Bob Blaisdell is professor of English at the City University of New York's Kingsborough Community College and the editor of twenty-two Dover literature and poetry collections.

Offering diverse perspectives on the black experience, this anthology of short fiction spotlights works by influential African-American authors. Nearly 30 outstanding stories include tales by W. E. B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, and Jamaica Kincaid.
From the turn of the twentieth century come Alice Ruth Moore's "A Carnival Jangle," Charles W. Chesnutt's "Uncle Wellington's Wives," and Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Scapegoat." Other stories include "Becky" by Jean Toomer; "Afternoon" by Ralph Ellison; Langston Hughes's "Feet Live Their Own Life"; and "Jesus Christ in Texas" by W. E. B. Du Bois. Samples of more recent fiction include tales by Jervey Tervalon, Alice Walker, and Edwidge Danticat. Ideal for browsing, this collection is also suitable for courses in African-American studies and American literature.