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This book is a part of my library and a great resource tool. For any writer, researcher, black historian, or literature lover of any kind, this book is a must have. The criticism from the other reviewers is amazing. Must everything thing be analyzed? This book is a reference tool, an anthology of our black writers from the past to the present. If some are threatened by that, then that is their problem. What one may think of a writer's literature his his or her own personal opinion. I, personally would recommend this book to any college student and any college professor teaching literature. This is a keepsake!

2 major objections. the first is purely pragmatic. at over 2500 pages with large, closely printed pages, and incredibly thin paper, this book, though attractively designed, is simply too inconvenient for reading. the aim of an anthology, and of books in general, is to be read. the editors did not seem to have this aim in mind. perhaps 2 volumes would be better? what did they have in mind? academic advancement, perhaps, and above all a desire to "prove" african-american literature. the principle is "the bigger the better" or better phrased as "i am bigger than you". the effect, however, is just the opposite. and here comes my second objection: because too many worthless modern writers are included for size and diversity (another omnipotent word), the ordinary reader can often be repelled by the contents of this anthology. alice walker, for example, is immensely famous in our age, and for that reason perhaps a sample of her work ought to be included, but to do more and to praise her extravagantly reflects a lack of critical acumen. and indeed this is the major problem of this anthology. every writer, major and minor, is praised; some a lot some a little. and nobody is criticized, except perhaps for not being black enough, blackness here narrowly and conventionally defined by the editors. in so doing a sense of proportion is lost. the editors would do better to omit half of the unworthy writers, and include more first-rate works from the worthy ones, and condense the excessively wordy and politically correct introductions. please, let the works speak for themselves. let us remind ourselves that dubois, a magnificent writer justly celebrated in this volume, would find many of the selections unacceptable as literature. a canon is defined by principles of selection, exclusion, and discrimination. to discriminate against bad writing is the duty of the editor.

Excellent! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in African American traditions, history, literature. The CD will blow you away.

To start my comment on this work I'd like to quote Langston Hughes poem "what happens to a dream deferred?"

I felt like the afore mentioned raisin while working through the pages but it is worth reading each single passage!!!

I recommend this edition to all students of American Literature, esp. African-American studies for best advice in gaining broadest understanding of this genre.

Five Stars aren't sufficient I dare say!

True, the book is LONG, and printed on THIN pages. True, it includes just about everyone and everything rather than a selection of a few of the so-called "greatest" African-American writers. That is the beauty of it though, it is precisely what it claims to be: an anthology. You won't be able to read it in a day or two. But it is a reference tool for your family. Read it slowly and carefully, and decide for yourself who is "worth including" and who isn't. I think this book is great, but if the number of pages scares you, maybe it isn't the book for you.