Black and White Stories of Erskine Caldwell

Erskine Caldwell's sharp prose has captured the brutal culture of the south during the stark days of the depression. Readers were brutally shocked as they confronted the spiritual and psychological poverty of Caldwell's characters. In this collection of short stories Caldwell tackles the the complex relationships of Blacks and Whites in segregated America. This collection was selected by Ray McIver, a Black man, who as a student became captivated by Caldwell's stories. Caldwell's honesty as a white southerner in dealing with racial relationships lead to both men becoming friends and working together to present these stories from varied magazines in which Caldwell was published. The Black and White Stories of Erskine Caldwell shows the brutality of white men against Blacks in the rural south. The book is divided into four sections dealing with the themes of lynching, sexual exploitation, sadism and flim flamming. Caldwell's characters will shock you with their hate, cowardice and ignorance. You will come across characters who have to walk a thin line in the racial divide in order to survive. You are hit home with the raw emotions of Blacks and Whites who are locked in a never ending battle of wills. This book is not a social commentary. It presents the stories in a straight forward manner that doesn't call for any apologies. Some of the stories will make you laugh and others will make you cry. Some will make you feel sick to your stomach and still others will fill you with riotous laughter. Caldwell hits his readers will a wide pallet of emotions as you attempt to make sense out of a chaotic world now gone.