Reviews for Early African American Classics (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

The average rating for Early African American Classics (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) based on 29 reviews is 2.8620689655172 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-11-26 00:00:00 Keith Shaw The public university I just started working at worships at the foot of the great Norton. All literature lecturers are required to use these anthologies. While I understand the pressures that a public system faces in creating uniform curricula across departments, the idea of a "standard" selection of literary work flies in the face of everything we know about the dangers of canonization. Plus, it's incredibly lazy - in an ideal system, professors would put their years expertise and extensive tra The public university I just started working at worships at the foot of the great Norton. All literature lecturers are required to use these anthologies. While I understand the pressures that a public system faces in creating uniform curricula across departments, the idea of a "standard" selection of literary work flies in the face of everything we know about the dangers of canonization. Plus, it's incredibly lazy - in an ideal system, professors would put their years expertise and extensive training to good use by creating their own anthologies. Not to mention that it's not necessarily cheaper to buy these anthologies than a semester's worth of reading materials. And the constant updating of editions means that departments and students waste vast sums of money updating their editions so that everyone remains on the same page. All of that said, my real beef with Norton is that for reasons I can only presume to involve expenses, many famous authors are represented by their least-known work. Which defeats the entire purpose of having a "standard" for introductory survey courses. Also, there are typos and errors sprinkled throughout, which meant I was constantly needing to find the originals to ensure that the mistakes were Norton's and not the author's. The worst example of this was in Grace Paley's "A Conversation with My Father" where a misplaced quotation mark (Norton's mistake) changes the entire meaning of a crucial passage. If those of us teaching literature have any self-respect, we should fight against corporate anthologizing and do the hard but rewarding work of creating our own trajectories of American letters. If we did so, we might be able to create a million little anthologies. They would all be different, yes, but the difference between one person's choice of a great text and another person's IS the entire point. It's what we DO when we talk about literature.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-02-19 00:00:00 Suzanne Mcgifford The sad thing about those literary survey classes is that you get to taste a little of everything within a respective time line. The first course of American Literature gives you a look at the writings of great people in history, such as Benjamin Franklin. The second course, starting in 1850, starts out well enough with Walt Whitman, but unfortunately ends with post-modernism. You get to read stupid crap about a big red balloon floating through Manhattan. You get to see literature get progressiv The sad thing about those literary survey classes is that you get to taste a little of everything within a respective time line. The first course of American Literature gives you a look at the writings of great people in history, such as Benjamin Franklin. The second course, starting in 1850, starts out well enough with Walt Whitman, but unfortunately ends with post-modernism. You get to read stupid crap about a big red balloon floating through Manhattan. You get to see literature get progressively worse and become total crap after WWII. Well, most of it. At least the stuff that gets critical acclaim.

Review # 3 was written on 2010-09-05 00:00:00 Jay Dionida Favorites(from the piece I read for the class): The Yellow Wall-Paper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman pg 508 Favorites(from the piece I read for the class): The Yellow Wall-Paper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman pg 508 Lady Lazarus, Sylvia Plath pg 1478 Robert Frost's poems, which begin at pg 776, especially After Apple Picking, Desert Places, and pg 787. Emily Dickinson's poems, beginning on 93. (There are more in Vol 1, including most of the ones I like best.) ...

Review # 4 was written on 2010-10-01 00:00:00 Ray Palmer Sometimes I feel guilty marking off an entire anthology as read, when clearly I didn't read everything within the anthology. However, I did read a good portion of it for class, and it was the text we used, so I feel that's important to note. Also, if I put every individual short story I read from this collection in separately, I would meet my Goodreads goal with relative ease. I don't think short stories should count as one piece of literature read toward my goal, but rather a collection of short stories would count. Therefore lies my conundrum. Counting the anthology as read means I used the textbook from class, and it only counts as one entry like I want. The downside is that my "pages read" section will be super skewed an inaccurate. Oh well, win some lose some. ANYWAY, to the actual review. I think this was a super great collection of stories and poems. There was a wonderful range of both incredibly well-known authors and people I've personally never heard of - I'm glad to say that I read a good mix of both. I had a few personal annoyances with the chosen works of some authors though, some objective and some subjective. Subjectively, I wish that Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" was in the collection rather than "Good Country People". Or - and this is my more objective argument - add more than one of her stories. I recognize that "Good Country People" is one of her finest short stories, and do believe it is on par with "A Good Man is Hard to Find", I just prefer the latter. Therefore, I believe both should have been added. I was, however, genuinely surprised and delighted that both "Barn Burning" and "A Rose For Emily" were included for William Faulkner, one of my favorite authors. I was extremely happy that both stories were considered worthy of anthologizing rather than just "A Rose For Emily" - it is his most popular short story, but Faulkner has so much to offer. Because this is such a large collection and we read so much from it for class, I will put my favorites in list order, with a very brief sentence on why I liked each one: - A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner: Southern Gothic is my favorite genre and William Faulkner is one of my favorite authors. - Good Country People by Flannery O'Connor: For the exact same reasons listed above. - To Build a Fire by Jack London: I love stories of strong men who meet an immovable force that destroys them; it's such an interesting juxtaposition. - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Picturing the last paragraph is nightmare fuel; also, I love reading about women's struggles in different time periods, as it makes me appreciate the place I am in today, because of the work they did. - The Wife of His Youth by Charles Chesnutt: His writing style was beautiful and I adored the ending. - The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot: I love the double meaning of the poem, and that the two derived meanings aren't mutually exclusive. - The Snow of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway: The same reason I loved To Build a Fire. ...

Review # 5 was written on 2014-12-09 00:00:00 Alison Downes Norton is required reading but I still enjoyed every moment of it, as well as Volumes A and B.

Review # 6 was written on 2015-05-28 00:00:00 Iyhgiuouiyh Hikj A hefty book to read. It is a good piece to include in your collection for time to time reading of different authors.

Review # 7 was written on 2015-06-05 00:00:00 James Robins This 1990s edition includes such timeless editorial takes as: The n word isn't "really" racist; and, Joyce Carol Oates writes too many books to be taken seriously. Woman too many word. Bad woman.

Review # 8 was written on 2017-11-28 00:00:00 Chris Stuck Novel Writing & Novel Reading - William Dean Howells - 9/6/18 The Art of Fiction - Henry James - 9/6/18 Miggles - Bret Harte - 9/18/18 Joel Chandler Harris - The Wonderful Tar Baby Story & How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox -10/01/18 Paul Laurence Dunbar - When Malindy Sings, An Ante-Bellum Sermon, We Wear the Mask - 10/07/18 Alice Dunbar Nelson - Sister Josepha - 10/07/18 Edith Wharton - The Other Two - 11/06/18 Jack London - The Law of Life & To Build A Fire - 11/13/18 Mary Austin - The Land of Novel Writing & Novel Reading - William Dean Howells - 9/6/18 The Art of Fiction - Henry James - 9/6/18 Miggles - Bret Harte - 9/18/18 Joel Chandler Harris - The Wonderful Tar Baby Story & How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox -10/01/18 Paul Laurence Dunbar - When Malindy Sings, An Ante-Bellum Sermon, We Wear the Mask - 10/07/18 Alice Dunbar Nelson - Sister Josepha - 10/07/18 Edith Wharton - The Other Two - 11/06/18 Jack London - The Law of Life & To Build A Fire - 11/13/18 Mary Austin - The Land of the Little Rain & The Walking Woman - 12/2/18

Review # 9 was written on 2018-09-10 00:00:00 Dexter Ingram Read this for my American lit class, there is a lot of great authors who paved the way for many of today's greats Read this for my American lit class, there is a lot of great authors who paved the way for many of today's greats

Review # 10 was written on 2018-09-30 00:00:00 Roger Ryan I'm not entirely sure how one rates an anthology since it's composed of multiple different writers from multiple different times, but as far as textbooks go, this is a pretty good one. The informational sections are detailed enough to give you an adequate amount of context during the actual passages, the color inserts were interesting, and the book itself had a wide array of authors, both good and shitty beyond all reason. I'm sorry, I have to come out and say it. I really, really did not like re I'm not entirely sure how one rates an anthology since it's composed of multiple different writers from multiple different times, but as far as textbooks go, this is a pretty good one. The informational sections are detailed enough to give you an adequate amount of context during the actual passages, the color inserts were interesting, and the book itself had a wide array of authors, both good and shitty beyond all reason. I'm sorry, I have to come out and say it. I really, really did not like reading "Song of Myself," by Walt Whitman. If I'm telling the truth, I don't understand why that was put in the anthology in the first place. It was ground-breaking and revolutionary for its time, but I didn't see anything ground-breaking or revolutionary. I saw ignorance, immorality, and a lecherous, self-absorbed old geezer rambling on about how he wished he could f*ck the ocean, or anything else that exists for that matter. Great, because that's what we need to teach the American youth. F*ck everything! That'll make this country great, fo' shizzle! *Sigh* The only thing I saw that was remotely ground-breaking was the free-form style of the poetry, which I will admit allowed for some pretty good lines. Other than that, it pretty much sucked. I'd rather read The Faerie Queene again. At least the wind didn't have genitals in that one. Anyway, now that I got that off my chest, some of the other (and in my opinion, better) pieces that appear in this anthology are: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (the complete text) The Yellow Wall-paper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce Poems by Emily Dickenson "The Wasteland" and "The Hollow Men," by T.S. Eliot The Snows of Kilimanjaro, by Ernest Hemingway A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams Good Country People, by Flannnery O'Connor "I Have a Dream," by Martin Luther King, Jr. Poems by Sylvia Plath Recitatif, by Toni Morrison Everyday Use, by Alice Walker Poems by Sherman Alexie Overall, this is a pretty good book for a literature class, or at least it was for me. I'm docking a star for having to sit through "Song of Myself," though. That whole stupid thing was just unnecessary. EDIT: This also has Howl by Allen Ginsburg. It is terrible. Truly terrible. It is thoroughly one of the worst "poems" I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Don't @ me.

Review # 11 was written on 2019-05-05 00:00:00 Steven Davis I'm using the Norton mostly for poetry. Here's what I'm reading (I'll update periodically). ROBERT FROST (love, love, love this man) Mending Wall The Death of the Hired Man Home Burial After Apple-Picking Birches The Wood-Pile Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening Provide, Provide! The Gift Outright The Road Not Taken Wallace Stevens (also love, but Robert Frost sill has my heart) The Snow Man A High-Toned Old Christian Woman Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock Sunday Morning Peter Quince at the Clavier Thirteen Ways I'm using the Norton mostly for poetry. Here's what I'm reading (I'll update periodically). ROBERT FROST (love, love, love this man) Mending Wall The Death of the Hired Man Home Burial After Apple-Picking Birches The Wood-Pile Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening Provide, Provide! The Gift Outright The Road Not Taken Wallace Stevens (also love, but Robert Frost sill has my heart) The Snow Man A High-Toned Old Christian Woman Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock Sunday Morning Peter Quince at the Clavier Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird The Death of a Soldier The Idea of Order at Key West A Postcard from the Volcano The Plain Sense of Things Moving on to Pound... Ezra Pound (crazy but fascinating) To Whistler, American Portrait d'une Femme A Virginal A Pact The Rest In a Station of the Metro The River-Merchan't Wife: A Letter Villanelle: The Psychological Hour Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (Life and Contacts) The Cantos: XLV ("With Usura") e.e. cummings (surprisingly nice) Thy fingers make early flowers of (1923) in Just-- (1920, 1923) O sweet spontaneous (1920, 1923) Buffalo Bill 's (1920, 1923) The Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls (1923) next to of course god america i (1926) i sing of Olaf glad and big (1931) somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond (1931) anyone lived in a pretty how town (1940) pity this busy monster,manunkind (1944) T.S. Eliot The Waste Land (1922) The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1915, 1917) Burnt Norton, from Four Quartets (1936, 1943) The Hollow Men (1925) Journey of the Magi (1935) Gerontion (1920) Sweeney Among the Nightingales (1918-9) Marianne Moore Poetry (1921, 1935) A Grave (1924) To a Snail (1924) What Are Years? (1941, 1967) The Paper Nautilus (1941, 1967) The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing (1944) In Distrust of Merits (1944) Hart Crane Chaplinesque (1921, 1926) At Melville's Tomb (1926) III (From Voyages) (1926) V (From Voyages) (1926) To Brooklyn Bridge (From The Bridge) (1927, 1930) Robinson Jeffers (very, supremely awesome) To His Father Suicide's Stone Divinely Superfluous Beauty The Excesses of God Salmon Fishing Wise Men in Their Bad Hours To the Rock That Will Be a Cornerstone of the House The Cycle Shine, Perishing Republic Continent's End

Review # 12 was written on 2020-03-26 00:00:00 Niall Fobert I definitely like American Literature more than British Literature and this volume featured a lot of authors I hadn't even HEARD of before. It offered a fairly broad overview of the literature at the time, although, as my professor pointed out, it still could have featured more women writers/native american authors/other minorities, but it highlighted some of the best known authors and their work. I really enjoyed the class because my teacher made the material interesting and as a class we looke I definitely like American Literature more than British Literature and this volume featured a lot of authors I hadn't even HEARD of before. It offered a fairly broad overview of the literature at the time, although, as my professor pointed out, it still could have featured more women writers/native american authors/other minorities, but it highlighted some of the best known authors and their work. I really enjoyed the class because my teacher made the material interesting and as a class we looked at each text and discussed that time period and the different styles of writing.

Review # 13 was written on 2008-09-01 00:00:00 Jacqueline Campbell I love the Norton books. Such good summaries of the various authors and time periods. My main problem with this particular book is which contemporary authors they have chosen to include and which to exclude, but I guess that's the fault of the canon and Norton is simply teaching to the trend. I love the Norton books. Such good summaries of the various authors and time periods. My main problem with this particular book is which contemporary authors they have chosen to include and which to exclude, but I guess that's the fault of the canon and Norton is simply teaching to the trend.

Review # 14 was written on 2015-01-24 00:00:00 Alan White One of three books I had to read for my American literature class. Some of the stories were eh and other I enjoyed.

Review # 15 was written on 2016-02-07 00:00:00 Kathy Powers read for class "modern American culture" 2007/2008

Review # 16 was written on 2009-05-13 00:00:00 Barton Rhodehouse Am Lit II books. Amazing. Depressing. Avoid Henry James.

Review # 17 was written on 2016-03-09 00:00:00 Daniel Robinson I didn't read every last page of this textbook but from the stuff I read I did like most of the pieces and the biographies of the authors as well. I didn't read every last page of this textbook but from the stuff I read I did like most of the pieces and the biographies of the authors as well.

Review # 18 was written on 2011-07-07 00:00:00 Cornelius Cook Finished Plath, Miller and Dickinson, going through Whitman and Hawthorne now.

Review # 19 was written on 2012-08-07 00:00:00 Angie Lance taught from it circa 1989-93

Review # 20 was written on 2010-11-06 00:00:00 Mark Bigonger Probably the best reader I've been assigned for a class. Or maybe I just like American Literature post-Civil War through present. Probably the best reader I've been assigned for a class. Or maybe I just like American Literature post-Civil War through present.

Review # 21 was written on 2009-09-14 00:00:00 Matt Semak The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Package 2: Volumes C-E, Sixth Edition (2002)

Review # 22 was written on 2016-01-20 00:00:00 Robirulo Gomez Good selection of American literature post-Civil War, for an anthology, and for required reading for school. ;)

Review # 23 was written on 2015-03-23 00:00:00 Howard Ellis Read for American Lit.

Review # 24 was written on 2014-01-06 00:00:00 Tiffany Atchison John Berger's "Portrait of a Masked Man," Amy Leach's "You be the Moon," Jill McCorkle's "Cuss Time," Kathryn Miles's "Dog Is Our Copilot," and Gregory Orr's "Return to Hayneville," were in my opinion the best of the bunch. For a best of edition, there were a fair amount of nature/science essays, and I wasn't super floored by any of them. But nonetheless, still a worthwhile read.

Review # 25 was written on 2015-09-20 00:00:00 Derrick Southward Like any collection, these are uneven, but there is enough good writing to make it worth skimming the lighter pieces. Mary Oliver's touch is evident since several are environmental writings (some of the weaker ones).

Review # 26 was written on 2020-06-17 00:00:00 Mitch Bull Quite consistently terrific. Wendell Berry's "Faustian Economics" and John Updike's "The Writer in Winter" were among the more memorable. Plus, three writers from BYU made the Notable Essays section. Quite consistently terrific. Wendell Berry's "Faustian Economics" and John Updike's "The Writer in Winter" were among the more memorable. Plus, three writers from BYU made the Notable Essays section.

Review # 27 was written on 2011-01-23 00:00:00 John Bingley I ended up not finishing this -- although I love Mary Oliver, her selections just weren't compelling. Not to mention that she must have picked fewer or shorter essays than usual -- the book was less than half the size it usually is. I gave it to Eric to sell used on Amazon.

Review # 28 was written on 2015-05-31 00:00:00 Pam Kamholz A Bit dissapointed in the collection this year. Short, with fewer essays than normal and with few standout, really make me think essays. Probably the weakest entry in the 10 or so years i've been reading the collection.

Review # 29 was written on 2011-04-07 00:00:00 John Corrigan I've read these collections for the past 4 or 5 years. This was by far my favorite, no doubt because Mary Olivier edited it. Through the reading, I found myself regularly sharing links of particular essays with friends. Excellent read.