Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

From one of the greatest writers of our time (Toni Morrison)the author of Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching Goda collection of remarkable stories, including eight lost Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time. New York Times Books to Watch forBuzzfeeds Most Anticipated Books of 2020Newsweeks Most Anticipated BooksForbes.coms Most Anticipated Books of 2020E!s Top 2020 Books to ReadGlamours Best BooksIn 1925, Barnard student Zora Neale Hurstonthe sole black student at the collegewas living in New York, desperately striving for a toe-hold on the world. During this period, she began writing short works that captured the zeitgeist of African American life and transformed her into one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, this singular talent is recognized as one of the most influential and revered American artists of the modern period.Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is an outstanding collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism that proudly reflect African American folk culture. Brought together for the first time in one volume, they include eight of Hurstons lost Harlem stories, which were found in forgotten periodicals and archives. These stories challenge conceptions of Hurston as an author of rural fiction and include gems that flash with her biting, satiric humor, as well as more serious tales reflective of the cultural currents of Hurstons world. All are timeless classics that enrich our understanding and appreciation of this exceptional writers voice and her contributions to Americas literary traditions.