Tales

By LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)

"We owe profound thanks to Akashic Books for reissuing this important collection of Amiri Baraka's short stories. Baraka was, without question, the central figure of the Black Arts Movement, and was the most important theorist of that movement's expression of the 'Black Aesthetic,' which took hold of the African American cultural imagination in earnest in the late sixties. While known primarily for his plays, poems, and criticism of black music, Baraka was also a master of the short story form, as this collection attests. Tales first appeared in 1967 and is an impressionistic and sometimes surrealistic collection of short fiction, showcasing Amiri Baraka's great impact on African American literature of the 1950s and 1960s. Tales is a critical volume in Amiri Baraka's oeuvre, and an important testament to his remarkable literary legacy."
--Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

"A clutch of early stories from the poet, playwright, and provocateur, infused with jazz and informed by racial alienation...Worth reading to see the way [Baraka] feverishly tinkered with ways to explore a multiplicity of black experiences. An intense and button-pushing collection."
--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Amiri Baraka:

"Baraka's stories evoke a mood of revolutionary disorder, conjuring an alternative universe in which a dangerous African-American underground, or a dangerous literary underground still exists...Baraka is at his best as a lyrical prophet of despair who transfigures his contentious racial and political views into a transcendent, 'outtelligent' clarity."
--New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) on Tales of the Out & the Gone

The sixteen artful and nuanced stories in this reissue of Amiri Baraka's seminal 1967 collection fall into two parts: the first nine concern themselves with the sensibility of a hip, perceptive young black man in white America. The last seven stories endeavor to place that same man within the context of his awareness of and participation in a rapidly emerging and powerfully felt negritude. They deal, it might be said, with the black man in black America. Yet these tales are not social tracts, but absolutely masterful fiction--provocative, witty, and, at times, bitter and aggressive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Release date: Feb 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781617754159

LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)

AMIRI BARAKA/LEROI JONES (1934–2014) was the author of numerous books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. He was named poet laureate of New Jersey by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, from 2002–2004. His short story collection Tales of the Out & the Gone (Akashic Books) was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and won a 2008 PEN/Beyond Margins Award. He is also the author of Home: Social Essays, Black Music, The System of Dante’s Hell, and Tales, among other works.

Reviews for Tales

[cammykitty · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Amiri Baraka was a prominent African American poet of the 60s and Tales is a reprint collection of some of his short stories. I wish I could say I loved the collection, but I didn't really. Perhaps I didn't enjoy it so much because he is a "lyrical prophet of despair" as it even says on the cover. Despair isn't my favorite mode. I think it is really a matter of "I guess ya had to be there." I feel I'm missing cultural references that would at a sparkling "a ha" reaction to the stories. I do know the cultural references for the last two stories, Jazz-Afrofuturist stories, and I reacted exactly that way. I know this story!!! Ha! Like I was in on an inside joke. "The Alternative" particularly reminds me of Delaney's Dhalgren which is definitely some sort of quintessential 1960s. I particularly enjoyed the irony of "Going Down Slow." So, the long and the short of it, this collection isn't for everyone but if you have a particular interest in Baraka or the 1960s are into despair, this one is for you.

[tungsten_peerts · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So ... yeah. When I was in undergraduate school, my mentor (who, for what it is worth, was a black woman) described a frightening encounter she had had with Baraka (at the Cleveland Playhouse, perhaps -- I can't remember). I recall her describing a large entourage and machine guns, etc etc. She used to say (I paraphrase) "the stuff he wrote when he was still Leroi Jones was awesome, brilliant, surrealist ... then he changed his name and started doing all this 'Kill Whitey' crap."Even then, I thought .... hmmm.I thank Akashic Press for the book, and in a much larger sense for re-issuing so many great items from Baraka's catalogue. The book under consideration is material from the early to mid 60s (it was first published in 1967), and it is hot stuff. Some of these tales have recognizable -- at least with a little effort -- plots, and all of it is very much the prose of a poet. It's also the prose of someone who is very connected to music, almost painfully connected, and to blues/jazz in particular. This work has a rhythm and a sway that could only come from having spent countless hours in smoky clubs listening to jazz and beating on the table with flat hands. It reminded me somehow of Kerouac's Dr. Sax -- and in particular, of watching/listening to Kerouac read excerpts from Dr. Sax with Steve Allen at the piano. Of course, this sometimes-abstract prose comes from the hands of a black genius in the 1960s, hands growing more and more angry as time goes on.The production is tres classy -- the cover has a nice feel and sports a Carl Van Vechten photo of Baraka. Also, I must say that Akashic has apparently done the right thing and hired a live breathing copy editor/proofreader ... something that even huge presses don't seem to be bothering with these days. Bravo!You may know of some of the controversies that swirled around Baraka. I urge you to lay preconceptions aside and pick up this small but very full book. If you are offended, you will find it out soon. Me, I'd love to hear this book read out loud!

[orangewords · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I will echo some other reviewers here and say that this book simply wasn't for me. Baraka was clearly a very talented man, but this collection was too disjointed and abstract for me. I liked the narratives that were less cryptic and obtuse, but they were few and far between. Even in the more abstract narratives there were consistent glimmers of wonderful poetry, but as a whole, this book was a miss for me. Still, I will follow up and read more of his poetry to see what I think of his other work.

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I knew Amiri Baraka was known for angry, unapologetic poetry. I knew he was the poet laureate of NJ before people flipped out and the post was eliminated in order to remove him from being the poet laureate. I'd read a handful of his poems over the years, so I had some preconceived notions. I hadn't read his short stories though and I'm not sure if it's because they were short stories - some bordering on a stream of conscious writing - that I didn't get what I expected. The mastery of the language was there, social consciousness and commentary and controversial phrasing and statements were sprinkled throughout, but the anger so obvious in his poetry wasn't really there. I think in the mid-'60s these stories probably hit like a bombshell in a fractured society, but compared to some statements in art and activism seen today, they seemed a little tame. It wasn't until the very last story, which started with a poem, that they ramped up to fury I expected. It was a worthwhile read for the historical value - getting an idea of where some of one of the most famous protest writers in America and the art was still inn abundance.

[lisadeniscia-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To read these tales simply ease into them as you would sink into a surrealistic painting--enjoy them--and let them happen to you. Don't worry about following anything--just experience these tales and let go. "We build our emotions into blank invisible structures which never exist." Love it!I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing. Thank you.

[bezoar44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a free copy of this book, and am grateful. This collection of stories was first published in 1967, nearly 50 years ago. They were all (or nearly all) written before LeRoi Jones changed his name to Amiri Baraka, while he was still working out his identity as a black artist. Many of these stories I found nearly incomprehensible, as they are written in a Joycean stream-of-conciousness style. I also had trouble telling when Jones is writing with a character's voice distinct from his own, versus using the character as a mouthpiece to say exactly what Jones thinks. Related to that, I've found it hard to distinguish facetious humor from extreme views meant to be taken completely seriously. A couple stories that I did understand, and liked, included 'Heroes Are Gang Leaders', and a Black Power science fiction fantasy, 'Answers in Progress.' But for most of the stories, a good critical guide - not part of this edition - could go a long way to making them more accessible. One final note: the casual anti-gay bigotry throughout the stories is annoying. It says a lot about the way living as the target of racism can mess with a man's identity, prompting him to double down on rigid tropes of (straight) masculinity. But in these stories, it feels baked into Jones' worldview, rather than present as an artistic choice, and it's wearing.

[pomo58 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This re-issue of Tales by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) is ideally suited for (and will hopefully be used in) literature courses as well as Black Studies/African-American Studies courses. Originally published in 1967 this collection captures an important transitional period in Baraka's writing. While he had always addressed the issue of being Black in America he was moving from doing so in a traditional voice, often considered a non-threatening voice to a largely white academic and literary audience. As he developed a voice that was not only more his own but also better able to speak to other Blacks he became perceived as far more threatening.The tales here are not light breezy reads, but neither are indecipherable. They do require an intention to understand what they may be saying or implying. As is well known and probably doesn't require repeating, his voice became infused with a jazz/rhythm & blues flow. Like good poetry (and he was a very good poet) the ears are an important element in understanding and appreciating his stories. These do reward the reader for an oral enactment of the tales. I do think that these tales are more effective because they are not so simple. When we are forced to slow our reading and think about what we read it helps us to test different perspectives and possibilities, which can only serve to enrich any reading.In addition to students (whether formal or informal) of literature, the Black Arts Movement and the intersections of literature, music, culture and politics I think this would also benefit writers who might want to experience different ways of infusing their writing with movement, meaning and rhythm. While I consider this a 5 star classic I am giving it 4 (4.5) stars because many readers will find these to be too far removed from a standard short story with a very clear progression. Additionally, I think an interested reader should try to read (or re-read) more of Baraka's work to better contextualize this work.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing.