The ways of white folks.

No cover

Langston Hughes: The ways of white folks. (1963, Knopf)

248 pages

English language

Published Jan. 4, 1963 by Knopf.

View on OpenLibrary

The Ways of White Folks is a collection of short stories by Langston Hughes, published in 1934.[1] Hughes wrote the book during a year he spent living in Carmel, California.[2] The collection, "marked by pessimism about race relations, as well as a sardonic realism or, contextually: humorous racism,"[2] is among his best known works.[3] Like Chesnutt's The Conjure Woman (1899) and Wright's Uncle Tom's Children (1938), it is an example of a short story cycle.[4]

The collection consists of 14 short stories:[5]

"Cora Unashamed" "Slave on the Block" "Home" "Passing" "A Good Job Gone" "Rejuvenation Through Joy" "The Blues I'm Playing" "Red-Headed Baby" "Poor Little Black Fellow" "Little Dog" "Berry" "Mother and Child" "One Christmas Eve" "Father and Son"

11 editions

fabulous collection of short stories

i've only ever read his poems in passing, but these short stories are really, really good! highly recommended, especially if you have only small spurts of time to read.

Review of 'The Ways of White Folks' on Goodreads

Bitingly acerbic, beautifully handled sarcastic insults to folk who can't help themselves in their imagined good intentions from looking down on the long-freed yet still chained folk.

avatar for kab

rated it