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Mules and Men (Abridged) Audiobook
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""Simply the most exciting book on black folklore and culture I have ever read."" --Roger D. Abrahams
Mules and Men is the first great collection of black America's folk world. In the 1930's, Zora Neale Hurston returned to her ""native village"" of Eatonville, Florida to record the oral histories, sermons and songs, dating back to the time of slavery, which she remembered hearing as a child. In her quest, she found herself and her history throughout these highly metaphorical folk-tales, ""big old lies,"" and the lyrical language of song. With this collection, Zora Neale Hurston has come to reveal'and preserve'a beautiful and important part of American culture.
Zora Neale Hurston (1901-1960) was a novelist, folklorist, anthropologist and playwright whose fictional and factual accounts of black heritage are unparalleled. She is also the author of Tell My Horse, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Dust Tracks on a Road, and Mule Bone.
Ruby Dee, a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame, starred on Broadway in the original productions of A Raisin in the Sun and Purlie Victorious, and was featured in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. She is also an award-winning author and the producer of numerous television dramas.
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"Folklore is all around us, it seems. At a time when anthropologists were seeking out the most isolated populations possible, in order to find what about them was "quaint" or different, Zora Neale Hurston had the presence of mind to perceive that a brilliant and resonant folk culture was to be found in her own hometown of Eatonville, Florida. Therefore she left her university studies in the North and returned to her Southern hometown to gather examples of African-American folk culture. The first part of Mules and Men shows Hurston arriving in Eatonville, establishing rapport with her fellow citizens of the town (making sure to let the townspeople know that her university education has not caused her to take on fancy airs), and gathering stories and songs from all over Central Florida, though she exposes herself to some danger in the process. In the second part, she travels to New Orleans and goes to great lengths to learn about vodun ("voodoo"). One can see in this book foreshadowings of the novelistic work that Hurston would do in her masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Some readers might want to see more synthesis and interpretation of the folklore, especially in the first section. But Hurston seems to have been content to gather and present the material, and to let this African-American folklore of the American South speak for itself. A helpful appendix contains songs (with their musical arrangements), along with vodun formulae, paraphernalia, and prescriptions. This edition also includes a helpful afterword by Henry Louis Gates Jr., along with the moving and evocative essay "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston" by Alice Walker. Highly recommended."
— Paul (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“One could almost accuse Ruby Dee of being a witch doctor. Her narration of this seminal collection of black American folklore is nothing short of extraordinary…She tells stories, she interrupts, she cuts up, she teases, she banters—she inhabits, not mere characters, but groups of characters—friends and neighbors gathered on the porch, in the dance hall, in a card game, hanging around the country store…As later African-American literature became increasingly militant, Hurston was accused of turning black experience into a minstrel show. But her accomplishment, unappreciated for fifty years, was in revealing so intimately and eloquently how these people made it through their days—and nights.”
— AudioFile -
“Simply the most exciting book on black folklore and culture I have ever read.”
— Roger D. Abrahams, Hum Rosen Professor of Humanities Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania; American Folklore Society Fellow -
“A classic in style and form…Introduces the reader to the whole world of jook joints, lying contests, and tall-tale sessions that make up the drama of the folk life of black people in the rural South.”
— Mary Helen Washington, professor, University of Maryland -
“Authentic in feeling, plenty of race humor, [an] excellent cross section.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award
Mules and Men Listener Reviews
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" Often termed as anthropology but reads like a story. Hurston blurs the boundaries of the genre to produce this wonderful book "
— Jacqueline, 2/17/2014 -
" Ms. Hurston was a gifted storyteller, but she was also a trained anthropologist. Both skills are captured in this text, which is one of the finest collections of Black American folktales assembled. Her use of dialect is the most authentic anyone before her or since has done; it is simply spot on -- not demeaning or insulting, just dialect. I read these stories to my children when they were young, then consulted them when I was a grad student. Another classic; she was a genius. "
— Waheedah, 2/13/2014 -
" Recommended for: those interested in folklore, black culture, history, oral storytelling, voodoo. "
— Mike, 1/4/2014 -
" I love any book by Zora Hurston . . . I think I have read most of her works! Never disappointing and always a growth experience in widening my mind and heart. Wish I could have met her! "
— Barbara, 12/23/2013 -
" An excellent collection of "lies" or stories as told by African-Americans in the early twentieth century. I also found the section on Hoodoo at the end enjoyable but wish she had presented this information in a story format rather than in a reporting style. "
— Ronald, 12/19/2013 -
" An exciting work of ethnography/anthropology. The book is in two sections; in the first she hangs out in the Florida panhandle collecting black folk tales, and in the second she goes to New Orleans and infiltrates the voodoo scene. There's a joy present in her writing that contrasts in interesting ways with the gloom of Invisible Man, which I had just read. "
— Graeme, 11/30/2013 -
" Sits on our shelf next to Grimm and Joel Chandler Harris and Yeats. Tales it takes years for hundreds to make up, but still only get told by one at a time. Th best part is, you can cheat and change them yourself if you like. "
— Greg, 11/28/2013 -
" super cool!! turpentine camp section is great, and the voodoo part--woah. awesome. "
— Tara, 11/24/2013 -
" I couldn't believe I hadn't ready this yet as I have a Zora Neale Hurston obsession but was so happy I hadn't as it is great to read while doing fieldwork. It traces her research in Florida and Louisana presenting the data/folklore she collected. "
— Andrea, 11/15/2013 -
" Amazing work. What a treasure of oral tales and folklore. "
— Mercedes, 11/4/2013 -
" Yo read the hoo-doo section. Hurston was a trained in anthropology at Barnard under Margaret Mead. Hurston was not making that stuff up. Everything she did was for real. My great-grandmother used to talk about people planting roots on her and John the Conquerer. "
— Alicia, 10/2/2013 -
" It was really exciting to be reading this book in New Orleans as Ms. Hurston described the old art of hoodoo/voodoo. I love this first person anthropological research style of book. "
— Shannon, 9/10/2013 -
" A classic, the perfect reading. A discovery to another litterature, for an European. "
— Catherine, 5/24/2013 -
" Class assignment turned into a favorite! "
— Jessica, 4/24/2013 -
" An amazing work of ethnographic research by Hurston, who's writing I like a lot. It's a collection of African American song lyrics, folk tales, voodoo recipes and personal narratives from the rural South. "
— Oakley, 3/18/2013 -
" I love everything about this book. "
— Sarah, 11/29/2012 -
" The book chronicles the author's journey all over the South collecting myth and folklore of American's black culture. Here you will find stories, myths, songs, formulas, spells, and customs as well as the author's own adventures working with various rootworkers. "
— Carolina, 5/27/2012 -
" Folklore collection from the South of the U.S. "
— Ryan, 2/15/2012 -
" My interests in African-American history, anthropology and music all rolled into one. "
— Zach, 12/4/2011 -
" Zora pioneered the field of folklore back before people gave a damn about their own cultures. This book is particularly fascinating for scholars of the occult as she includes real voodoo rituals in the back of the book. "
— M.m., 4/3/2011 -
" I read the book as part of a Humanities book club. I was not alone in my struggles to read the book. To read this book you will have to read it in small parts as it will tend to run together. The first part of the book is stories from the author's heritage. The second part is about Hoodoo. "
— Nancy, 10/19/2010 -
" Recommended for: those interested in folklore, black culture, history, oral storytelling, voodoo. "
— Mike, 8/10/2010 -
" An amazing work of ethnographic research by Hurston, who's writing I like a lot. It's a collection of African American song lyrics, folk tales, voodoo recipes and personal narratives from the rural South. "
— Oakley, 3/16/2010 -
" It was really exciting to be reading this book in New Orleans as Ms. Hurston described the old art of hoodoo/voodoo. I love this first person anthropological research style of book. "
— Shannon, 3/6/2010 -
" I discovered this author in an essay by Alice Walker. I can't wait to get through this book and her novels. What a great find! This is maybe the most significant book of African-American Folklore. "
— Nancyc, 4/29/2009 -
" Fantastic collection of folklore done as only Zora Neale Hurston could do. As she states - she went off to college, and then used anthropology as a looking glass to examine her life. <br/> <br/> "
— Jennifer, 11/20/2008 -
" Apparently voodoo is in all actuality hoodoo. "
— Emilia, 11/9/2008 -
" Folklore collection from the South of the U.S. "
— Ryan, 11/3/2008 -
" super cool!! turpentine camp section is great, and the voodoo part--woah. awesome. "
— Tara, 10/28/2008 -
" Often termed as anthropology but reads like a story. Hurston blurs the boundaries of the genre to produce this wonderful book "
— Jacqueline, 5/20/2008
About Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist whose fictional and factual accounts of Black heritage remain unparalleled. In addition to her most celebrated work, the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, her books include Barracoon, a New York Times bestseller.
About Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee (1922–2014) was a multi-award-winning actress, playwright, screenwriter, and activist. During her seven-decade career, she won a Grammy, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk award and was nominated for an Academy Award. She was also the recipient of a National Medal of Arts, a Kennedy Center Honor, and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of Ruth Younger in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun, but she also had roles in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever. She was also known for her civic work with husband Ossie Davis. She also wrote 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.