Thursday, February 2, 2012

Toni Cade Bambara and Short Stories

[By Kenton Rambsy]

Yesterday, I reminded readers that even though Richard Wright is often times remembered for his novel Native Son, his short stories were very important to launching his literary career. Today, I continue my exploration of writers in the “100 Novels Collection” who are also short story writers, focusing on Toni Cade Bambara.

Her first collection of short stories, Gorilla, My Love, helped to compliment her involvement in the emerging black feminist movement. The majority of the short stories in her first collection are told from the first person point of view of a sassy black female girl. This is significant since it offers an opportunity for readers to interpret the coming of age experiences of young black girls. Below, take a look at some of Bambara’s short stories. 
  
Gorilla, My Love (1972)
My Man Bovanne
Gorilla, My Love
Raymond’s Run
The Hammer Man
Mississippi Ham Rider
Happy Birthday
Playing With Punjab
The Lesson   
The Survivor
Sweet Town
Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird
Basement
Maggie of the Green Bottles
The Johnson Girls

The Sea Birds Are Still Alive: Collected Stories (1977)
The organizer's wife
The apprentice
Broken field running
The sea birds are still alive
The long night
Medley
A tender man
A girl's story
Witchbird
Christmas Eve at Johnson's Drugs N Goods

No comments:

Post a Comment