Customer Reviews

Norton Anthology of Afro-Americans

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Taking upon yourself the task of creating an anthology that represents an entire literary and cultural tradition strikes me as a daunting task. The editors who helm such a project are almost playing god by deciding which authors and which works get into the "canon." Fortunately, the editors of "The Norton Anthology of African American Literature" have approached their duties with an expansive vision and an evident seriousness of purpose. The result is a collection which, although not without flaws, is a comprehensive and powerful sampling of a great tradition.

The editors have chosen a rich selection of works from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. A good balance of male and female authors is struck. I was particularly impressed by the great range of genres. Poetry, essays, autobiography, short fiction, drama, sermons, song lyrics, and even a few complete short novels are included. Science fiction writers (Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany), writers also included in the canon of lesbian and gay literature (Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Essex Hemphill) and writers whose works have an experimental edge (Adrienne Kennedy, etc.) are included.

The extensive author biographies include fascinating information about each writer's life and body of work. Bibliographies and a chronology at the end of the collection are also useful.

Of course, no anthology this ambitious is going to please everybody. As much as I liked the book, I still missed the presence of certain favorite authors (Pat Parker, SDiane Bogus, and others). And of the authors represented, there were those for whom I might have chosen some different or additional selections (Audre Lorde's essay "Man Child" would have made an excellent complement to the work already represented). And what about Afro-Latino/a writers like Jesus Colon? With the exception of Puerto Rican-born Arthur Schomburg, they appear to be almost entirely absent.

I am sure that others with a love for and expertise in African American literature will cite other authors whom they would have liked to have seen included. And perhaps others will find the collection as it is simply too big (more than 2600 pages!) and overwhelming. But all things considered, this anthology is a truly impressive achievement. It is an outstanding resource for teachers, students, and general readers.

This book is a part of my library and a great resource tool. For any writer, researcher, black historian, or literature lover of any kind, this book is a must have. The criticism from the other reviewers is amazing. Must everything thing be analyzed? This book is a reference tool, an anthology of our black writers from the past to the present. If some are threatened by that, then that is their problem. What one may think of a writer's literature his his or her own personal opinion. I, personally would recommend this book to any college student and any college professor teaching literature. This is a keepsake!

I noticed that someone asked for a review of this piece, here is something I did when the first edition came out in 1997, for the newspaper I worked for at the time, the Durham Herald-Sun. Published 01/05/97

African-American lit anthology's `heavy' - UNC professor helped as canon was decided for long-awaited book
Byline: ERNIE SUGGS The Herald-Sun
When discussing African-American literature, the name Victor Sejour doesn't stand out as readily as the likes of Harriet Jacobs, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin.
But the work of the expatriate who left New Orleans for Paris at the age of 20 has just rewritten history. His short story, ``Le Mulatre,'' (The Mulatto) published in France in 1837, now is considered the oldest known work of fiction by an African-American writer.
The piece was discovered in 1992 by UNC English Professor William L. Andrews for special inclusion in the new ``Norton Anthology of African American Literature.''
Sejour's work is among dozens by African-American writers, poets, preachers, essayists, singers and even rappers included in the massive tome, which was published Dec. 16.
``Heavy,'' said Duke University's director of Afro-American studies, Karla Holloway, in describing the new anthology.
``This is exactly what we have been waiting for,'' Holloway said. ``It is thorough, the coverage is impressive and it has weight, literally and physically.''
At 2,655 pages, the single, 21/2-pound volume is indeed heavy.
But the weight of what is on the pages may be enough to change the way African-American literature is perceived for generations.
Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.E.B DuBois professor of humanities and chairman of the Afro-American studies department at Harvard University, was one of two general editors for the book. Gates, who also served briefly as head of Duke University's Afro-American studies program, called the anthology a ``canon'' and said that there never would be another excuse for not being able to find African-American literature.
Literary scholars are hailing the text as a breakthrough and calling it revolutionary. College professors are lining up to get it and preparing syllabi to teach it.
``It is the most important anthology of African-American literature that has been published in the 20th century,'' said Andrews, E. Maynard Adams professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ``Not that there haven't been magnificent anthologies -- and this isn't the first one -- but this is the most important because it is the anthology for the second black literary renaissance of the 20th century.''
The anthology is the culmination of 10 years of research by a team of editors and scholars. The team's research dates back to a 1746 poem by Lucy Terry called ``Bar Fights.''
``In North Carolina, it has always been something that people have asked me about. `When is it coming out? When is it coming out?' '' said Steven Hoge, field editor for New York-based W.W. Norton & Co., which published the anthology. ``I would always say, `Any year now.' ''
So diverse is the book that it includes the work of 1993 Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, rap-music godfathers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Phillis Wheatley -- a slave brought to America from Senegal at the age of 8 who became the first African-American to publish a book in English.
``This is trying to establish a canon,'' said Hoge, who works out of Chapel Hill.
``As a publisher of anthologies, we've always taken the anthology business very seriously.''
Many anthologies of African-American writing have been published -- including ``Les Cenelles'' in 1845 and ``Black Writers of America'' in 1972 -- but this is the first one W.W. Norton has published.
There are now 10 ``Nortons,'' all of which are among the most widely used college literature texts. But the ``Norton Anthology of African-American Literature'' is accompanied by a compact disc, which includes speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and jazz pieces by Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
Arlene Clift-Pellow, chairwoman of N.C. Central University's department of English, said her department currently is reviewing the book for likely inclusion in students' studies.
Holloway said that she will begin teaching Duke students from the text next fall in her introduction to African-American literature classes, and Andrews said that he will start teaching UNC students from it this semester.
``This is a more exciting time,'' Andrews said. ``I had never used an anthology before and I am looking forward to teaching from this one.''
Sejour story hunted
Andrews' students will be lucky to work closely with someone who worked on the book's production. Andrews, an expert on African-American literature before 1920, was one of nine section or chapter editors.
For his chapter, ``The Literature of Slavery and Freedom: 1746-1865,'' Andrews was responsible for selecting, editing and writing the annotations and introductions for all of the works included.
One of the most fascinating finds, by far, was that of Sejour's story.
``Since I am one of the editors of the volume, I wanted to include Sejour's work,'' Andrews said. ``But it was a question of could I find it.''
Andrews said Sejour's short story was known only by a few scholars, and it never had been translated to English.
``Le Mulatre'' was the only piece of fiction that Sejour had ever written, having devoted the rest of his life to drama. He became famous in Europe and never returned to the United States,'' Andrews said. ``Here he is largely forgotten.''
Andrews said that he and a French-speaking colleague, Philip Barnard of the University of Kansas, traveled to France and found the story in the obscure 1837 journal ``La Revue des Colonies'' at the Bibliotheque National in Paris.
``It wasn't so hard to find because Bibliotheque National is such a magnificent library,'' Andrews said. ``The hardest part was getting the service done.''
Andrews said that until this discovery, it had been assumed that the oldest piece of fiction written by an African-American was Frederick Douglass' ``The Heroic Slave.''
That piece, which was written in 1853, was only part fiction. Part was based on a historical event.
``Sejour's story is wholly a fictional tale, and it pre-dates Douglass' by 16 years,'' Andrews said. ``With this story, it moves the history of African-American literature back to 1837.''
Andrews said that his only concerns about the piece were what it was about and whether the story fit among the other writers of the era.
``Le Mulatre'' is the story of a slave born of the rape of a slave by her master. Later, the master rapes his son's wife, and the slave kills him in revenge.
Andrews describes Sejour's work in ``Le Mulatre,'' as a cross between Douglass and Edgar Allen Poe. Like Poe's work, the story is gruesome and exhibits extreme psychotic states of mind, Andrews said.
``Then, like Douglass, it's profoundly concerned with freedom and slavery,'' said Andrews, who worked at the University of Kansas before coming to UNC four months ago.
Other strengths cited
Holloway, a science fiction buff, said she is most impressed with the book's inclusion of Octavia Butler, whose ``Bloodchild'' appears in the ``Literature Since 1970'' chapter.
``Bloodchild'' is a short work of fiction by Butler that challenges contemporary ideas about gender and race in a futuristic way.
``I also like the inclusion of the Black Arts Movement,'' said Holloway, referring to the chapter focusing on 1960 through 1970.
``We have a hard time finding a coherent, well-integrated discussion on it. Now we have one.''
But Holloway, like the book's co-editor Nellie Y. McKay, a professor of American and Afro-American literature at the University of Wisconsin, feels that the section on rap music doesn't belong.
``It's an interesting discussion,'' said Holloway, who attended the book's coming-out party at the Modern Language Convention. ``I just would have argued against it.''
Holloway said the wait for the book has been well worth it and she looks forward to the publication of more African-American anthologies, which are in the works.
``A lot of people see this as competition, but the more choices that we have as a profession, the clearer the weight and substance,'' she said.

The thin paper and large number of pages are a trademark of the Norton Anthologies. It does not by any stretch of the imagination make them unreadable. I am working my way through the Norton Anthology of British Literature Volume I and it has about 2600 pages on this "thin" paper. I am finding the reading enjoyable. If you want to critize do on the basis of content of the book, not what it is made of.

Excellent! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in African American traditions, history, literature. The CD will blow you away.

I read as much of this book as I could before I gave it to a colleague for Christmas. I have waited for months for the NYTimes to review it every Sunday. Perhaps they did it during the week. Why hasn't Oprah spread the word? This book should be next to every family's Bible. lhall@sewickley-acad,pvt.k12.pa.u

True, the book is LONG, and printed on THIN pages. True, it includes just about everyone and everything rather than a selection of a few of the so-called "greatest" African-American writers. That is the beauty of it though, it is precisely what it claims to be: an anthology.

You won't be able to read it in a day or two. But it is a reference tool for your family. Read it slowly and carefully, and decide for yourself who is "worth including" and who isn't.

I think this book is great, but if the number of pages scares you, maybe it isn't the book for you.

A good introductory anthology to African American Literature that moves effectively through history and forms of storytelling. If you're a fan of just having resources on your shelves it's good to have but if you like complete works I'd caution against holding onto this book. It has a lot of excerpts from other works and I would personally rather have the actual writings on my shelves.

This is an amazing collection of literature! This was stolen from me while at college, and I'm still upset about it. I do love this textbook and I'm considering buying another copy despite the cost.

I keep coming back time and time again to this book. I purchased it in college in 1998. Here I am in 2011 picking it up again to find another gem. Well worth the purchase.