thegrits USA

After reading this novel and discovering that Zora Neale Hurston was the recipient of 2 Guggenheims, the author of 4 novels, 12 short stories, 12 essays, 2 musicals, and 2 black mythologies, I could not help wondering how this literary giant disappeared from us for nearly 3 decades. To my disappointment I learned that her disappearance was due to her peers (mainly Richard Wright) criticizing her openly and publicly for not writing about the so-called "serious social trends" of the time.

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Listen to Denise Michelle Harris talk excitedly about her national best-selling debut, 'Sweet Bye-Bye,' with On The Air host, Marlive Harris.

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This story told by each brother in alternating chapters is unique and well developed. Johnson's writing is so crisp and fresh that this 372 page novel will go by in a flash. I believe what I enjoyed most about this story is that it depicts black men in times of trouble committed to the women in their lives and to keeping their families together at all cost. Author Freddie Lee Johnson, III tells this story with the kind of humor and thoughtfulness that makes him a welcome new voice to the genre of contemporary African American literature!

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