Langston Hughes

(Hardback)

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Langston Hughes was the first black writer to be taken seriously by the general literary public, and with the current resurgence of interest in the evolution of black American writing, he continues to be a primary subject of study for scholars and students throughout the world. This bio-bibliography is the first annotated collection of materials on Hughes's life and work, and compiler Thomas Mikolyzk has made the work even more valuable by verifying the relative availability of each item cited and noting where certain materials can be found. The up-to-date listings provide both primary and secondary sources, and focus on works by Hughes as well as those written about him. The work begins with a chronology of events in Hughes's life, followed by a brief biography. The annotations are then divided into four major sections: books by Hughes, shorter works by Hughes, books about Hughes, and articles about Hughes. Each citation is given an alphanumeric code to denote its category and entry number. All collectable published works by Hughes are cited here, as is virtually every critical piece published throughout the world, including contemporary reviews, scholarly articles, essays and book-length commentaries, and dissertations. In addition to these annotated citations, two appendixes are included. The first provides an alphabetical listing of Hughes's works, including place and date of publication, and the second describes special collections in America of Hughes's personal material as well as detailing The Langston Hughes Review, the official journal of The Langston Hughes Society. Three indexes, covering author, title, and subject, conclude the work. This book will be an important resource for courses in American literature and African-American history, and a significant addition to high school, public, and academic libraries.

Reviews

Mikolyzk's guide to the published work of one of America's most important African-American writers consists of a readable 30-page biographical summary centering on Hughes's literary contributions, followed by sections that list and annotate Hughes's own works and works written about him. In the preface Mikolyzk (a school media specialist) says that the key to this annotated bibliography is availability' and that he has seen and read every item listed. Availability, for all its obvious practical merit, has distinct limits when applied to bibliography. (Mikolyzk makes a point of claiming, for example, that the article Langston Hughes, ' by Jean Wagner, cited by other bibliographers' as published in Information and Documents is unavailable and un-annotatable.' That excellent six-page illustrated article, however, is available in the January 1961 issue of that widely distributed bimonthly.) In general, Mikolyzk has done a good job of listing and annotating Hughes's publications, although the 95-page segment Books About Langston Hughes' is somewhat confusing. In that portion of his work, Mikolyzk includes entire works about Hughes, e.g., Richard Barksdale's Langston Hughes, side by side with books that merely contain one of Hughes's poems, e.g., Charles Cooper's Preface to Poetry (1946). Further, the citations fail to indicate the number of pages devoted to Hughes. Another weakness is the coverage of books published abroad: only three titles under the general heading Translations.' This is extremely misleading since Hughes's stories and poems were widely translated into European and Asian languages. Mikolyzk's annotations are succinct and well written and often provide a welcome note ofevaluation. This bibliography will be useful at the level indicated--high school and college students.' A research-oriented bibliography, including thorough coverage of Hughes's work in all languages, is still needed.-Choice
"Mikolyzk's guide to the published work of one of America's most important African-American writers consists of a readable 30-page biographical summary centering on Hughes's literary contributions, followed by sections that list and annotate Hughes's own works and works written about him. In the preface Mikolyzk (a school media specialist) says that the key to this annotated bibliography is availability' and that he has seen and read every item listed. Availability, for all its obvious practical merit, has distinct limits when applied to bibliography. (Mikolyzk makes a point of claiming, for example, that the article Langston Hughes, ' by Jean Wagner, cited by other bibliographers' as published in Information and Documents is unavailable and un-annotatable.' That excellent six-page illustrated article, however, is available in the January 1961 issue of that widely distributed bimonthly.) In general, Mikolyzk has done a good job of listing and annotating Hughes's publications, although the 95-page segment Books About Langston Hughes' is somewhat confusing. In that portion of his work, Mikolyzk includes entire works about Hughes, e.g., Richard Barksdale's Langston Hughes, side by side with books that merely contain one of Hughes's poems, e.g., Charles Cooper's Preface to Poetry (1946). Further, the citations fail to indicate the number of pages devoted to Hughes. Another weakness is the coverage of books published abroad: only three titles under the general heading Translations.' This is extremely misleading since Hughes's stories and poems were widely translated into European and Asian languages. Mikolyzk's annotations are succinct and well written and often provide a welcome note ofevaluation. This bibliography will be useful at the level indicated--high school and college students.' A research-oriented bibliography, including thorough coverage of Hughes's work in all languages, is still needed."-Choice

Author Bio

THOMAS A. MIKOLYZK received his Master's degree from the University of Chicago and is currently a public school Media Specialist in Illinois. He is presently working on an annotated bibliography of Oscar Wilde.