Not Without Laughter

by Langston Hughes

Overview

Langston Hughes was one of the best-known poets in modern America and his first novel, Not Without Laughter, is undoubtedly his finest prose. A classic of African-American literature, it is the poignant story of a young black boy's awakening to the sad and the beautiful realities of black life in a small Kansas town. Published in 1930, Not Without Laughter is a pioneering work of fiction, and has been in print ever since. This work is now available in trade paperback with a new introduction by bestselling author and poet Maya Anagelou and a foreword by writer Arna Bontemps.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420968958
Publisher:	Digireads.com Publishing
Publication date:	05/31/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Langston Hughes (1902–1967), a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most influential and esteemed writers of the twentieth century, was born in Joplin, Missouri, and spent much of his childhood in Kansas before moving to Harlem. His first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published in 1926; its success helped him to win a scholarship to Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, from which he received his B.A. in 1929 and an honorary Litt.D. in 1943. Among his other awards and honors were a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rosenwald Fellowship, and a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Hughes published more than thirty-five books, including works of poetry, short stories, novels, an autobiography, musicals, essays, and plays.

Angela Flournoy (introduction) was a finalist for the National Book Award for her debut novel, The Turner House. Her fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, and she has written for The New York Times, The New Republic, and the Los Angeles Times. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Flournoy was raised by a mother from Los Angeles and a father from Detroit and now lives in Brooklyn.

Read an Excerpt

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Excerpted from "Not Without Laughter"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Langston Hughes.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

I. Storm
II. Conversation
III. Jimboy's Letter
IV. Thursday Afternoon
V. Guitar
VI. Work
VII. White Folks
VIII. Dance
IX. Carnival
X. Punishment
XI. School
XII. Hard Winter
XIII. Christmas
XIV. Return
XV. One by One
XVI. Nothing but Love
XVII. Barber-Shop
XVIII. Children's Day
XIX. Ten Dollars and Costs
XX. Hey, Boy!
XXI. Note to Harriett
XXII. Beyond the Jordan
XXIII. Tempy's House
XXIV. A Shelf of Books
XXV. Pool Hall
XXVI. The Doors of Life
XXVII. Beware of Women
XXVIII. Chicago
XXIX. Elevator
XXX. Princess of the Blues

Editorial Reviews

A lyrical, charming and moving story of a black Midwestern boy.” —Arnold Rampersad

“An eye-opening portrait of the artist as a young black man in the Midwest.” —A. Scott Berg, The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

The audiobook provides an outstanding rendition of an important Harlem Renaissance novel.

AudioFile

This classic depiction of Black family life in Kansas in the 1930s is narrated with grace and skill by Jaime Lincoln Smith. The work brings the struggles and challenges of early-twentieth-century Black American experience to life, complete with Hughes’s skillful use of dialect and prose. Smith deftly switches into period diction and local accents, voicing each family member so that discerning the flow of dialogue is easy and meaningful. Listeners follow young Sandy Rogers as he comes of age and witnesses his family’s encounters with a racially divided America. The audiobook provides an outstanding rendition of an important Harlem Renaissance novel. C.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

This classic depiction of Black family life in Kansas in the 1930s is narrated with grace and skill by Jaime Lincoln Smith. The work brings the struggles and challenges of early-twentieth-century Black American experience to life, complete with Hughes’s skillful use of dialect and prose. Smith deftly switches into period diction and local accents, voicing each family member so that discerning the flow of dialogue is easy and meaningful. Listeners follow young Sandy Rogers as he comes of age and witnesses his family’s encounters with a racially divided America. The audiobook provides an outstanding rendition of an important Harlem Renaissance novel. C.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile