Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folk-tales from the Gulf States

by Zora Neale Hurston, John Edgar Wideman (Foreword by)

Overview

A recently discovered collection of folktales celebrating African American oral tradition, community, and faith...”splendidly vivid and true.”—New York Times

Every Tongue Got to Confess is an extensive volume of African American folklore that Zora Neale Hurston collected on her travels through the Gulf States in the late 1920s.

The bittersweet and often hilarious taleswhich range from longer narratives about God, the Devil, White Folk, and Mistaken Identity to witty one-linersreveal attitudes about faith, love, family, slavery, race, and community. Together, this collection of nearly 500 folktales weaves a vibrant tapestry that celebrates the African American life in the rural South and represent a major part of Zora Neale Hurstons literary legacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060934545
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2002
Series:	Harper Perennial Series
Edition description:	1st Perennial Edition
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	390,178
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. She wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine, 1934; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937; Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939; and Seraph on the Suwanee, 1948); two books of folklore (Mules and Men, 1935, and Tell My Horse, 1938); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942); an international bestselling nonfiction work (Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” 2018); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She attended Howard University, Barnard College, and Columbia University and was a graduate of Barnard College in 1928. She was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, and grew up in Eatonville, Florida. 

Date of Birth:

January 7, 1891

Date of Death:

January 28, 1960

Place of Birth:

Eatonville, Florida

Place of Death:

Fort Pierce, Florida

Education:

B.A., Barnard College, 1928 (the school's first black graduate). Went on to study anthropology at Columbia University.

Editorial Reviews

[An] entertaining collection . . . A rich harvest of native storytelling.” — Kirkus Reviews

“What treasures these are—mordantly clever and quintessentially human stories about God and the creation of the black race, the devil, preachers wily and foolish, animals, the battle between the sexes, and slaves who outsmart their masters. Invaluable tales of mischief and wisdom, spirit and hope.” — Booklist

“A real song of the South.” — Elle Magazine

“[A] delightful collection of authentic African American folklore . . . Highly recommended.” — Library Journal

“An extraordinary treasure.” — Boston Globe

“Splendidly vivid and true...A sharp immediacy and a fine supply of down to earth humor. In stories that are variously jokey, angry, bawdy, wildly fanciful or Reader’s Digest-style anecdotal, the speakers present a world in which anything is possible and human nature is crystal clear.” — New York Times

“Entertaining and thought provoking.” — Vibe

“Paint[s] a vivid portrait of the turn-of-the-century South.” — Washington Post

“Overwhelmingly good...luminous tales.” — Oregonian

“Quite funny, and profoundly emblematic.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“Unadorned testaments to the suffering and the vibrant, creative humor of her [Hurston’s] people.” — Book Magazine

“Stories rich in insight [and] humor.” — Rocky Mountain News

“Fascinating, funny...priceless.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer

“[Every Tongue Got to Confess] is vibrant, evocative, heartwarming and sometimes hilarious...Like no other in its richness and variety.” — Philadelphia Inquirer

From the Publisher

A real song of the South.

Elle Magazine

An extraordinary treasure.

Boston Globe

Paint[s] a vivid portrait of the turn-of-the-century South.

Washington Post

What treasures these are—mordantly clever and quintessentially human stories about God and the creation of the black race, the devil, preachers wily and foolish, animals, the battle between the sexes, and slaves who outsmart their masters. Invaluable tales of mischief and wisdom, spirit and hope.

Booklist

Overwhelmingly good...luminous tales.

Oregonian

Quite funny, and profoundly emblematic.

San Francisco Chronicle

Splendidly vivid and true...A sharp immediacy and a fine supply of down to earth humor. In stories that are variously jokey, angry, bawdy, wildly fanciful or Reader’s Digest-style anecdotal, the speakers present a world in which anything is possible and human nature is crystal clear.

New York Times

Entertaining and thought provoking.

Vibe

Paint[s] a vivid portrait of the turn-of-the-century South.

Washington Post

What treasures these are—mordantly clever and quintessentially human stories about God and the creation of the black race, the devil, preachers wily and foolish, animals, the battle between the sexes, and slaves who outsmart their masters. Invaluable tales of mischief and wisdom, spirit and hope.

Booklist

[Every Tongue Got to Confess] is vibrant, evocative, heartwarming and sometimes hilarious...Like no other in its richness and variety.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Stories rich in insight [and] humor.

Rocky Mountain News

Unadorned testaments to the suffering and the vibrant, creative humor of her [Hurston’s] people.

Book Magazine

Fascinating, funny...priceless.

Cleveland Plain Dealer