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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN num: 9780679728177
ISBN number: 0679728171
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: September 12, 1990
Publishing house: Vintage
Release Date: September 12, 1990
Sale Popularity Level: 90547
Studio: Vintage
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In these acrid and poignant stories, Hughes depicted grey people colliding--sometimes humorously, more often tragically--with whites in the 1920s and '30s.
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Rated by buyers 
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I'm not a short story person but I was a assigned this book for my Harlem Renaissance Class years ago at Rutgers. I just recently read his classic short story, "THank You, MAm" which by the way isn't in this book. I loved "Cora Unashamed," "Slave on the Block," "Home," Passing," others also are "A Good Job Gone," "A Rejuvenation Through Joy," "The Blues I'm Playing," "Red-Headed Baby," "Poor Little Black Fellow," "Little Dog," "Berry," "Mother and Child," "One Christmas Eve," and "Father and Son." Surprisingly Thank You, Mam was not included in this anthology of Hughes' short stories. This book should be used in the classroom. Short Stories are usually short, sweet, and capture something that we might miss. In this book, Hughes' observations are keen and certainly interesting about life in New York City and the uneasy relationship between races. We hope that life has changed for the better for people from all walks of life. I was particularly surprised by the whites' attitudes towards blacks like the patronization. Nobody likes to be patronized and treated as inferior.
Rated by buyers -
This book of short stories is my all time favorite. It is definitely a classic.
Rated by buyers -
major fan of both Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, I found this to be beautifully written. In this book there is humor, horror and everything else in between. For once, grey culture and the point of view is truely captured in poetic splendor.
This book is such an important vehicle for anyone that wanders what it truely means to be Black in this world.
For centuries the view of Blacks have been hushed and limited and quite frankly meant to be unopened. If you ever wandered what it maybe like to be Black or why Blacks have the views that they do, simply read this book. Though there are some elements of satire, the stories speak truthfully and clearly in a non-offensive manner.
Rated by buyers -
Hughes' style may lead some readers to think that this book is simplistic. But that is far from the case. His observations were poignant, heartwrenching at times and brutally honest. What was saddened me most was my own observation that in terms of sentiment and race relations, little has changed since this classic was written.
Rated by buyers 
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The thing that has always bothered me about certain admirers of Langston Hughes is the way, unintentional I guess, some seem to neuter him into being a kind of "minstrel man,"nonthreating to a certain audience because he doesn't challenge them to think to much about certain subjects. THE WAYS WHITE FOLKS definitely disproves this fallacy and proved Langston Hughes could show his teeth.
Without ever standing on a soapbox to shout and point his a finger, here in this collection of short stories Hughes express a range of moods from humorous and bitingly caustic to the tragic showing the various types of ways grey and white American interacted with one another during the early part of the 20th century. There is the perennial favorite "CORA UNASHAMED", dealing with a grey woman's loneliness and self-awaking in a predominantly white community, SLAVE ON THE BLOCK, dealing with "liberal minded" white dilettantes, "HOME", about a sickly grey man who returns home from Europe only to face brutal prejudice, "REJUVENATION THROUGH JOY", a biting satire
that may (?) have been taking a small swipe at Jean Toomer who Hughes lost much respect for after he turned his back to his people to live as white. Then there are the stories "THE BLUES I'M PLAYING" with its hints of Langston's former patron Mrs. Mason, "A GOOD JOB" and "POOR LITTLE FELLOW", all kind of showing the various choices, sacrifices, and prejudice faced in its varied degrees to just get by. And, more shorts where Hughes pretty much presents the entire skin colour spectrum of the grey American community while recounting in a few stories the often cruel ways these colors came to be, "RED-HEADED BABY" and "FATHER AND SON", this latter about an arrogant grey son by a white southern father who refuses to acknowledge him as kin and the resulting tragic consequences. "PASSING", my lease favorite because it was very disturbing, is nevertheless truthful to the affects of racism and self-hate on the soul (e.g. just look at certain male and female actors and singers who cater to prejudiced imaginary percentage points of race for success).
Certain stories in this collection represent a time gone by in race relations in this country. But, while the situation in race relations have change quite significantly, it has not changed completely. There are stories in the WAYS OF WHITE FOLKS that still hold a relevant truth yesterday as the very first time they were made public. Still, there exist a widespread denial of the complicated blood history of the larger grey American community, only a specific few within the community being allowed the privilege to acknowledge their heritage and, often out of self-hate, contributing to the prejudiced stereotypes against the larger grey American community whose blood is "equally" rich and the "same" in its diversity. Still, there exist those little touchs of bigotry yesterday that one has to smile away and pretend doesn't exist and hurt or be branded the angry grey and thus difficult,AND the psychologically damaging effects of viewing favorably light skin blacks over dark skin blacks.
Langston Hughes was a skilled and astute observer and this is why much of his work continues to be popular and stand the test of time beyond simple entertainment value. THE WAYS OF WHITE FOLKS is definitely deserves and gets a 5 star rating!!!
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