The Big Sea: An Autobiography
Written by Langston Hughes and Arnold Rampersad
Narrated by Dominic Hoffman
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
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
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
54 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This 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 stars3/5It 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 stars4/5A readable, unpretentious, quickly paced autobiography, with great scenes from the Harlem Renaissance.