Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

Stories from the Harlem Renaissance
Cover for Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick
(Paperback)
Publisher: Amistad
Published: January 5, 2021
ISBN: 9780062915801
a collection of remarkable stories, including eight “lost” Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time.

Praise for Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

These narratives comprise a rich tapestry of Hurston’s matchless vision and talent.
— BookPage
All of these 21 stories are enlivened by the author’s wickedly funny, sprightly dialogue.
— Colin Grant, The Guardian
Fans and scholars of Hurston’s work and the uninitiated alike will find many delights in these complex, thoughtful and wickedly funny portraits of black lives and communities… [Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick] is a significant testament to the enduring resonance of black women’s writing.
— Washington Post
With biting wit, Hurston gets to the heart of the human condition…her rediscovered stories will electrify.
— Booklist, starred review
An illuminating and delightful study of a canonical writer finding her rhythm.
— Publishers Weekly
A reminder of why literature is so important…These short stories capture the essence of the African American life at the time, and offer a glimpse into how she became one of the more influential writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
— Cultured Vultures
Decades on, this new collection is a powerful reminder of her lasting resonance.
— Time magazine
Read, and you’ll almost wish you were slumped on a wooden chair on Jim’s porch on a hot summer day. Read, because authenticity oozes from every page here and you can’t help but like the men and women in the tales. Read, as author Zora Neale Hurston’s wit shines between biting narrations and comments…
— Miami Times
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick helps illuminate Hurston’s path to iconic status…Add [Hurston’s] matchless powers of observation, exemplary fidelity to idiomatic speech and irresistible engagement with folklore, and the outcome is a collection of value to more than Hurston completists. Any addition to her awe-inspiring oeuvre should be met with open arms.
— New York Times Book Review