Not Without Laughter

“A lyrical, charming and moving story of a black Midwestern boy.” — Arnold Rampersad

“An eye-opening portrait of the artist as a young black man in the Midwest.” — A. Scott Berg, The New York Times Book Review

“A lyrical, charming and moving story of a black Midwestern boy.” — Arnold Rampersad


“An eye-opening portrait of the artist as a young black man in the Midwest.” — A. Scott Berg, The New York Times Book Review

Langston Hughes (1902-1967), a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most influential and esteemed writers of the twentieth century, was born in Joplin, Missouri, and spent much of his childhood in Kansas before moving to Harlem. Among his other awards and honors were a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rosenwald Fellowship, and a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Hughes published more than thirty-five books, including works of poetry, short stories, novels, an autobiography, musicals, essays, and plays.

Angela Flournoy (introduction) was a finalist for the National Book Award for her debut novel, The Turner House , and for the Kirkus Prize for her novel The Wilderness . Her fiction has appeared in The Paris Review , and she has written nonfiction for many publications, including The New York Times , The Nation , and the Los Angeles Times . A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Flournoy was raised in Southern California by a mother from Los Angeles and a father from Detroit.