The City of Refuge [New and Expanded Edition]: The Collected Stories of Rudolph Fisher

by Rudolph Fisher, John McCluskey Jr. (Editor)

One of the premier writers of the Harlem Renaissance, Rudolph Fisher wrote short stories depicting the multifaceted black urban experience that are still acclaimed today for their humor, grace, and objective view of Harlem life. Through his words, wrote the New York Times Book Review , “one feels, smells, and tastes his Harlem; its people come alive and one cares about them.”

A definitive collection of Fisher’s short stories, The City of Refuge offers vibrant tales that deal with the problems faced by newcomers to the city, ancestor figures who struggle to instill a sense of integrity in the young, problems of violence and vengeance, and tensions of caste and class. This anthology has now been expanded to include seven previously unpublished stories that take up such themes as marital infidelity and passing for black and also relate the further adventures of Jinx and Bubber, the comic duo who appeared in Fisher’s two novels.

This new edition also includes two unpublished speeches and the popular article “The Caucasian Storms Harlem,” describing the craze for black music and dance. John McCluskey’s introduction has been updated to place the additional works within the context of Fisher’s career while situating his oeuvre within the broader context of American writing during the twenties.

Fisher recognized the dramatic and comic power in African American folklore and music and frequented Harlem’s many cabarets, speakeasies, and nightclubs, and at the core of his work is a strong regard for music as context and counterpoint. The City of Refuge now better captures the sounds of the city experience by presenting all of Fisher’s known stories. It offers a portrait of Harlem unmatched in depth and range by Fisher’s contemporaries or successors, celebrating, as Booklist noted, “the complexity of black urban life in its encounter with the dangers and delights of the city.” This expanded edition adds new perspectives to that experience and will enhance Fisher’s status for a new generation of readers.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, African American, Literature

352 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.