Black Folktales Summary and Reviews

Black Folktales
by Julius Lester

Black Folktales
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Book Summary Information

Author: Julius Lester
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-01-10
ISBN: 0802132421
Number of pages: 110
Publisher: Grove Press

Book Reviews of Black Folktales

Book Review: Short, but excellent collection
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a good overview of Black Folklore for the novice of the genre, a teaching tool, or for people who just enjoy good stories.

Julius Lester, one of the few living public specialists of tales of this type, begins with a few African stories to show the root of this field. From there, he goes to stories of pre-and post slavery America.

He includes some time honored classics of Black Folklore. "High John The Conqueror," of a slave who outwits his master, was a favorite of my Dad that I have also seen elsewhere as "Big Sixteen" and "Old John" is a welcome addition to this set. In fact I used to regale my friends with this story when I was 12. Read it and you'll see why. Also, the "Bad man" legend of "Stagolee" spieces things up a bit (a forerunner of the type of tales found in gagster rap, minus the vulgarity) and the slave classic "People Who Could Fly," which was first known to be collected along the Charleston (SC) sea islands in the 1920s.

Unfortuantely, most of these tales are not told anymore except by professional storytellers. Additionally, many books that tended to contain such stories in the early 1900s when such tales were still often told were so laden with dialect (Joel Chandler Harris, Ambrose Gonzales, et. al.) that they are often incomprehenbsible to the modern reader. Many kudos to Mr. Lester for keeping this wonderful art form alive.

PS, Mr. Lester inquired of the source of the last story in the book. I recall reading it in Zora Neale Hurston's "Mules & Men" (1935). Hope this helps.

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