The Short Stories of Langston Hughes

I'm not usually a big fan of short stories but I love these. They are insightful, attention grabbing and always interesting. I got this book as a gift when I was 15 still come back to it frequently years later.

Langston Hughes entire body of work is a testament to his love and pride of being a black American. Though he never excluded his common bond of brotherhood with other people of non-African decent, black Americans occupied first place in his affections and concerns. He never turned his back to them to win the approbation of a larger audience by catering to stereotypes. He had a profound dislike for blacks ashamed of being black,ashamed or who denied their African heritage, ashamed of their skin, and who catered to the worst prejudices of the larger audience in any medium for profit and fame or just to be liked and accepted--like a worrisome number today. Like his poetry, Hughes short stories reflected much of his philosophy about being proudly black and the shared commonality of all people. Here in LANGSTON HUGHES: SHORT STORIES, edited by Akiba Sullivan Harper with and introduction by Arnold Rampersad, is the proof. Many of the stories presented here are those that have been out of print for some time ,or, are being printed for the first time since they were created. Much like the COLLECTED POEMS by Rampersad, an effort has been made to put the stories in chronological order by the date they were written or published. In all the stories represent a brief overview of specific short stories, not "all" Hughes short stories, and are different in tone and universal in some topics while still embracing black identity. My favorites are "Blessed Assurance" (protesting homophobia in the black community and black church in Hughes's own understandably gay closeted way) and those inspired by his early sea travels. The appendix of this book contains those stories written when Hughes was still in high school. Like much of Hughes body of work, what he produced is still relevant today in one way or another as in the day he first put pen to paper or struck the keys of a typewriter to entertain and make a statement.

If you want to read some really deep and powerful insights into the human condition, check out "Mary Winowsky" (written when LH was in HIGH SCHOOL!), "The Gun," Fine Accomodations," "One Friday Morning," "The Little Virgin," "The Young Glory of Him." These stories will make you weep and think about the everyday people you pass in the street and wonder about the stories they may have inside of them. This book should be in EVERY literature class!This book tells more than just what it is to be Black, it says a lot about being human.

I have recently taken on the project of reading all the classic novels I was suppose to care about in high school and college. I started with Langston Hughes. I found the introduction to this book most helpful in understanding where Mr. Hughes was writing from. It is odd how little has changed from pre WWII society to today. If you are looking for a wonderful look into the African American mind and world, this is the book to read. Such a vast array of different stories, form merchant steamer to Harlem to South America, this book has it all. I especially recommend you to spend time reading "Cora Unashamed" I read it four times in the first sitting and have now revisited it a number of times finding hidden colors and tones that are remarkable.

This is a wonderful collection of classic Hughes stories. These are wonderful pieces to introduce some to his writings. Some of my favorites are "Cora Unashamed" which was made into a PBS movie, "Slave on the Block", "Spanish Blood", and "Who's Passing for Who" among so many. "The Blues I'm Playing" explores the patron/artis relationship so prevalent during the Harlem Renaissance that had black artists in a child/parent relationship with wealthy whites who often felt these talented young people owed them their lives. This is a book where you can read a couple of stories and come back and read some more. Along with the Semple stories and his poems this is a collection to have and keep.