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The Big Sea: An Autobiography
Unavailable
The Big Sea: An Autobiography
Unavailable
The Big Sea: An Autobiography
Audiobook10 hours

The Big Sea: An Autobiography

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Langston Hughes, born in 1902, came of age early in the 1920s. In The Big Sea he recounts those memorable years in the two great playgrounds of the decade--Harlem and Paris. In Paris he was a cook and waiter in nightclubs. He knew the musicians and dancers, the drunks and dope fiends. In Harlem he was a rising young poet--at the center of the "Harlem Renaissance."

Arnold Rampersad writes in his incisive new introduction to The Big Sea, an American classic: "This is American writing at its best--simpler than Hemingway; as simple and direct as that of another Missouri-born writer...Mark Twain."

Cover design by Sara Eisenman. Cover photograph by Roy DeCarava © Sherry Turner DeCarava
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 26, 2011
ISBN9780307939470
Author

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1902-67) was born in Joplin, Missouri, was educated at Lincoln University, and lived for most of his life in New York City. He is best known as a poet, but he also wrote novels, biography, history, plays, and children's books. Among his works are two volumes of memoirs, The Big Sea and I Wonder as I Wander, and two collections of Simple stories, The Best of Simple and The Return of Simple.

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Reviews for The Big Sea

Rating: 4.0092562962962965 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is basically a chronological list of the places Hughes went. There is little perspective on the times and really very little self analysis. The part of this book that I expected to be the most interesting to me was the last third about the Harlem Renaissance. However, even that was primarily name dropping.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It seems rather odd for a writer to end his autobiography with the declaration that he has decided to become a writer. Of course for a 28 year old to write his autobiography is also not a usual occurrence. Since very little about Langston Hughes could be described as usual, his story in no way seemed out of place. I came to Langston Hughes via William Styron and James Baldwin, and their interest and stories were enough for me to read on. I’m not much of a poetry man, as poetry does not usually contain the thread of plot that keeps my interest and understanding in tow, but I did enjoy those that were a part of his journey. To hear Hughes tell of his adventures, you would not know that he was a part of the “Negro” renaissance of the 1920’s that took place in Paris, and Harlem. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A readable, unpretentious, quickly paced autobiography, with great scenes from the Harlem Renaissance.