Not Without Laughter

by Langston Hughes

Overview

Langston Hughes was one of the best-known poets in modern America and his first novel, Not Without Laughter, is undoubtedly his finest prose. A classic of African-American literature, it is the poignant story of a young black boy's awakening to the sad and the beautiful realities of black life in a small Kansas town. Published in 1930, Not Without Laughter is a pioneering work of fiction, and has been in print ever since. This work is now available in trade paperback with a new introduction by bestselling author and poet Maya Anagelou and a foreword by writer Arna Bontemps.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798217007561
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/06/2026
Series:	Vintage Classics
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256

About the Author

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri, and grew up in Kansas before moving to Harlem in New York City. Hughes is a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. In his lifetime, Hughes published over thirty-five works, including poetry, novels, short stories, an autobiography, musicals, essays, and plays. 
 

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Excerpted from "Not Without Laughter"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Langston Hughes.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

I. Storm
II. Conversation
III. Jimboy's Letter
IV. Thursday Afternoon
V. Guitar
VI. Work
VII. White Folks
VIII. Dance
IX. Carnival
X. Punishment
XI. School
XII. Hard Winter
XIII. Christmas
XIV. Return
XV. One by One
XVI. Nothing but Love
XVII. Barber-Shop
XVIII. Children's Day
XIX. Ten Dollars and Costs
XX. Hey, Boy!
XXI. Note to Harriett
XXII. Beyond the Jordan
XXIII. Tempy's House
XXIV. A Shelf of Books
XXV. Pool Hall
XXVI. The Doors of Life
XXVII. Beware of Women
XXVIII. Chicago
XXIX. Elevator
XXX. Princess of the Blues

Editorial Reviews

A lyrical, charming and moving story of a black Midwestern boy.” —Arnold Rampersad

“An eye-opening portrait of the artist as a young black man in the Midwest.” —A. Scott Berg, The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

The audiobook provides an outstanding rendition of an important Harlem Renaissance novel.

AudioFile

This classic depiction of Black family life in Kansas in the 1930s is narrated with grace and skill by Jaime Lincoln Smith. The work brings the struggles and challenges of early-twentieth-century Black American experience to life, complete with Hughes’s skillful use of dialect and prose. Smith deftly switches into period diction and local accents, voicing each family member so that discerning the flow of dialogue is easy and meaningful. Listeners follow young Sandy Rogers as he comes of age and witnesses his family’s encounters with a racially divided America. The audiobook provides an outstanding rendition of an important Harlem Renaissance novel. C.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

This classic depiction of Black family life in Kansas in the 1930s is narrated with grace and skill by Jaime Lincoln Smith. The work brings the struggles and challenges of early-twentieth-century Black American experience to life, complete with Hughes’s skillful use of dialect and prose. Smith deftly switches into period diction and local accents, voicing each family member so that discerning the flow of dialogue is easy and meaningful. Listeners follow young Sandy Rogers as he comes of age and witnesses his family’s encounters with a racially divided America. The audiobook provides an outstanding rendition of an important Harlem Renaissance novel. C.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile