Drums and Shadows

by Georgia Writers' Project

This collection of oral folklore from coastal Georgia was assembled during the 1930s as part of a WPA writers' program, under the supervision of Mary Granger. The accounts in this book, framed by colorful descriptions of the rural locales where they were collected, were principally from elderly African-Americans, some of them centarians. Most had been slaves. In some cases they had known first generation slaves who had been born in Africa.

Genres: History, Spirituality, Nonfiction

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well.....since I'm the first to write a review I'll do my best. For starters, the book was originally written in 1940. You kinda got to keep that in mind when reading it. The stories are interesting and colorful. And it's very interesting to read the beliefs and cultures of the people in these tiny African American coastal communities. The one thing that may turn some people off, the writing style. You see, the author writes the words the way the people pronounce them. You feel like your reading a part from the crows in the original Dumbo movie. Here's an example:

" I wuz too lill tuh membuh anything wut wuz said bout muh grandpa, but muh pa wuk on duh fahm fuh is boss."

Yeah, throws you off at first. And about half the book is written this way. But after awhile you kinda get used to it and it gets easier to follow. That was the only down side to me though. Some great pictures of some of the folks she interviewed and some of their crafts. I just thought it was a cool book. I wish I could've sat on the porch with some of these folks and spoke to them myself. So if you consider the time it was written and aren't expecting a best seller style writing I believe most people would enjoy the stories as much as I did.