Every Tongue Got to Confess, Zora Neale Hurston
Every Tongue Got to Confess, Zora Neale Hurston
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Every Tongue Got to Confess

Author: Zora Neale Hurston

Narrator: Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis

Unabridged: 6 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Caedmon

Published: 10/31/2005

Synopsis

African-American folklore was Zora Neale Hurston's first love. Collected in the late 1920's Every Tongue Got to Confess, from the celebrated author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, is published here for the first time, beautifully performed by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.Hilarious, bittersweet, and often saucy, these folk-tales provide a verdant slice of African-American life in the rural South at the turn of the twentieth century. They capture the heart and soul of the vital, independent, and creative community that so inspired Zora Neale Hurston.In Every Tongue Got to Confess, Hurston records, with uncanny precision, the voices of ordinary people -and no two actors better capture this world than Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. They pay tribute to the richness of Black vernacular -- its crisp self-awareness, singular wit, and improvisational wordplay. These folk-tales reflect the joys and sorrows of the African-American experience, celebrate the redemptive power of storytelling, and showcase the continuous presence in America of an Afticanized language that flourishes to this day.Performed by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis

About Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountains; and Seraph on the Suwanee) and was still working on her fifth novel, The Life of Herod the Great, when she died; three books of folklore (Mules and Men and the posthumously published Go Gator and Muddy the Water and Every Tongue Got to Confess); a work of anthropological research (Tell My Horse); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road); an international bestselling ethnographic work (Barracoon); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama, grew up in Eatonville, Florida, and lived her last years in Fort Pierce, Florida.

About Ruby Dee

Not only is Ruby Dee one of the most respected African-American actors of her day, she was also an important part of the civil rights movement. She is probably best known for her role in A Raisin in the Sun, which she performed on both the stage and the screen.Dee has also written plays, fiction, and a column in New York's Amsterdam News.Born in Cleveland, she worked initially with the American Negro Theater in Harlem, where she grew up. She is married to the actor and author Ossie Davis.

About Ossie Davis

Ossie Davis illumined America's stage and screen for two generations. He distinguished himself as a writer, actor, director, and narrator. A short list of his film work includes: I'm Not Rappaport, The Client, Grumpy Old Men, and Do the Right Thing. He and his wife Ruby Dee were 1995 recipients of the National Medal of Arts Award. On Feb. 4, 2005 Ossie Davis died at the age of 87.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on January 15, 2022

Every one of the folk tales collected by Zora Neale Hurston for this volume is interesting and thought-provoking. A number of them are humorous. A significant number of them are sad. All of them evoke truths about human existence, in the manner of folk tales throughout the world, even as they examin......more

Goodreads review by Richard on May 19, 2016

The book encompass Zora Neale Hurston goals from that time period; it has a wide variance in storytelling from the gulf states, her native region in the U.S.A.; it also provide a history to viewpoints within the Black community in said region; a region very old or , more likely but unproven, the ol......more

Goodreads review by DeAnna on April 16, 2018

It took me a while to get into this--I was expecting more fairytales, I guess. But then something clicked. These are grandpa tales, uncle tales, pull my leg tales. And I grinned the rest of the way through. It was like having my grandpa back for a little bit.......more

Goodreads review by Lulu on June 08, 2023

Zora Neale Huston doesn’t get enough credit for introducing southern African American culture to the rest of the world. I’ll forever sing her praises! This was an enjoyable collection.......more

Goodreads review by Cara on September 01, 2013

"A man who was down on his knees praying for God to forgive him for stealing hogs said: 'You might as well forgive me for that big ole turkey gobbler dat roosts in de chinaberry tree, too, Lord'" - Edward Morris, 15 years old, 8th grade, born in Mobile, Alabama Putting all of the issues of authorship......more

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