Publisher Description
The Harlem Renaissance writer’s innovative and groundbreaking novel depicting African American life in the South and North
Jean Toomer’s Cane is one of the most significant works to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, and is considered to be a masterpiece in American modernist literature because of its distinct structure and style. First published in 1923 and told through a series of vignettes, Cane uses poetry, prose, and play-like dialogue to create a window into the varied lives of African Americans living in the rural South and urban North during a time when Jim Crow laws pervaded and racism reigned. While critically acclaimed and known today as a pioneering text of the Harlem Renaissance, the book did not gain as much popularity as other works written during the period. Fellow Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes believed Cane‘s lack of a wider readership was because it didn’t reinforce the stereotypes often associated with African Americans during the time, but portrayed them in an accurate and entirely human way, breaking the mold and laying the groundwork for how African Americans are depicted in literature.
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“Narrators Bahni Turpin, Mirron Willis, and Lisa Reneé Pitts work together to create a vocal chorus that is equal to these vivid short stories written by one of the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. Listeners will be grateful for this talented cast, who capture the diverse characters in these narratives. From young women forced by necessity into prostitution and then childbirth to white employers who become intertwined in the lives of their help, the characters in this powerful collection still resonate. Willis lends his baritone to the judging, gossipy townspeople who feature prominently in many of the stories. Turpin and Pitts are as capable as ever in these female-centric works, which provide a sensory experience of African-American lives in the 1920s.”
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AudioFile
About Jean Toomer
Jean Toomer (1894–1967) was an American poet and novelist, and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Washington, DC. Literature was his first love and he regularly
contributed avant garde poetry and short stories to such magazines as Dial,
Broom, Secession, Double Dealer, and Little Review. After a literary
apprenticeship in New York, Toomer taught school in rural Georgia. His experiences there led to the writing of his seminal novel, Cane.
About the Narrators
Bahni Turpin, winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and several prestigious Audie Awards for her narrations, was named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine in 2019. Publishers Weekly magazine named her Narrator of the Year for 2016. She is an ensemble member of the Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. She has guest starred in many television series, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, Cold Case, What about Brian, and The Comeback. Film credits include Brokedown Palace, Crossroads, and Daughters of the Dust. She is also a member of the recording cast of The Help, which won numerous awards.
Mirron Willis—actor of film, stage, and television—is the winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2012 and a finalist for the Audie in 2015, as well as the winner of four AudioFile Earphones Awards for his audiobook recordings. He has worked extensively in film and television and on stage with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Houston Shakespeare Festival, and the Ensemble Theatre, among others. He has recorded some 150 audiobooks, including the Smokey Dalton series by Kris Nelscott and My Song by Harry Belafonte. He resides and records audiobooks on his family’s historic ranch in East Texas.
Lisa Renee Pitts is an award-winning actress in theater, television, and film, as well as an accomplished audiobook narrator and an AudioFile Earphones Award winner.