Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

The Root has a new list of books which every student should read:

1. The Education of a British-Protected Child Essays by Chinua Achebe

2. The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

4. Zami A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde

5. A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes

6. Texaco A Novel by Patrick Chamoiseau

7. Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee

8. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

9. Native Son by Richard Wright

10. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

11. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

12. Beasts of No Nation A Novel by Uzodinma Iweala

13. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs

14. The Known World by Edward P. Jones

15. Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid

16. King Leopold's Ghost A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild

17. The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu

18. A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul

19. The Nature of Blood by Caryl Phillips

20. The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah

21. Random Family Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

22. The Venus Hottentot Poems by Elizabeth Alexander

23. King Hedley II by August Wilson

24.Omeros by Derek Walcott

What do you think? While there are a number of books on this list that I haven't read (and even a few that I don't want to read), any list with Edward P. Jones and August Wilson can't be too bad!

http://www.theroot.com/multimedia/roo...

Interesting choices. Little surprised to find Sister Souljah, but no Toni Morrison.

I honestly don't know what to make of this list. Most of the time when these things are produced, they offer interesting "thought exercises" on how we define and categorize what we value about literature. But I can't make heads or tales of this. What exactly is meant by "Western Canon" - not clear on how that is being expressed here other than that The Root has made a commendable effort to include works from throughout the African Diaspora. None of the African-American books on this list are "understudied." Instead of Hurston, I would have put Ann Petry; instead of Wright, I would have put Sterling Brown; instead of Jacobs, I would put Mary Prince. Edward P. Jones is terrific (of course!) but understudied? I would have gone with Lawrence Hill's Someone Knows My Name.

It's easy to be critical, so I don't want to just bash The Root or anything. This feels a bit like a missed opportunity.

I often feel that the Root just wants to be controversial. Would your changes be mainly to give more exposure to books that have been neglected, Qiana?

Yes, I guess I could be critical of some of the selections, but there are some good choices as well. Of course, any list will have its critics (its just the nature of these things) but I applaud The Root for concentrating quite a bit lately on its literary offerings. With the dearth of so many independent bookstores, book reviews in periodicals and such - its refreshing to see someone actually increase their book coverage. African Diaspora offerings at that...Here's one I especially enjoyed:

http://www.theroot.com/views/10-books...

Ack! John McWhorter... But at least his list has a clear focus. The first three titles sounds REALLY fascinating. I hadn't hear of the American Skin book; I need to pick that one up.

You raise a good point, Columbus, and I am also glad that The Root is doing more to promote challenging black fiction and non-fiction books. If it had been all urban/street lit, I guess I would have been complaining about that too!

The list is great, Columbus, but I wonder why he felt the need to link it to Oprah. This is a list of nonfiction books, and she primarily does fiction with her book club. I guess having Oprah's picture catches attention.

We are so glad to have you in the group, Leola!

No, but I'll look into it. Anyone else?

Yes, there are some unforgettable ones on this list! Zami by Lorde; The Fire Next Time by Baldwin; and Zora. I refer to each of these for one reason or another. Maybe to find a quote or something. I didn't care for Beast of No Nation very much. It came highly recommended but it was a letdown for me (Black Water Rising?)...Coldest Winter was funny to me. No guilty pleasure for me, I enjoyed it unconditionally! I've had "Beautiful Things..." on my list forever but haven't had a chance to read it. Has anyone read it yet?.... Then there's Edward P. Jones. I read Lost in the City and The Known World but have not read Aunt Hagar yet. I'm purposely holding out because once I read it that's it. That completes his oeuvre and nothing else to read. The Known World is one of the best books i've ever read. Period. One of the very, very few books that really starts the heart a racing.....Any books on this list generate the same type of emotions for you? Or even outside this list?

Oh, and here's a really good article on EPJ I found in today's Washington Post. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...

Thanks so much, Columbus, for the link to the Edward P. Jones article. "The Known World" is the best book I've ever read - just knocked me off my feet. And the short story collections aren't far behind. Go on and read "Aunt Hagar" - you are going to want to read it more than once anyway. Absolutely brilliant.

Wilhemina, I finished "The Known World" and was just floored. I had to sit there for an hour or so and take in everything I had just read. After reading the WaPost article about EPJ, it all kinda made sense to me. Did you read the books in order? Lost / World / Hagar?

Funny, I was in the Virgin Islands earlier this year and a young lady was reading TKW while trying to attend to her 2 teengage daughters by the beach. I asked her if she was enjoying the book. She said she was really enjoying it despite the fact that its not your classic "beach read" by any stretch of the imagination. She grew up white, upper middle class in Pennsylvania during the 80's and never read about slaves owning slaves. I said neither had I but I'm sure there's a lot more we don't know. We had a very good conversation.

Looking forward to reading "Hagar" very soon, indeed!

I did read them in order, Columbus, but I certainly don't think that one needs to read them that way. I would keep "Lost" at hand while reading "Aunt Hagar" since they do cross-reference, but the stories also stand on their own. Reading TKW, I had to continually remind myself that it was completely fictional - it was alive for me in the most intense way!