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A Short Walk
A Short Walk is a sweeping epic novel, which captures the movement of black Americans from the rural south to the urban north.
Cora James, born to a black woman who has had a love affair with a white man, grows up poor in South Carolina, marries an abusive—albeit, wealthy—preacher, and escapes from him by going north to Harlem. There she earns money dealing cards and performing in a number of traveling vaudeville shows. She survives the Great Depression, and experiences life as a wife, mother, lover, actress, and independent businesswoman. Torn between befriending Filipino and white neighbors, and the view of the Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey movement, Cora survives divisive politics and learns that since "Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave... it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way."
Cora James, born to a black woman who has had a love affair with a white man, grows up poor in South Carolina, marries an abusive—albeit, wealthy—preacher, and escapes from him by going north to Harlem. There she earns money dealing cards and performing in a number of traveling vaudeville shows. She survives the Great Depression, and experiences life as a wife, mother, lover, actress, and independent businesswoman. Torn between befriending Filipino and white neighbors, and the view of the Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey movement, Cora survives divisive politics and learns that since "Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave... it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way."
- GenresFiction
358 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
3 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Alice Childress
35 books65 followersAlice Childress (October 12, 1916 – August 14, 1994) was an American playwright, actor, and author.
She took odd jobs to pay for herself, including domestic worker, photo retoucher, assistant machinist, saleslady, and insurance agent. In 1939, she studied Drama in the American Negro Theatre (ANT), and performed there for 11 years. She acted in Abram Hill and John Silvera's On Strivers Row (1940), Theodore Brown's Natural Man (1941), and Philip Yordan's Anna Lucasta (1944). There she won acclaim as an actress in numerous other productions, and moved to Broadway with the transfer of ANT's hit comedy Anna Lucasta, which became the longest-running all-black play in Broadway history. Alice also became involved in social causes. She formed an off-broadway union for actors. Her first play, Florence, was produced off-Broadway in 1950.
Her next play, Just a Little Simple (1950), was adapted from the Langston Hughes' novel Simple Speaks His Mind. It was produced in Harlem at the Club Baron Theatre. Her next play, Gold Through the Trees (1952), gave her the distinction of being one of the first African-American women to have work professionally produced on the New York stage. Her next work, Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White, was completed in 1962. The setting of the show is South Carolina during World War I and deals with a forbidden interracial love affair. Due to the scandalous nature of the show and the stark realism it presented, it was impossible for Childress to get any theatre in New York to put it up. The show premiered at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and later in Chicago. It was not until 1972 that it played in New York at the New York Shakespeare Festival. It was later filmed and shown on TV, but many stations refused to play it.
In 1965, she was featured in the BBC presentation The Negro in the American Theatre. From 1966 to 1968, she was awarded as a scholar-in-residence by Harvard University at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Alice Childress is also known for her literary works. Among these are Those Other People (1989) and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1973). Also, she wrote a screenplay for the 1978 film based on A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich. Her 1979 novel A Short Walk was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Childress described her writing as trying to portray the have-nots in a have society. In conjunction with her composer husband, Nathan Woodard, she wrote a number of musical plays, including Sea Island Song and Young Martin Luther King.
(from Wikipedia)
She took odd jobs to pay for herself, including domestic worker, photo retoucher, assistant machinist, saleslady, and insurance agent. In 1939, she studied Drama in the American Negro Theatre (ANT), and performed there for 11 years. She acted in Abram Hill and John Silvera's On Strivers Row (1940), Theodore Brown's Natural Man (1941), and Philip Yordan's Anna Lucasta (1944). There she won acclaim as an actress in numerous other productions, and moved to Broadway with the transfer of ANT's hit comedy Anna Lucasta, which became the longest-running all-black play in Broadway history. Alice also became involved in social causes. She formed an off-broadway union for actors. Her first play, Florence, was produced off-Broadway in 1950.
Her next play, Just a Little Simple (1950), was adapted from the Langston Hughes' novel Simple Speaks His Mind. It was produced in Harlem at the Club Baron Theatre. Her next play, Gold Through the Trees (1952), gave her the distinction of being one of the first African-American women to have work professionally produced on the New York stage. Her next work, Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White, was completed in 1962. The setting of the show is South Carolina during World War I and deals with a forbidden interracial love affair. Due to the scandalous nature of the show and the stark realism it presented, it was impossible for Childress to get any theatre in New York to put it up. The show premiered at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and later in Chicago. It was not until 1972 that it played in New York at the New York Shakespeare Festival. It was later filmed and shown on TV, but many stations refused to play it.
In 1965, she was featured in the BBC presentation The Negro in the American Theatre. From 1966 to 1968, she was awarded as a scholar-in-residence by Harvard University at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Alice Childress is also known for her literary works. Among these are Those Other People (1989) and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1973). Also, she wrote a screenplay for the 1978 film based on A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich. Her 1979 novel A Short Walk was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Childress described her writing as trying to portray the have-nots in a have society. In conjunction with her composer husband, Nathan Woodard, she wrote a number of musical plays, including Sea Island Song and Young Martin Luther King.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 13, 2017
Life is indeed a short walk from beginning to end, especially when one spends the majority of their time fighting for love, for what should be basic civil rights, for a life wanted. The story's protagonist, Cora, is a womanist. She isn't as much concerned with climbing social ladders or passing as she is of living the life she desires. Her life begins as a love child between a black mother & a white father. As Cora grows up, she sees racial and gender expectations in all aspects of life; for example at the age of five while attending a minstrel shows, she witnesses a riot when the performers go against the grain to include a song that alludes to being treated as equal to white people. Later in life, when Cora's father passes away, she is expected to return to the island with her mother simply because she is unmarried. Cora's reaction--marry Kojie Anderson, a man she does not love. This act is the beginning of Cora's search for love on her terms. Her true love Cecil, is in and out of her life, though they are parents to a daughter. Ms. Childress does an excellent job of interspersing historical events into the story; such as Cora's travel to Harlem (Great Migration), rise & fall of Marcus Garvey & the UNIA (Harlem Renaissance), the Great Depression ( relief programs, labor strikes), WWII ( Delta wanting to be a WAC). However, Cora's personal history is significant. She wears many hats as most women do, but she performed and managed a vaudeville tour. Cora didn't accept whatever circumstances life life threw at her, she found a way to not only survive, but thrive. I think Cora fulfilled her determination by living life on her terms, not ones determined by society.
December 14, 2013
You know why they don't teach "A Short Walk" in schools? Probably, because they're afraid of all the sex in it. (The part where an aspiring church deacon teaches his new wife to call him "Daddy" cracked me up!) Or maybe they're afraid of the book's unblinking look at race, violence, queers, poverty, whoring, you know the drill. Whatever the reason, Alice Childress' novel deserves a wider readership and increased recognition. I love it something hard. My determination is to spread the word.
April 16, 2009
Supposedly a somewhat autobiographical novel. Title refers to the saying 'life is a short walk from cradle to grave'. Cora James grows up as a black in Charleston under Jim Crow laws. When her father dies, she marries rather than go to Edisto Island with mother's family. Her husband abuses her and she leaves him and heads for Harlem to live with cousin. She learns to host gambling / drinking parties and later learns some road shows and travels. She reconnects with childhood friend Cecil, she travels on a ship with him, becomes pregnant, returns to Harlem and raises Delta, returns to Edisto to bury mother Etta when Delta is 8, returns to Harlem and continues traveling, off and on relationship with Nappy, Cecil and Chalk at different times, has good fortunes and bad, in later life, Delta goes to school and Cora runs a gambling parlor for a white man, she develops high blood pressure and diabetes and Mr Simeon dies and her fortunes change, she later dies on New York streets above subway on New Years Eve. Her life didn't seem so short from the 1900s to the 1950s. It was full of ups and downs, but she persevered as a strong black woman in the most difficult of times. Childress did an excellent job of presenting the social and political aspects of life for black people, particularly women, without coming across as militant or preachy. Good read in Dec. 07.
February 26, 2014
First of all, this particular cover gives me a wrong impression of the book. The cover implies that this is a modern/contemporary book when in fact it takes place in the early 20th century.
I reread this book once every two years, or when I stumble upon the well-worn paperback when I sort my books. It moved me. It gave me a glimpse of a life that wasn't a long song of despair, but the ups and downs of finding yourself that many of us go through. I also feel it gives a different perspective on the Black female experience.
Pick it up, and soon, for we are all here for only a short walk (title!!).
I reread this book once every two years, or when I stumble upon the well-worn paperback when I sort my books. It moved me. It gave me a glimpse of a life that wasn't a long song of despair, but the ups and downs of finding yourself that many of us go through. I also feel it gives a different perspective on the Black female experience.
Pick it up, and soon, for we are all here for only a short walk (title!!).
October 19, 2007
Alice Walker slammed this book when it first came out (she though the language of the characters too parochial--not believable enough), which may have been one of the reasons its first printing didn't do very well. I know that most of you all hate the cover too (I'm not sure about it anymore), but the story is of a woman from the south moving north and figuring her way from card dealing to vaudeville performing. It's a bit historically fantastic at times--Marcus Garvey even makes an appearance--but I recommend it!
January 14, 2018
Wonderful book, should be more well known. The main character moves from the Jim Crow south to New York, through the travelling black performance circuit,house parties, Marcus Garvey's ship launch, Harlem drag balls,and all in between. This is so well written that half way through you forget that the book started at her birth. Childress manages to present major points of black liberation through the life of the main character, Cora. This book is better than anything I can describe, and I would call it a must-read.
January 6, 2009
I really enjoyed reading this woman's journey in life. Her story was moving and inspiring and the interesting cast of characters from all walks of life that she encountered was sometimes shocking as well. I think this book deserved more attention than it has gotten. It's one of my favorite books.
August 12, 2008
Life story of a woman named Cora James. Her life as a struggling young black woman & her troubles & struggles.
February 28, 2009
American contemp historical....early 1900s South Carolina/New York....strong black woman,race,life.
June 15, 2016
this was a interesting book to read
December 22, 2018
"Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave -- and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way."
So says Cora's father to Cora, his adopted daughter. He also tells her that when he dies, as he does early in this book, she is to go to the slave market and tell it that slavery stops with her; she is her own person.
A major theme of this book is that black women are doubly discriminated against - first by race and then by gender. Cora learns white racism early. Then learns gender discrimination at the hands of her first husband Kojie, her second husband Cecil and the proprietors of the shows she conducts. Along the way she helps, and is helped by, women both black and white.
Thanks to my son for the recommendation of this magnificent, yet underated achievement.
So says Cora's father to Cora, his adopted daughter. He also tells her that when he dies, as he does early in this book, she is to go to the slave market and tell it that slavery stops with her; she is her own person.
A major theme of this book is that black women are doubly discriminated against - first by race and then by gender. Cora learns white racism early. Then learns gender discrimination at the hands of her first husband Kojie, her second husband Cecil and the proprietors of the shows she conducts. Along the way she helps, and is helped by, women both black and white.
Thanks to my son for the recommendation of this magnificent, yet underated achievement.
July 30, 2019
Truly an exceptional experience reading this book
April 27, 2024
New perspective is so much to take in.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews