Lorraine Hansberry Collection: A Raisin in the Sun / To Be Young, Gifted and Black / Lorraine Hansberry Speaks Out [Audio Cassette]

Lorraine Hansberry (Author), Ruby Dee (Reader), Ossie Davis (Reader), James Earl Jones (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2001

Lorraine Hansberry wrote of Black consciousness before it was fashionable, but she bequeathed to all of us a legacy astounding in its richness and relevancy. Few writers, black or white, are more relevant to present-day America than Lorraine Hansberry.

Here, for the first time, Caedmon has gathered many of her plays, interviews, and speeches into one unforgettable collection.

A Raisin in the Sun: an emotionally lacerating landmark of modem American theatre. A full-cast production starring Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.

To Be Young, Gifted and Black: a glowing, vibrant, searing and, at the same time, redemptively joyous self-portrait. A full-cast production starring James Earl Jones.

Lorraine Hansberry Speaks Out: seven interviews and speeches, recorded between 1959 and 1964, that range in topic from integration to backlash to the greatness and limitations of AfricanAmerican leadership.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This first audiobook to give the full perspective of Hansberry's short but brilliant career includes a full-cast (Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and James Earl Jones, among others) recording of A Raisin in the Sun, a dramatized reading from To Be Young, Gifted and Black (TBYGB), plus scattered interviews and speeches. The somewhat confusing TBYGB is, as explained in the print version, a montage of journal excerpts, speeches, letters, biographical accounts, and relevant fragments from plays, posthumously compiled "to relate the artist to the person." As play fragments look backward, presenting old-style blacks, the speeches and diary entries look remarkably forward. Listeners will hardly believe their ears when they hear Mike Wallace (60 Minutes) in 1959, attacking Hansberry for winning the New York Drama Critics Best Play award (overpowering plays by Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, and Archibald MacLeish), insisting she won simply because she is black. Here, and elsewhere, the playwright defends herself and her race with poise and distinction. Cumulatively, these tapes reveal her as a skilled, often underrated visionary. Rochelle Ratner, formerly with "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Lorraine Hansberry was the youngest American playwright ever to win the Best American Play Award from the New York Drama Critics' Circle. Her other worksinclude The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and Les Blancs. She died of cancer at thirty-four.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Caedmon (March 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694525065
• ISBN-13: 978-0694525065
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,597,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction > Poetry, Drama & Short Stories
  • #91 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction > Literary Classics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ELECTRIC READINGS, March 16, 2001

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lorraine Hansberry Collection: A Raisin in the Sun / To Be Young, Gifted and Black / Lorraine Hansberry Speaks Out (Audio Cassette)

James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee. Three of today's most prominent actors bring vital poignancy to the unforgettable words of Lorraine Hansberry.

"A Raisin In The Sun," the first drama penned by a black woman to reach Broadway, electrified audiences when it opened in 1959. Loosely basing her play on an Illinois antisegregation case which her father won, Ms. Hansberry sets her story in south Chicago. In it, Walter Lee, a black chauffeur, dreams of improving his life. He hopes to use his father's money to open a liquor store.

However, his mother is against the liquor business, and uses the money to buy a family home. Conflicts arise when someone from this all-white neighborhood attempts to buy them out.

"To Be Young Gifted and Black," a compilation of Ms. Hansberry's writings appeared not only in book form but in 1969 was produced off-Broadway.

Also included on this keepsake audio are seven of Ms. Hansberry's speeches and interviews recorded between 1959 and 1964. It is thrilling to hear her voice.

Regrettably this gifted playwright and author died of cancer at the young age of 34. Her pen was stilled but her words are as relevant and moving today as when they were written.