Every Tongue Got to Confess : Negro Folk-tales from the Gulf States
Author(s): Zora Neale Hurston
A recently discovered collection of folktales celebrating African American oral tradition, community, and faith...”splendidly vivid and true.”—New York Times
Every Tongue Got to Confess is an extensive volume of African American folklore that Zora Neale Hurston collected on her travels through the Gulf States in the late 1920s.
The bittersweet and often hilarious taleswhich range from longer narratives about God, the Devil, White Folk, and Mistaken Identity to witty one-linersreveal attitudes about faith, love, family, slavery, race, and community. Together, this collection of nearly 500 folktales weaves a vibrant tapestry that celebrates the African American life in the rural South and represent a major part of Zora Neale Hurstons literary legacy.
Review(s):
“[An] entertaining collection . . . A rich harvest of native storytelling.”
“What treasures these are--mordantly clever and quintessentially human stories about God and the creation of the black race, the devil, preachers wily and foolish, animals, the battle between the sexes, and slaves who outsmart their masters. Invaluable tales of mischief and wisdom, spirit and hope.”
“A real song of the South.”
“[A] delightful collection of authentic African American folklore . . . Highly recommended.”
“An extraordinary treasure.”
“Splendidly vivid and true...A sharp immediacy and a fine supply of down to earth humor. In stories that are variously jokey, angry, bawdy, wildly fanciful or Reader’s Digest-style anecdotal, the speakers present a world in which anything is possible and human nature is crystal clear.”
“Entertaining and thought provoking.”
“Paint[s] a vivid portrait of the turn-of-the-century South.”
“Overwhelmingly good...luminous tales.”
“Quite funny, and profoundly emblematic.”
ISBN: 9780060934545