{"title":"Books by Langston Hughes","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781784877415","title":"The Ways of White Folks","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE CELEBRATED SHORT STORY COLLECTION FROM THE AMERICAN POET AND WRITER OFTEN CALLED THE 'POET LAUREATE OF HARLEM'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA black maid forms a close bond with the daughter of the cruel white couple for whom she works. Two rich, white artists hire a black model to pose as a slave. A white-passing boy ignores his mother when they cross each other on the street.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten with sardonic wit and a keen eye for the absurdly unjust, these fourteen stories about racial tensions are as relevant today as the day they were penned, and linger in the mind long after the final page is turned.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Powerful, polemical pieces'\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Some of the best stories that have appeared in this country in years' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNorth American Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205039915186,"sku":"9781784877415","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781784877415.jpg?v=1786025635"},{"product_id":"9781408773253","title":"Blues in Stereo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly's Top Ten Fall 2024 Poetry Books\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore Langston Hughes and his literary prowess became synonymous with American poetry, he was an eighteen-year-old on a train to Mexico City, seeking funds to pursue his passion. His early poems, beloved verses like \"The Negro Speaks of Rivers,\" were written without formal training, often on the back of napkins and envelopes, and were inspired by the sights and sounds of Black working-class people he encountered in his early life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlues in Stereo\u003c\/i\u003e is a posthumous collection of these early works, in which we see Langston Hughes like we've never seen him before. In the intimate pages of his handwritten journals, you will travel with Hughes outside of Harlem as he ventures to the American South and Mexico, sails through the Caribbean, and becomes the only Harlem renaissance poet to visit Africa. He celebrates love as a tool of liberation in his poems and journal entries. His songs included showcase musicality of verse poetry. And the book even includes a play he co-wrote with Duke Ellington with a full score that experiments with rhythm and structure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlues in Stereo \u003c\/i\u003eportrays a young man coming of age in a changing world. Page by page, a young, fresh-faced Hughes contends with matters beyond his years with raw talent. National Book Award nominated poet Danez Smith offers their insight and notes on themes, challenges, and obsessions that Hughes early work contains. \u003ci\u003eBlues in Stereo\u003c\/i\u003e foreshadows a master poet that will go on to define literature for centuries to come.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298935943541,"sku":"9781408773253","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408773253_6a7a20c1-a4a4-4706-a0de-95936fc96471.jpg?v=1786019607"},{"product_id":"9780143134428","title":"Not Without Laughter","description":"\u003cb\u003eA collectible hardcover edition of our greatest African American poet's award-winning first novel, about a black boy's coming-of-age in a largely white Kansas town, featuring an introduction by National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Penguin Vitae Edition\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen first published in 1930, \u003ci\u003eNot Without Laughter\u003c\/i\u003e established Langston Hughes as not only a brilliant poet and leading light of the Harlem Renaissance but also a gifted novelist. In telling the story of Sandy Rogers, a young African American boy in small-town Kansas, and of his family--his mother, Annjee, a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his irresponsible father, Jimboy, who plays the guitar and travels the country in search of employment; his strong-willed grandmother Hager, who clings to her faith; his Aunt Tempy, who marries a rich man; and his Aunt Harriet, who struggles to make it as a blues singer--Hughes gives the longings and lineaments of black life in the early twentieth century an important place in the history of racially divided America.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePenguin Vitae--loosely translated as “Penguin of one’s life”--is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311578526069,"sku":"9780143134428","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780143134428_2c6626a5-8eef-4bfd-9bd5-f1382acd58e1.jpg?v=1786010984"},{"product_id":"9780999843819","title":"The Sweet Flypaper of Life (softcover)","description":"\u003cb\u003e“The people in these photographs had no walls up. They just accepted me and permitted me to take their photographs without any self-consciousness.” —Roy DeCarava\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sweet Flypaper of Life\u003c\/i\u003e is a “poem” about ordinary people, about teenagers around a jukebox, about children at an open fire hydrant, about riding the subway alone at night, about picket lines and artist work spaces. This renowned, life-affirming collaboration between artist Roy DeCarava and writer Langston Hughes honors in words and pictures what the authors saw, knew, and felt deeply about life in their city.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Hughes’s heart-warming description of Harlem in the late 1940s and early 1950s is seen through the eyes of one grandmother, Sister Mary Bradley. As she guides the reader through the lives of those around her, we imagine the babies born, families in struggle, children yet flourishing. We experience the sights and sounds of Harlem as seen through her learned and worldly eyes, expressed here through Hughes’s poetic prose. As she states, “I done got my feet caught in the sweet flypaper of life and I’ll be dogged if I want to get loose.” DeCarava’s photographs lay open a world of sense and feeling that begins with his perception and vision. The ruminations go beyond the limit of simple observation and contend with deeper meanings to reveal these individuals as subjects worthy of art. While Hughes states “We’ve had so many books about how bad life is, maybe it’s time to have one showing how good it is,” the photographs bring us back to this lively dialogue and a complex reality, to a resolution that stands with the optimism of the photographic medium and the certainty of DeCarava’s artistic moment.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In 1952 DeCarava became the first African American photographer to win a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. The one-year grant enabled DeCarava to focus full time on the photography he had been creating since the mid-1940s and to complete a project that would eventually result in \u003ci\u003eThe Sweet Flypaper of Life\u003c\/i\u003e, a moving, photo-poetic work in the urban setting of Harlem. DeCarava compiled a set of images from which Hughes chose 141 and adeptly supplied a fictive narration, reflecting on life in that city-within-a-city. First published in 1955, the book, widely considered a classic of photographic visual literature, was reprinted by public demand several times. This fourth printing, the Heritage Edition, is the first authorized English-language edition since 1983 and includes an afterword by Sherry Turner DeCarava tracing the history and ongoing importance of this book.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312019321205,"sku":"9780999843819","price":17.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780999843819_cb37860c-dd29-4b64-83b9-da5bb7cf8d8c.jpg?v=1786016406"},{"product_id":"9781788164511","title":"Selected Poems","description":"With a new introduction by the multi-prizewinning young poet Kayo Chingonyi.For over forty years, until his death in 1967, Langston Hughes captured in his poetry the lives of black people in the USA. This edition is Hughes's own selection of his work, and was first published in 1959.  It includes all of his best known poems including 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers', 'The Weary Blues', 'Song for Billie Holiday', 'Black Maria', 'Magnolia Flowers', 'Lunch in a Jim Crow Car' and 'Montage of a Dream Deferred'. A key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes is now seen as one of the great chroniclers of black American experience - and one of the great artists of the twentieth century.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312893931893,"sku":"9781788164511","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781788164511_9796dea2-c132-4bb8-a0d7-b7f6c6e2b1bd.jpg?v=1786027059"},{"product_id":"9780063327054","title":"Melodies of The Weary Blues","description":"A gorgeously illustrated centennial of Langston Hughes' first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, this picture book includes select poems paired with vibrant artwork by more than twenty talented Black illustrators, including award-winners Oge Mora, Frank Morrison, Janelle Washington, and more!Brought to new life by lively illustrations on every page, Melodies of The Weary Blues introduces Langston Hughes’ intimate reflections on the Black experience in America to young readers in a fresh and approachable way. Featuring poems like “Dream Variation,” “Winter Moon,” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Hughes’ still resonant words shine like never before for readers everywhere. Includes an introduction by the editor, Shamar Knight-Justice, Langston Hughes’ biography and timeline of life, and biographies of all the contributors.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56367753298293,"sku":"9780063327054","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780063327054.jpg?v=1786011389"},{"product_id":"9781841594262","title":"Not Without Laughter, The Ways of White Folks, The Weary Blues","description":"One of the most important writers to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance, LangstonHughes may be best known as a poet, but he was also a brilliant storyteller, blendingelements of blues and jazz, speech and song, into a triumphant and wholly original idiom.   Perhaps more than any other writer, Langston Hughes made the white America of the1920s and 1930s aware of the Black culture thriving in its midst. Hughes's poetry andfiction works are messages from that America, sharply etched vignettes of its daily life,cruelly accurate portrayals of Black and white collisions.   Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free paper,with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers,European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56369330782581,"sku":"9781841594262","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781841594262_5e467a83-ab29-431a-a01f-a9283afbdc56.jpg?v=1786027866"},{"product_id":"the-weary-blues","title":"The Weary Blues","description":"The Weary Blues is Langston Hughes's first published collection of poems, immediately celebrated as a tour de force upon its release. Over ninety years after its publication, it remains a critically acclaimed literary work and still evokes a fresh, contemporary feeling and offers a powerful reflection of the Black experience.   From the title poem The Weary Blues, echoing the sounds of the blues, to Dream Variation, ringing with joyfulness, to the Epilogue that mimics Walt Whitman in its opening line, \"I, too, sing America,\" Hughes writes clearly and colorfully, and his words remain prophetic and relevant today.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57481642836341,"sku":"9780486849010","price":4.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780486849010.jpg?v=1786089926"},{"product_id":"not-without-laughter-herald-classics","title":"Not Without Laughter","description":"\u003cb\u003eLangston Hughes's debut novel, a moving portrait of African American family life in 1930s Kansas, newly reissued for Union Square \u0026amp; Co.’s Herald Classics line.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Originally published in 1930, \u003ci\u003eNot Without Laughter\u003c\/i\u003e follows Sandy Rogers as a boy living in rural Kansas to his arrival in Chicago as a young man, set against a backdrop of poverty, racial segregation, and the onset of World War I. Orbiting Sandy are a host of vividly realized family members, including his mother Annjee, a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his irresponsible father Jimboy, who plays guitar and is constantly in search of work; his aunts, blues-singing Aunt Harriet and social-climbing Aunt Tempy; and his pious, strong-willed grandmother Hager, who holds the generations together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Partly inspired by Langston Hughes’s early life in the Midwest, \u003ci\u003eNot Without Laughter\u003c\/i\u003e is the debut novel of the literary giant, a sweeping and elegiac family drama that traces Black life in the early twentieth century, an important setting in the history of a racially divided America. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57484264538485,"sku":"9781454964797","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781454964797.jpg?v=1786266317"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-langston-hughes.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}