Author Description

Product Description Zora Neale Hurston is best remembered today for her work as a novelist, but she was also an accomplished dramatist, short story writer, and folklorist. That range of interests and styles is on full display in this collection.In “Drenched in Light,” Hurston tells the tale of a plucky, life-affirming African American girl at odds with her irritable grandmother; “Spunk” follows the conflict between two men involved in a deadly love triangle; the prize-winning play “Color Struck” tracks the impact of colorism on a group of cakewalk competitors in the Jim Crow South; and “Sweat” portrays a woman in an abusive marriage who finds deliverance through a karmic twist of fate.With their explorations of class, racism, family dysfunction, and female empowerment, these works beautifully represent both the energy of the Harlem Renaissance and the unique voice of one of its most influential contributors.Revised edition: Previously published as Drenched in Light,Spunk,Color Struck,Sweat, this edition of Collected Early Works (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions. About the Author Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) was born in Notasulga, Alabama. As a young adult, she moved to New York City and attended Barnard College of Columbia University, where her interests in anthropology, African American culture, Caribbean folklore, and writing all converged. A central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston produced a body of literary work that was diverse and prolific. In addition to being a novelist, prize-winning playwright, and documentary filmmaker, Hurston was the author of more than fifty short stories, poems, and essays, as well as several works of nonfiction, including an autobiography, Dust Tracks on the Road. Though Hurston died in poverty and obscurity, she is recognized today as one of the most significant and groundbreaking writers of the twentieth century.