Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work

Zora Neale Hurston, one the first great African-American novelists, was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance and an inspiration for future generations of writers. Widely studied in high school literature courses, her novels are admired for their depiction of Southern black culture and their strong female characters.

Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston is a reliable and up-to-date resource for high school and college-level students, providing reliable information on Hurston's life and work. This new volume covers all her writings, including Their Eyes Were Watching God; her landmark works of folklore and anthropology, such as Mules and Men; and shorter works, such as her story "The Gilded Six-Bits." Detailed entries on her life and related people, places, and topics round out this comprehensive and in-depth guide.

Entries include:

Synopses and critical assessments of all of Hurston's work

Descriptions of Hurston's characters, including Janie Mae Crawford and Tea Cake Woods

Descriptions of people, places, and topics important to Hurston's life and work, including dialect, Howard University, Alice Walker, and much more

Appendixes, including a chronology and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources.

Sharon L. Jones is an associate professor of English at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.