First published in 1968, this collection includes the Atlantic Prize-winning story "Gold Coast” (selected by John Updike for the collection Best American Short Stories of the Century). By Pulitzer Prize winner James Alan McPherson, now with a new preface by Edward P. Jones.
... produces a symbolic truth magically beyond what might have been mere sociological observation ... A fine control of language and story, a depth in his characters, humane values, these are a few of the virtues James Alan McPherson displays in this fine collection of stories.
... unsparing, caustically funny ... Not everything in Hue and Cry has escaped the ravages of time. The portrayals of hipster counterculture seem dated, as do the caricatured renderings of homosexuals. What continues to impress is the moody, bluesy feeling of loneliness, and the connected yearning to belong.
Short stories reach across decades of racial upheaval and social transformation to reaffirm what remains human and vulnerable in all of us ... Upon reading this new edition, it somehow isn’t enough to say that the stories 'hold up well.' Their blend of grittiness and sophistication, compassion and common sense, measured observation and melancholy humor can still profoundly move and illuminate ... With similar incisiveness and sensitivity, the title novella dissects the vagaries of interracial romance ... The collection remains an exemplar of humane, tough-minded grace while anticipating much of the trenchant, boundary-breaching fiction by young African-American writers emerging so far this century ... Half a century ago, Ralph Ellison was excited by the prodigious talent on display in this collection, and it can still galvanize contemporary readers.
