For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf [Hardcover]

Ntozake Shange (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1977

From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and on Broadway, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it is to be of color and female in the twentieth century. First published in 1975 when it was praised by The New Yorker for "encompassing...every feeling and experience a woman has ever had," for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Here is the complete text, with stage directions, of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Overwhelming....It’s joyous and alive, affirmative in the face of despair.” —Daily News (New York)

“Passionate and lyrical...In poetry and prose Shange describes what it means to be a black woman in a world of mean streets, deceitful men, and aching loss.” —New York Newsday --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ntozake Shange, poet, novelist, playwright, and performer, wrote the Broadway-produced and Obie Award-winning For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. She has also written numerous works of fiction, including Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo, Betsy Brown, and Liliane. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan; 1st edition (May 1, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0026098407
• ISBN-13: 978-0026098403
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,120,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ntozake Shange, poet, novelist, playwright, and performer, wrote the Broadway-produced and Obie Award-winning For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. She has also written numerous works of fiction, including Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo, Betsy Brown, and Liliane.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful hybrid of poetry and drama, September 19, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Paperback)

"For colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf," by Ntozake Shange, debuted on Broadway in 1976. In her introduction to the book version, the author describes the work as "a choreopoem" made up of individual poems that form "a single statement." This work of literature is a powerful exploration of the lives of Black women.

"For colored girls..." does not have a conventional "plot" or characters. The parts of the choreopoem are performed by characters described as "lady in brown," "lady in white," etc. Together, these women talk about spirituality, violence, female sexuality, music, and the discovery of one's heritage. One particularly moving part of the choreopoem is a tribute to Haitian leader Toussaint L'Ouverture.

"For colored girls..." is a stunning hybrid of poetry, drama, and feminist theology. It is both tragic and sensuous, with the healing power of ritual. The final scenes contain some of the most powerful words ever written for the theater. If you are interested in African-American literature, women's studies, or 20th century drama, I recommend you read this work.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ouch!!!!! Fabulous, breathtaking, inspiring, can't say enuf!, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Paperback)

Shange outdid herself in this peice she covered every emotion colored women feel. From fear, to joy, from hatred to love, from confusion to understanding she has captured it she is in the same category with the Alice Walkers, Gloria Naylors and Toni Morrisons of the literary world. This book was required reading but it soon turned into pleasure and inspirational reading. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and I am very saddened by the fact that I had to get to college before I every got the chance to. This book should be required reading for every young women in high school in the United States. The writing is simple yet breathtaking and it speaks to the very soul of the reader. I loved it and I plan to read it again. This choreopoem ranks right up there with "The Bluest Eye" as one of the most prolific writings of the twentieth century. Both of these works are the female version of Ellison's "Invisible Man" and we all know that regardless to what anyone says that is the most amazing book that has ever been written. Great job Ntozake Shange, you go girl!!!!!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOTHING SHORT OF MIND-BLOWING, July 20, 2001

By 

Marissa (Mount Vernon, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Paperback)

Every time I read this masterpiece, it sparks a new emotion within me, and/or I see one of the pieces in a manner different from the previous times I've read it. It makes you laugh, cry, gasp, sing, reminisce, makes you mad...it'll make you feel so many different ways because as hard and rough as the book's language is, it's REAL. I guarantee that ANY woman (possibly men also) who reads this book will be able to relate to AT LEAST one of the characters here (if not, ALL of them). I also love the arrangement of the book. The detail of the stories and the dialogue, the colors, the dancing, the pain...I love it. This masterpiece has been around for over 25 years, and it's just as powerful as its very first publishing day.