Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance

A collection of short stories by Zora Neale Hurston, gathered from her work published around the Harlem Renaissance, including pieces that had been out of circulation. They draw on the speech, humour and folk traditions of Black communities in Florida and the lives of Black migrants in northern cities. Hurston's ear for dialect and her interest in love, work and quarrels between neighbours are in every story.

Choose it if you know Their Eyes Were Watching God and want more of her short fiction, or if you want a way into Harlem Renaissance writing. You get a sample of her range, from comic tales to darker pieces about relationships.

Thought-provoking; a moderate read.

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