Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Sojourner Truth (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 1, 1998 | Series: Penguin Classics

A symbol of the strength of African-American women, and a champion of the rights of all women, Sojourner Truth was an illiterate former slave in New York State who transformed herself into a vastly powerful orator. Dictating to a neighbor, she began her celebrated life story, in which she chronicles her youth, her 1827 emancipation, and her religious experiences, one year after the extremely successful publication in 1846 of Frederick Douglass's narrative.

Truth's magnetism as an abolitionist speaker brought her fame in her own time, and her narrative gives today's readers a vivid picture of nineteenth-century life in the north, where blacks, enslaved or free, lived in relative isolation from one another.

Based on the 1884 edition of the Narrative, this volume contains "Book of Life", a contemporary collection of letters and biographical sketches about Truth's public appearances, including the controversial "Arn't I a Woman" speech and Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1863 essay, "Sojourner Truth, The Libyan Sibyl" as well as "A Memorial Chapter" about her death.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sojourner Truth, born Isabella, a slave in Ulster County, New York, around 1797, became an abolitionist, orator, and preacher, and eventually an icon for strong black women. She was emancipated by state law in 1827, and the following year she moved to New York City, where she found work in wealthy households and became increasingly involved in unorthodox religious groups. In the early 1830s she joined the commune or “Kingdom” of the Prophet Matthias. By 1843 she had transformed herself into the itinerant preacher Sojourner Truth, and spent most of the next thirteen years in Northampton, Massachusetts. Illiterate, she dictated her autobiography to her neighbor Olive Gilbert, and the Narrative of Sojourner Truth was published in 1850. The following year Truth set out to promote her book and to speak out on abolition and women’s rights. In the 1870s Truth’s friend and informal manager Frances Titus compiled a new edition of the Narrative, adding the “Book of Life,” a scrapbook comprising essays, articles, and letters from Truth’s contemporary admirers. Truth died in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1883, and the following year Titus published a new edition that included “A Memorial Chapter.”
Nell Irvin Painter is the author of Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol and Standing at Armageddon, the United States, 1877-1919, The Narrative of Hosea Hudson and Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction. She is Edwards Professor of History at Princeton University, where she currently heads the program in African-American Studies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140436782
• ISBN-13: 978-0140436785
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #589,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting... November 3, 2005

By Sandra

Format:Paperback

I thought this book was written a little differently, but I also found it helpful. It was cool how Sojourner Truth's Book of Life was written inside of it along with a whole separate book. There was a lot of good information in it. I used this book for a school project and it worked out great. The book was useful and interesting to read because there are letters from people she knew that were written to her. I enjoyed reading this also recieved info from it.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Narrative of Sojourner Truth October 30, 2007

By Dot Dallas

Format:Paperback

This book is an excellent biography. It goes a little further into the creases and crefices of the life of this great woman. I used it for a presentation in one of my doctoral courses and found it on a level that fit my needs.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gift December 1, 2012

By Teresa W. Thompson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a gift for a friend who had been looking for the book.
Glad to have found it for her.