The Black Sleuth (Northeastern Library of Black Literature) [Hardcover]

John Edward Bruce (Author), John Cullen Gruesser (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Northeastern Library of Black Literature | Publication Date: April 11, 2002

A novel featuring the first black detective in American fiction, boldly attacking white prejudice and racial injustice in the U.S. and abroad.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This serial, rescued from the pages of McGirt's Magazine circa 1907 to 1909, is of significant historical and academic interest, but proves less arresting as a work of fiction, not least because it's unfinished. In his day, Bruce (1856¤1924) was a major figure in black politics in America, more militant than Booker T. Washington (whose accommodationist philosophy for the Tuskegee Institute comes up for satire here), but his name has faded from general recognition. Born a slave, he rose to become the preeminent black journalist of his generation, as well as a fiery orator (many of his articles and speeches were gathered in 1971 in The Selected Writings of John Edward Bruce). He follows close on the heels of Pauline Hopkins, creator of the earliest known black detective from an African-American writer in her 1901¤1902 serial, Hagar's Daughter, which features the maid Venus Johnson as sleuth. Bruce's investigator, Sadipe Okukenu, from West Africa, works for the International Detective Agency, and the opening lines are still powerful: Do you mean to tell me that that nigger is a detective, and that you are going to put him on this case, Mr. Hunter? But the mystery of a stolen (or about to be stolen, it is unclear) diamond cuts off midstory as McGirt's suspended publication. Gruesser's scholarly introduction covers technical problems with the text, making it clear that Bruce is a much more interesting figure than simply a writer who saw that a black man, too, could solve crimes.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

John Edward Bruce (1856-1924) was born a slave in Piscataway, Maryland, and given a hero's funeral in Harlem by Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). He briefly studied at Howard University before beginning a career as journalist, editor, historian, and public speaker. He was cofounder with Arthur A. Schomburg of the Negro Society for Historical Research. John Cullen Gruesser is Professor of English at Kean University. He is the author of Black on Black: Twentieth-Century African Americans Writing about Africa. He lives in South Orange, New Jersey. Richard Yarborough, editor of the Northeastern Library of Black Literature, is Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern; First Edition in boo edition (April 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555535119
• ISBN-13: 978-1555535117
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,484,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.