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Library Journal Review
In 1938, Hurston had to turn to the Florida branch of the Federal Writers Project (FWP), a New Deal relief program, to save herself from starvation. As its informal "Negro Editor" (supervisors refused to make her a real editor because she was black), she recorded Florida folkloreher soul foodfrom "jook joint" women to sanctified churchgoers for a state guidebook and The Florida Negro. This title marks the first-time publication of Hurston's complete FWP writings. Three essays that were cut from The Florida Negro for championing art over racial politics make up the meat of this collection; the remaining folktales, folk songs, interviews, and outlines are unsatisfying fodder that are only of interest because Hurston used them in some of her novels. Bordelon, an independent scholar, introduces this work with an intense biographical essay that covers Hurston's self-made mysteries, insatiable work ethic, and manipulations of Jim Crow laws. Highly recommended on the strength of "Go Gator and Muddy the Water" and "Art and Such," essays in which Hurston defines and defends folklore with her sinewy voice.Heather McCormack, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
The writings of distinguished African-American Harlem Renaissance author, folklorist, playwright and anthropologist Hurston during her tenure (1938-39) in the Florida division of the Federal Writers Project, many of them previously unpublished, are collected here. They are augmented by Bordelon's biographical essay about Hurston's life during the year she participated in the project, and by her analysis and commentary. The FWP, a federally funded relief program that provided impoverished writers with employment, offered Hurston the lowliest position of "relief reporter," a title for which she was clearly overqualified. But Hurston, just three generations away from slavery, was accustomed to discrimination in a South where Jim Crow laws were still staunchly upheld. As a reporter for the FWP she was assigned to write 1500 words per week describing the lore of African-American Floridians, as part of a larger project, which was never realized and which, moreover, deleted most of Hurston's contributions from the manuscript-in-progress. Other work she submitted for the FWP was often ignored or heavily edited; a few pieces were included in an automotive guidebook, Florida. Included here are Hurston's transcriptions of African-American oral history: traditions, habits, folklore, lyrics and dances; as well as photographs of Hurston and associates, and her performance pieces and essays. Her notable observations on race, writing, her hometown and the upward mobility of blacks in her time are now invaluable historical resources. For Hurston fans, especially scholars, this book will offer a fuller picture of the writer's lesser-known literary endeavors. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
School Library Journal Review
YA-This fascinating, previously unpublished series of writings from the 1930s will serve well as an independent reading experience or as a precursor to Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Rich references to folklore and music will be appreciated by students of English, music, or cultural anthropology, and such essays as "The Sanctified Church," with its hypnotic call-and-response patterns and references to free-form dancing, will enlighten readers, deepening their awareness of the original art forms expressed. The author's observations in "Other Negro Folklore Influences" and "Art and Such" are also valuable. Students familiar with the harsh criticisms of such eminent African-American artists of the time as Richard Wright and Sterling Brown may find much to reflect on in Hurston's lack of racial bitterness-a character trait that her contemporaries used against her. The excellent biographical essay by Pamela Bordelon refers to the "lively stories which compare images of heaven, hell, magical food and singing streets" that lace Hurston's writings. A logical organization guarantees accessibility, inviting readers to pursue particular topics or read the whole book.-Margaret Nolan, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
While researching the Florida Federal Writers Project (FWP), Bordelon discovered work by Hurston, who generally drew a veil over the fact that in 1938^-39 economic need forced her to take a relief job with the New Deal agency. Bordelon has gathered Hurston's FWP work and adds a thoughtful biographical essay. The collection opens with essays on folklore and folktales, including the title work, "The Sanctified Church," "Negro Mythical Places," and tales she wrote for an FWP auto guide to the state. The short essays Bordelon groups as "Florida Images" are Hurston's brief descriptions of her hometown, Eatonville, an all-black Florida town, and of the turpentine and citrus industries. Two essays address issues of race directly, and the collection closes with "The Fire Dance," a piece Hurston sometimes performed from The Great Day, her folkloric production that appeared off-Broadway in 1932, and the transcript of a 1939 WPA interview with Hurston. Appropriate for libraries where Hurston's other work has been popular. --Mary Carroll
Kirkus Book Review
New work by Hurston (1889'1968), the Harlem Renaissance writer and folklorist. (Hurston's first collection of folklore, Mules and Men, is generally considered the first such compilation by an African-American. It was followed by Tell My Horse.) During the Depression, like many writers, Hurston went to work for the Works Progress Administration. As part of the Florida Federal Writers Project, she compiled this collection of folklore, parts of which have never been published before. Bordelon, an independent scholar who recovered the manuscript while researching the FWP, contributes a biographical essay on Hurston that focuses in particular on her years with the FWP. In her proposal, reprinted here, Hurston divides Florida into four areas, with different economic, social, and cultural factors influencing local folklore, including black folk religion. 'Folklore is the boiled- down juice of human living,' she writes. 'Folklore in Florida is still in the making. Folk tunes, tales, and characters are still emerging from the lush place of primitive imagination before they can be finally drained by formal education and mechanical inversions.' This volume represents part of Hurston's effort to capture that critical momoent in the development of black folklore, which included the creation of a new prison folk hero, Daddy Mention.