with rich white saviours and poor black villains that don't feel stereotyped or mean, though the disconnect from actual life is jarring.
But this commitment to telling unexamined tales isn't really my bag. They feel like fun, pass-the-time stories without a lot of depth. The entertainments are slapstick or maudlin, splashy but shallow. There's an verve to it told with some style but the stories are so broad and the characters so cut-out, they don't have much heft.
I can see why they fell out of popularity with the rise of more politically urgent and biting fiction that felt more real and engaged with contemporaneity, not tales that feel they could have been old radio serials. While I appreciate the revival of a forgotten literary figure, I'm not much one for the style of these nice, unchallenging entertainments.
September 3, 2018
This is an uneven mix, but there’s plenty to enjoy for fans of Zora Neale Hurston. Her anthropologist’s eye shows up in lots of the stories here, as she samples liberally from folk tales, while at the same time, describing the people telling the tales, and the communities they’ve built.
The stories often tell of the comeuppance of local bullies, some by supernatural means. Many of the pieces are very funny, and I loved the one where she imitates biblical language to tell the story of a young man from the South who goes to the big city.
Quoting a bit of that one:
< 10. And the heart of Mandolin was inflamed, and he stood before his father and said, “I beseech thee now, papa, to give unto me now my portion that I may go hence to great Babylon and see life.”
11. But his father’s heart yearned towards him, and he said, “Nay, my son, for Babylon is full of wickedness, and thou art but a youth.”
12. But Mandolin answered him saying, “I crave to gaze upon its sins. What do you think I go to see, a prayer-meeting?”
13. But his father strove with him and said, “Why dost thou crave Babylon when Gussie Smith, the daughter of our neighbor, will make thee a good wife? Tarry now and taker her to wife, for verily she is a mighty biscuit cooker before the Lord.”
The stories often tell of the comeuppance of local bullies, some by supernatural means. Many of the pieces are very funny, and I loved the one where she imitates biblical language to tell the story of a young man from the South who goes to the big city.
Quoting a bit of that one:
< 10. And the heart of Mandolin was inflamed, and he stood before his father and said, “I beseech thee now, papa, to give unto me now my portion that I may go hence to great Babylon and see life.”
11. But his father’s heart yearned towards him, and he said, “Nay, my son, for Babylon is full of wickedness, and thou art but a youth.”
12. But Mandolin answered him saying, “I crave to gaze upon its sins. What do you think I go to see, a prayer-meeting?”
13. But his father strove with him and said, “Why dost thou crave Babylon when Gussie Smith, the daughter of our neighbor, will make thee a good wife? Tarry now and taker her to wife, for verily she is a mighty biscuit cooker before the Lord.”
July 27, 2013
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2140983.html[return][return]This is, as I hoped, an awfully good collection. There are some journeyman pieces about love, lust and death in a small town; there are some awesome character sketches, a great story written in Harlem slang, and an unfinished novel telling the story of John the Baptist's execution from Herodias' point of view. I chose the quote above, from an account of a black person being wrongfully prosecuted for attacking a white man, for its eerie resonance with the racially charged trial currently taking place a hundred miles farther south. Some things take a long time to change.[return][return]The stories are topped and tailed by essays by Henry Louis Gates, but the gold nugget at the end, mysteriously not even mentioned on the contents page, is Alice Walker's account, "Looking for Zora", of how she tracked down Hurston's grave in 1973, 14 years after her death in 1959. It's an incredible tale of erasure, hidden history and exclusion.
December 1, 2009
Perfect for my transit journeys this next week. Her 'Their Eyes' still resonates from when I re-read it last fall, am delighted to have more to read of her.
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Have read 5 or 6 so far, I really like them. Have been reading anthologies of short stories and so on for the last several months, and hers are definitely among my favorite. They don't throw me around too much, they match up information provided with information required well, they have a full, rich flavor that is very accessible, there is a great story arc to each one, full characters despite the short story format: all adds up to sublime delight.
Marking as read, but there is more there for next time..
Highly recommend!
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Have read 5 or 6 so far, I really like them. Have been reading anthologies of short stories and so on for the last several months, and hers are definitely among my favorite. They don't throw me around too much, they match up information provided with information required well, they have a full, rich flavor that is very accessible, there is a great story arc to each one, full characters despite the short story format: all adds up to sublime delight.
Marking as read, but there is more there for next time..
Highly recommend!
July 13, 2011
some of the stories appear multiple times but her wording is very poetic
(FROM JACKET)This landmark gathering of Zora Neale Hurston's short fiction—most of which appeared only in literary magazines during her lifetime—reveals the evolution of one of the most important African American writers. Spanning her career from 1921 to 1955, these stories attest to Hurston's tremendous range and establish themes that recur in her longer fiction. With rich language and imagery, the stories in this collection not only map Hurston's development and concerns as a writer but also provide an invaluable reflection of the mind and imagination of the author of the acclaimed novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God."
(FROM JACKET)This landmark gathering of Zora Neale Hurston's short fiction—most of which appeared only in literary magazines during her lifetime—reveals the evolution of one of the most important African American writers. Spanning her career from 1921 to 1955, these stories attest to Hurston's tremendous range and establish themes that recur in her longer fiction. With rich language and imagery, the stories in this collection not only map Hurston's development and concerns as a writer but also provide an invaluable reflection of the mind and imagination of the author of the acclaimed novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God."
March 8, 2018
This collection of short stories feels like a set of elements that can each exist on their own but can also coalesce into a single impression that saturates. She is a great writer and a great ethnographer--and the combination of the two is an unstoppable force. Her equal devotion to both Anthropology and Literature (especially her beautiful weaving of the two) reflect something that I can only aspire to achieve and something of which I believe the world needs more.
For the full review and analysis, check out Paper & Whiskey
For the full review and analysis, check out Paper & Whiskey
July 17, 2018
I was really compelled by this collection of all of her short fiction, even the ones she ordered burned after her death. There's neat revisions that were published two different ways and you can see a writer who uses the fable and folk tale in her early works (they rearranged chronologically) blossom into such a confident writer who blends folk tale with her own unique way of viewing race, the role of women, and myth. Highlights were "Spunk", "Hurricane" and "High John De Conquer". I had a formative experience reading "Their Eyes Were Watching God" in high school and found this a great collection show how ZNH would stretch out an idea and try things out.
September 21, 2007
I did my big reserach project in high school on Zora Neale Hurston's short stories. As stated, I am keenly interested in different cultural "adaptations" or unusual integrations of spirituality, superstition, folklore, and Christian religion. Hurston's stories are especially interesting as she studied Voodoo and Hoodoo practices in African-American culture in the deep South. Her stories show how black Christians in the south often had mythical, magical, and sometimes frighteningly "blended" systems of belief.
May 5, 2016
Enjoyed the language throughout the stories I completed. There were similar or recurring character tropes in the works, the most common being the young, intelligent, ambitious person held back tragically in life because of race or class. Hurston was writing the history that was not making it into textbooks; her writing is important in understanding the plight of impoverished blacks in the pre-civil rights era south.
My favorite story was with the brook and stream watching lovers, incredible use of movement in poetic prose.
My favorite story was with the brook and stream watching lovers, incredible use of movement in poetic prose.
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