For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
by Shange, Ntozake
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Fine/Very Good
- Seller
-
Oneonta, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1977. This book is a celebration of being black and being woman. Book club edition book is in fine condition with light foxing to top page edge, jacket is in very good condition with light edgewear and light rubbing. 51 pages, 8.5 x 5.5.. Hard Cover. Fine/Very Good. Illus. by None.
Reviews
On Jul 3 2022, a reader said:
“for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf” is a book that is unflinching, raw and real in its expression of Black female identity. The book is a 'choreopoem', sung and enacted on stage by actors. The collection consists of twenty poems narrated by women wearing the colors of the rainbow, except for one wearing brown. The poems talk about the “dark phases” in the lives of Black women growing up in America.
Ntozake Shange is frank and unapologetic in her verse. The poems are deliberately punctuated and have a style of their own. The themes of sexual, physical and psychological violence on Black women pervade the poems, lending them an ominous tone. While some poems are glimpses of painful moments for Black women in a male world, other poems discuss the women’s own insecurities and anxieties. Notably, one has to have an understanding of Black culture and history if they want to comprehend the local jargon and the numerous references.
Besides its startling subjects, the poems simmer with hidden resentment and anger. For instance, “We gotta dance to keep from crying, we gotta dance to keep from dying.”- Although impactful, these lines flirt with fantasy. The detailing of the events is laudable and makes it all the more tangible. The movement of the events for the most part, seem natural.
At certain moments, the stilted style of the verse distances the audience from the powerful narrative it wishes to tell. It is not an easy read for those used to conventional verse on comfortable subjects. There seems to be no apparent connection between the poems, except that they deal with the experiences of Black women. The poems are written for the stage and therefore will succeed more as a production than as a book of poetry. Admittedly, I wondered if the rainbow at the end is worth all the ordeals these women have to undergo. However, the book ends in the celebration of the individual and hope for the future.
Undeniably, the poems portray the “metaphysical dilemma of being alive, being a woman, being colored” in a predominantly oppressive society that hinders their progress at every turn. for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf is bold for the stories it chooses to tell, but will those stories outlive the test of time is a question worth asking.
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Details
- Seller
- Popeks Books, IOBA (US)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 302358
- Title
- For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
- Author
- Shange, Ntozake
- Illustrator
- None
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Publisher
- MacMillan Publishing Co.
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1977
- Keywords
- Poetry
Terms of Sale
Popeks Books, IOBA
30 day return policy. If you have any problems with your order, please contact us. We will do what it takes to make it right.
About the Seller
Popeks Books, IOBA
Biblio member since 2003
Oneonta, New York
About Popeks Books, IOBA
Store located at 356 Main Street in Otego, NY
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Book Club Edition
- A generic term denoting a book which was produced or distributed by one of any number of book club organizations. Usually the...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...