Charles Chesnutt Reappraised - by David Garrett Izzo & Maria Orban (Paperback)

About the Book

Though he was the first African-American writer of fiction to win major acclaim, recent history has largely ignored the writings of Charles Chesnutt. This collection of essays seeks to confirm and reevaluate the stature of this great American novelist. With essays on his stories and novels, as well as his non-fiction works, this volume looks at topics as diverse as phenomenology, race relations, American historical memory, the Wilmington Race Riots, and the presence of women in Chesnutt's writings, and all with the intent of reaffirming the power of this too easily forgotten chronicler of the African-American and American experience.

Book Synopsis

One of the best known and most widely read of early African American writers, Charles W. Chesnutt published more than fifty short stories, six novels, two plays, a biography of Frederick Douglass, and countless essays, poems, letters, journals, and speeches. Though he had light skin and was of mixed race, Chesnutt self-identified as a black man, and his writing was often boldly political, openly addressing problems of racial identity and injustice in the late 19th century.

This collection of critical essays reevaluates the Chesnutt legacy, introducing new scholarship reflective of the many facets of his fiction, especially his sophisticated narrative strategies.

Review Quotes

"recommended"-Choice.

About the Author

The late David Garrett Izzo was an emeritus professor of English who published 16 books and 60 essays of literary scholarship, as well as three novels and two plays. He lived in Haw River, North Carolina. Maria Orban is an assistant professor of English at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina.