Masterpieces of African-American Literature

by Frank N. Magill

Book Overview

A unique and vital guide that summarizes, explains and evaluates the greatest works of African-American literature -- including articles on writings from James Baldwin, W. E. B. DuBois, Langston... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062700669
• ISBN13: 9780062700667
• Release Date: December 1992
• Publisher: Collins Reference
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 2.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 7.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Essential companion for any literary lover!

For any interested in the culture and history of African American literature, published in 1992, this is a great guide, a keepsake. If you don't know of any famous or not so famous African novelists, poets, playwrights, essayists, biographers, this book will introduce you to plenty. Frank McGill has compiled this companion to Masterpieces of American Literature (Masterpieces of ... Series), Masterpieces of World Literature, and Masterpieces of World Philosophy. Here, you will get a summary of the plot, description of the central characters, an analysis, and critical evaluation of the work. The summary and analysis average 1,000 words, while the critical evaluation is about 500 words. Included with publication date, is the genre, such as: autobiography, novel, poetry, play. But on top of that, you will learn the type the genre is, mainly: slave narrative, social criticism, poetic drama, naturalism, psychological realism, etc. McGill has enlisted the aid of contributing reviewers, namely distinguished professors from universities, but only a name is applied to the end of the essays. You will find enough on James Baldwin, Terry McMilan, Maya Angelou, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Ernest Gaines, W.E.B. Dubois, Malcolm X, August Wilson, Richard Wright, Ntozake Shange, Chester Himes, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, etc. Plenty of poets, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sterling Brown, Nikki Giovanni, June Jordan, Claude McKay and more. This compilation is absolutely essential to any literary lover!......Rizzo