Gwendolyn Brooks Books

Written in 1953, Maud Martha was the first and only novel to be released by the late poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Although written over 50 years ago, the story and its heroine, Maud Martha Brown, continues to have a strong impact in the literary world today. Edited by Jacqueline Bryant, a series of writers offer a critical perspective in GWENDOLYN BROOKS' MAUD MARTHA: A CRITICAL COLLECTION.

A collection of ten chapters, this book is comprised of writers from many different backgrounds offer their own perspective on Brooks' novel. With supporting evidence, each contributor presents their unique perspective exploring various topics from the story's social themes to the heroine herself. Several interesting criticisms include Larry Andrew's "The Aliveness of Things: Nature in Maud Martha," Dolores Kendrick's "Brooksian Poetic Elegance," and D.H. Melhem's "Maud Martha, Bronzeville Boys and Girls".

Although geared towards supporting the book on a college level, MAUD MARTHA: A CRITICAL COLLECTION offers varying perspectives on Brooks' tale. This collection will open your eyes to new views and allow you to see Maud Martha in a whole new light.

Reviewed by Kanika A. Wade
THE RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Just a brief word of warning, as of March 2004 Amazon's title for this includes the words Critical *EDITION* which is a bit misleading (the actual title is a Critical *COLLECTION*). Semantics perhaps, but EDITION implies that the full text of the novel is included here, which it is not. This is a collection of essays about Brooks' "Maud Martha" but IT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE ACTUAL NOVEL. Felt that should be pointed out so other buyers don't make the same mistake I did. Otherwise, this is a fine assembly of ten diverse criticisms from an eclectic and well-informed base of authors.

This book is a must have for all African American literature classes!

Written in 1899, at the end of the heyday of the sentimental romance genre, this was--I feel--a subversive application of the style. Likely written for a white audience, the African-American authoress was determined to counter some of the more pernicious rumors about blacks, especially black women. To use today's terms, Hopkins was floating her own memes, including the idea that the mulatto, rather than being a tragic figure that could not survive in either the black or white world, was actually a strong bridge between the two races. Or that black women were not "hypersexual," but that the intermixture of the races was much more the fault of white male desires.

As fiction, it suffers from the conventions of its genre as much as Hopkins obvious proselytizing. For the student of history, however, its depiction of black life in the 1900s is a treasure trove. Hopkins even recreates the famous debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois through the mouths of her characters. Interesting as a historical document; not sure that I could recommend this for entertainment, however.

I wasn't feeling the long poems at all. It may be because there was a lot of name-dropping but I wasn't familiar with the names or maybe because the subject changed too much, but I usually enjoy long poems. I did enjoy the shorter poems like the one about the uncle who sits too close and the one about kids thinking school is vacation cause home is the worst place to be. She still has a knack for making simple words express deep emotion which is the reason why I love Brooks and hate Shakespeare (who tried to make the simplest task deep when it really wasn't). I respect Brooks and I love her poetry, but I just wasn't into this book. There were only about five poems that I'd enjoy reading again.