Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor

by Paul Beatty

Book Overview

Edited by the author of The Sellout, winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize, Hokum is a liberating, eccentric, savagely comic anthology of the funniest writing by black Americans.

This book is less a comprehensive collection than it is a mix-tape narrative dubbed by a trusted friend--a sampler of underground classics, rare grooves, and timeless summer jams, poetry and prose juxtaposed with the blues, hip-hop, political speeches,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596911484
• ISBN13: 9781596911482
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Hokum: Fun read

Paul Beatty is one of my favorite writers. The intro is hilarious & thoughtful. The short pieces in this book are also very funny. You will enjoy this.

ha ha

the anthology;s breadth is stunning, insofar as what counts as black, what counts as funny. in the forward Beatty says, if memory is true, that it's like a mixtape--reading the bits compiled on the 'playlist' give you a feeling of what informs Beatty's writing. Another bonus is almost none of this stuff is canonical; this publication is a treasure--from negritude to you!

It's OK if I like this book too, right?

Just wondering. As a (typically?) paranoid Anglo-American, I may not "get" the secret messages in many of the selections that may or may not be there for an African-American reader, but I found most of the selections in this anthology hilarious. If it inspires anyone of any hyphenation to read complete works by Ishmael Reed or Chester Himes, it will have more than served its purpose.