The Sport of the Gods (Signet Classics)

This novel is wonderfully written and profound in its message. Dunbar's prose is as excellent as his poetry. A must-read classic for high schoolers and undergraduates. Would make a wonderful juxtaposition alongside today's street lit.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 -- 1906)is best remembered as a poet. He wrote in both dialect and formal English. His famous poems include "We wear the mask", "Sympathy", which includes the line "I know why the caged bird sings", and "Frederick Douglass". Dunbar wrote prolifically during his short life, with an output that included essays, journalism, plays, short stories as well as poetry. Dunbar was also a novelist. His final effort in this form "The Sport of the Gods" (1902) remains an impressive work, a minor classic of American literature. Dunbar's novel describes the fate of an African American family, the Hamiltons, which is forced to move from its home in the deep South (the particular State is not named) to New York City. The Hamiltons had seemingly achieved a degree of success and stability in the post-Civil War South. The father, Berry, had worked as a butler for a prosperous plantation owner, Oakley, for many years. Berry had lived frugally, and managed to save money. His wife, Fannie, also had a good job working as a housekeeper for the Oakleys. The couple had two children, Joe, 18, a barber to white people who had become a dandy, and Kitty, 16, her mother's darling. The peaceful life of the family comes to a startling end when Oakley falsely accuses Berry Hamilton of stealing. Berry is sentenced to ten years in prison. His family is ostracized by whites and blacks alike. Fannie, Joe, and Kitty move to New York City to find a new life for themselves. The heart of this novel lies in Dunbar's descriptions of the underside of New York City life -- the hustlers, bars, tawdry shows, raw music, and loose women -- that spell doom to the newcomers from the South. Much of the action takes place in a nightclub called "The Banner", frequented by African Americans and by a class of whites who, then as in later times, practiced what is now termed "slumming". Dunbar has no affection or sentimenality for "The Banner" or its ilk. He writes: "[O]f course, the place was a social cesspool, generating a poisonous miasma and reeking with the stench of decayed and rotten moralities. There is no defense to be made for it. But what do you expect when false idealism and fevered ambition come face to face with catering cupidity?" Some of the frequenters of the banner include a con-man and raconteur named Sadness, the best-drawn character in Dunbar's book, a chorus girl named Hattie, and William Thomas, a railway worker with designs on young Kitty. The destruction of the Hamilton family proceeds naturally and inexorably in this environment and becomes "The Sport of the Gods". Joe quickly takes to drink and becomes involved with Hattie. When she puts him out, Joe kills her and is sentenced to prison. Kitty succumbs to Thomas's advances and ultimately finds herself working in a vulgar chorus line. Fannie is persuaded by a gambler and criminal that her husband's long imprisonment is equivalent to a divorce. She marries him and endures and abusive relationshi

Have you ever wanted to yell out to the heroes of your favorite movie "DON'T DO THAT YOU IDIOT!!"? This book is sometimes frustrating because you, the reader, can see where the plot is going and want so badly to help the story's characters avoid what seems to be the inevitable. A naturalistic picture of life, and an often-missed text which deserves more attention. It doesn't make you feel good-- but it does make you want to be sure that people have choices, that this sort of thing isn't allowed to happen, that life isn't a series of "sport" that the gods (a vindictive type of gods) play with us. Powerful, powerful writing, vivid details and characters you just want to smack. Read it!

My point being if we're going to require our nation's youth to read Huckleberry Finn in public schools, it is a shame that this book is often left off of the course syllabus. Perhaps because African-American literature doesn't receive as much attention as it should expains this oversight, but regardless of which authors you consider early American classic writers, this book will appeal to all demographics.An interesting story revolving around a black family that is forced out of the South after being falsely accused of crime. The story is a narrative of their actions and reactions to a new lifestyle in urban New York City. Great philosphical moments such as the bartender teaching the young man the ropes of life.An interesting and quick read. It's hard to put down this book.

My point being if we're going to require our nation's youth to read Huckleberry Finn in public schools, it is a shame that this book is often left off of the course syllabus. Perhaps because African-American literature doesn't receive as much attention as it should expains this oversight, but regardless of which authors you consider early American classic writers, this book will appeal to all demographics.An interesting story revolving around a black family that is forced out of the South after being falsely accused of crime. The story is a narrative of their actions and reactions to a new lifestyle in urban New York City. Great philosphical moments such as the bartender teaching the young man the ropes of life.An interesting and quick read. It's hard to put down this book down.