Laughing To Keep From Crying.

Hughes, Langston

Published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1952

About this Item

First edition of Hughes' second major collection of short stories. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "Inscribed especially for Wolfgang, With sincere regard Langston New York March 30, 1952." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing. "More than any other American writer, Langston Hughes brought African American culture and traditions into American literature" (Oxford Encyclopedia, 237). Laughing to Keep from Crying, his first collection of short fiction in nearly two decades, highlights the finest aspects of his work: his "simple, direct, style, the thirst for social criticism, the balance between satire and comedy, the basic, easily recognizable plot line, and the ability to create 'everyman' characters" (Ostram, Langston Hughes). Its title, drawn from a blues lyric, especially speaks to how "Hughes was galvanized by the music of his people, whether blues, jazz, or religiousâ ¦ his specific commitment to depicting and strengthening the African American heartbeat in Americaâ ¦ gave him a place of central importance in 20th-century African American literature and American literature generally" (Gates and Higginbotham, African American Lives, 420-22). On publication, the stories in Laughing won immediate praise as "highly successfulâ ¦ each is the work of a 'writer' in the finest sense of the word" (New York Times).

Seller Inventory # 61051

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Laughing To Keep From Crying.
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, New York
• Publication Date: 1952
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • First Edition