critical interpretation of early Black novels
I was one of robert bone's students when he taught this course at Yale. At that time, I considered his book the best thing on the market for anyone who wanted to become conversant with the novel up to l955 written by and about afro-americans. I say it was the best thing because he approached the whole field in an academically scholarly manner. It is not only interesting, but highly informative because not many people, academics included, knew of the dozen or so superior novels written by black authors up to that time. Perhaps, if you wish to read the novels Bone recommends, you might find most or all on amazon or alibris. All of them, including Robert Bone's text, itself, are worth the time to find and read. You may want to follow up THE NEGRO NOVEL IN AMERICA with Bone's other book that deals with Afro-American short fiction. If you teach or are interested in American literature, you must read NEGRO NOVEL if you are to have a full understanding of the literature from "Middle Passage" to 1955, as an integral part of the WHOLE literary (historical & social) experience
