For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Paperback)

by Ntozake Shange (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Martin Gottfried New York Post These poems and prose selections are...rich with the author's special voice: by turns bitter, funny, ironic, and savage; fiercely honest and personal. -- Review

Review
The New York TimesExtraordinary and wonderful...Ntozake Shange writes with such exquisite care and beauty that anyone can relate to her message.

Toni Cade BambaraMs. MagazineCelebrates the capacity to master pain and betrayals with wit, sister-sharing, reckless daring, and flight and forgetfulness if necessary. She celebrates most of all women's loyalties to women.

Douglas WattNew York Daily NewsOverwhelming...It's joyous and alive, affirmative in the face of despair.

Allan WallachNewsdayPassionate 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.

Martin GottfriedNew York PostThese poems and prose selections are...rich with the author's special voice: by turns bitter, funny, ironic, and savage; fiercely honest and personal.

William A. Raidy

L.I. Press/Newhouse Newspapers

Ntozake Shange's extraordinary "choreopoem"...is a dramatic elegy for black women with an undercurrent message for everyone. Its theme is not sorrow...but courage. Its strength is its passion and its reality....An unforgettable collage of one woman's view of the women of her race, facing everything from rape to unrequited love....Wisdom and naivete go hand in hand. Wounds and dream intermingle; strong passions melt into simple courage.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684843269
• ISBN-13: 978-0684843261
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,243 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 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 (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"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.

10 of 11 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

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!!!!!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Marissa "mdawn1971" (Mount Vernon, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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.