Reading Contemporary African American Drama: Fragments of History, Fragments of Self

Harris and Larson (English and comparative literature, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) bring together 10 essays on African American playwrights and how they portray black history in nonstereotypical ways. Literature scholars from US universities consider works by Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, Alice Childress, Ntozake Shange, Pearl Cleage, August Wilson, Suzan Lori Parks, and James Baldwin, and themes of identity, sex, influences, techniques, and gender. Annotation 穢2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)