Tales

Posted on by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)
Tales We owe profound thanks to Akashic Books for reissuing this important collection of Amiri Baraka s short stories Baraka was without question the central figure of the Black Arts Movement and was the

We owe profound thanks to Akashic Books for reissuing this important collection of Amiri Baraka s short stories Baraka was, without question, the central figure of the Black Arts Movement, and was the most important theorist of that movement s expression of the Black Aesthetic, which took hold of the African American cultural imagination in earnest in the late sixties We owe profound thanks to Akashic Books for reissuing this important collection of Amiri Baraka s short stories Baraka was, without question, the central figure of the Black Arts Movement, and was the most important theorist of that movement s expression of the Black Aesthetic, which took hold of the African American cultural imagination in earnest in the late sixties While known primarily for his plays, poems, and criticism of black music, Baraka was also a master of the short story form, as this collection attests Tales first appeared in 1967 and is an impressionistic and sometimes surrealistic collection of short fiction, showcasing Amiri Baraka s great impact on African American literature of the 1950s and 1960s Tales is a critical volume in Amiri Baraka s oeuvre, and an important testament to his remarkable literary legacy Henry Louis Gates, Jr A clutch of early stories from the poet, playwright, and provocateur, infused with jazz and informed by racial alienationWorth reading to see the way Baraka feverishly tinkered with ways to explore a multiplicity of black experiences An intense and button pushing collection Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Amiri Baraka Baraka s stories evoke a mood of revolutionary disorder, conjuring an alternative universe in which a dangerous African American underground, or a dangerous literary underground still existsBaraka is at his best as a lyrical prophet of despair who transf

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Tales

  1. LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) Is a well-known author, some of his books are a fascination for readers like in the Tales book, this is one of the most wanted LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) author readers around the world.

824 Reply to “Tales”

  1. Two quick things 1 There is some really fantastic writing here the prose borders on just the right side of the surreal to remain powerfully political it is well worth checking out.2 It seems to me from a brief initial check that Akashic Books classics series belongs on that list of independent presses one keeps one s eyes and ears open for The press in general seems to have far too much hipster or ex famous band member literary efforts for my taste, but this particular series looks to have real [...]

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  2. I received a free copy of this book, and am grateful This collection of stories was first published in 1967, nearly 50 years ago They were all or nearly all written before LeRoi Jones changed his name to Amiri Baraka, while he was still working out his identity as a black artist Many of these stories I found nearly incomprehensible, as they are written in a Joycean stream of conciousness style I also had trouble telling when Jones is writing with a character s voice distinct from his own, versus [...]

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  3. This re issue of Tales by LeRoi Jones Amiri Baraka is ideally suited for and will hopefully be used in literature courses as well as Black Studies African American Studies courses Originally published in 1967 this collection captures an important transitional period in Baraka s writing While he had always addressed the issue of being Black in America he was moving from doing so in a traditional voice, often considered a non threatening voice to a largely white academic and literary audience As h [...]

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  4. I received this as a giveaway book I found this book originally written back in the mid 1960s an interesting yet challenging read I don t mind challenging reads, but I do tend to like stories that progress from beginning to middle to end, with a flow that makes sense to my mind The stories in this book didn t always do that for me The blurb on the back of the book calls the stories impressionistic and surrealistic I find them to also be something of stream of consciousness tales, too Which makes [...]

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  5. I will echo some other reviewers here and say that this book simply wasn t for me Baraka was clearly a very talented man, but this collection was too disjointed and abstract for me I liked the narratives that were less cryptic and obtuse, but they were few and far between Even in the abstract narratives there were consistent glimmers of wonderful poetry, but as a whole, this book was a miss for me Still, I will follow up and read of his poetry to see what I think of his other work.

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  6. Surreal urban scenes portrayed with bitter humor Essentially, the first half or so is great, then Jones decided to become a black nationalist and lost his edge, at least from a literary standpoint He may have been sick of hanging out with ofays at that point and hey, who d blame him but he certainly wrote better fiction, as well as better poetry, when he was.

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  7. This is Leroi Jones before he found his confidence as Amiri Baraka These are raw, exploratory stories and reflections on what it means to be black in America, testing the boundaries of the prose story to get at a great, gnawing, embarrassing discomfort of self Great stuff.

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  8. A disjointed effort from LeRoi Jones whose bile and disillusionment is apparent in the stories presented in Tales While Jones work always comes packaged with a healthy dose of anger, there is a heightened sense of enmity in these stories that overshadow any sense of humanity or hope.

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