Passing (Norton Critical Editions) [Paperback]

Nella Larsen (Author), Carla Kaplan (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393979164 | ISBN-13: 978-0393979169 | Publication Date: September 4, 2007

Nella Larsen is a central figure in African American, Modernist, and women’s literature.

Larsen's status as a Harlem Renaissance woman writer was rivaled by only Zora Neale Hurston’s. This Norton Critical Edition of her electrifying 1929 novel includes Carla Kaplan’s detailed and thought-provoking introduction, thorough explanatory annotations, and a Note on the Text. An unusually rich “Background and Contexts” section connects the novel to the historical events of the day, most notably the sensational Rhinelander/Jones case of 1925. Fourteen contemporary reviews are reprinted, including those by Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Mary Griffin, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Published accounts from 1911 to 1935—by Langston Hughes, Juanita Ellsworth, and Caleb Johnson, among others—provide a nuanced view of the contemporary cultural dimensions of race and passing, both in America and abroad. Also included are Larsen’s statements on the novel and on passing, as well as a generous selection of her letters and her central writings on “The Tragic Mulatto(a)” in American literature. Additional perspective is provided by related Harlem Renaissance works. “Criticism” provides fifteen diverse critical interpretations, including those by Mary Helen Washington, Cheryl A. Wall, Deborah E. McDowell, David L. Blackmore, Kate Baldwin, and Catherine Rottenberg. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carla Kaplan is the Davis Distinguished Professor of American Literature at Northeastern University. She is the author of The Erotics of Talk: Women's Writing and Feminist Paradigms, Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters, and Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance (forthcoming). She is also editor of Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folk Tales from the Gulf States and Dark Symphony and Other Works by Elizabeth Laura Adams.

Product Details

• Paperback: 584 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393979164
• ISBN-13: 978-0393979169
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, May 20, 2010

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Lindell Rodriguez "Lin" (Yonkers,NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Passing (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

This was a requirement for my online College class. I ordered it for next day delivery, because I initially ordered the wrong edition. It's a must have!

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passing, November 1, 2009

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Ingrid Jayne - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Passing (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

I love this story by Nella Larson. The essay in the book are alright, too.

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On time as expected (as usual)., September 19, 2008

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Jessica Scott "teacher mom" (Monroe, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Passing (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

As always, I got the book within a week of ordering it. Great book for doing research.