[By Kenton Rambsy] Rounding out the “30 Days of 100 Novels” series, I end by focusing on Toni Cade Bambara. Her short stories, often times, overshadow her work as a novelist. Her novel, The Salt Eaters, is included in the “100 Novels Project.” Actually, Bambara’s thematic content in her novels and short stories share many commonalities. As a Black Arts Writer, Bambara came of age […]
[By Kenton Rambsy] Edward P. Jones is another writer in the “100 Novels Collection” who is more known for his short stories. Surprisingly, his novel, The Known World, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. Even still, Jones has expressed favor for using the short story form over the novel form in his writing. His novel, a neo-slave narrative, explores human bondage from an […]
[By Kenton Rambsy] Paul Laurence Dunbar is primarily known as a poet; however, his body of writing is extremely diverse. For instance, over his lifetime Dunbar wrote a dozen books of poetry, four books of short stories, five novels, and a play. Two of his novels, The Fanatics (1901) and The Sport of the Gods (1902) are included in the “100 Novels Collection.” Dunbar is […]
[By Kenton Rambsy] Quite often, Langston Hughes is thought of primarily as a poet. Popular historical appraisals of Hughes tend to focus more on his poetry and do not place as much emphasis on his work as a playwright, novelist, and even newspaper columnist. Huhges’s novel Not Without Laughter is apart of the “100 Novels Collection” and mirrors the thematic representations found in his poetry […]
[By Kenton Rambsy] When the name “Frederick Douglass” is uttered, often times, people think of the famous ex- social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. Rarely, though, do people think of Douglass as a fiction writer. Frederick Douglass serves as an important figure in African American and American history. His contributions to American Literature have provided future generations of scholars an opportunity to study his philosophies […]
[By Kenton Rambsy] Yesterday, I focused on five notable characters that resided in NYC at some point throughout the action of the novel. Today, I have decided to focus on black women characters in five novels from the “100 Novels Collection.” Similar to the male characters, these female characters all face different challenges, but NYC seems to be a recurring setting for the action in […]
[By Kenton Rambsy] Today, I focused on five novels in the “100 Novels Collection” and identified five memorable characters. These characters all live in NYC or visit the city at some point in the novel. These characters all face different challenges, but NYC seems to be a recurring setting for the action in the lives of these diverse sets of black men. Berry Hamilton (The […]