Harlem Shadows (AmazonClassics Edition) cover art

Harlem Shadows (AmazonClassics Edition)

Preview

Free with 30-day trial
Prime logo New to Audible Prime Member exclusive:
2 credits with free trial
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Harlem Shadows (AmazonClassics Edition)

Written by: Claude McKay
Narrated by: Ron Butler
Free with 30-day trial

₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹352.00

Buy Now for ₹352.00

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Defiant, eloquent, and thoroughly modern, Claude McKay’s early collection of celebrated poems is widely recognized as having helped to spark the Harlem Renaissance.

In Harlem Shadows, McKay gives precise and poignant expression to the injustices of white oppression in many forms. He also paints a vivid picture of Harlem at the dawn of its rebirth and shows the tremendous vitality of the neighborhood as well as the many threats it faced. And throughout, there is a deep sense of nostalgia, reflecting McKay’s strong feelings for his Jamaican homeland. According to McKay, however, these poems were intended to capture the energetic spirit of “uprooted black vagabonds” in a natural, direct, and honest style - and his success is especially evident in the startling elegance of his metaphors. The specificity of McKay’s language continues to shine in the present even as it illuminates the past.

Revised edition: Previously published as Harlem Shadows, this edition of Harlem Shadows (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
African American Poetry United States

Critic Reviews

“Butler walks a fine line between passion and formality, revealing the poems' structures without stressing them. He invites us in, usually not dramatizing the text. In a few cases, particularly when McKay is talking about how much he misses his Jamaican homeland, Butler lets some raw emotion into his performance - but mostly he stays cool and controlled, much like the poetry itself.” (AudioFile Magazine)

What listeners say about Harlem Shadows (AmazonClassics Edition)

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.