Mules and Men

Zora Neale Hurston

Harper Collins, Oct 13, 2009 - Fiction - 368 pages

Zora Neale Hurston brings us Black America’s folklore as only she can, putting the oral history on the written page with grace and understanding. This new edition of Mules and Men features a new cover and a P.S. section which includes insights, interviews, and more.

For the student of cultural history, Mules and Men is a treasury of Black America’s folklore as collected by Zora Neale Hurston, the storyteller and anthropologist who grew up hearing the songs and sermons, sayings and tall tales that have formed and oral history of the South since the time of slavery. Set intimately within the social context of Black life, the stories, “big old lies,” songs, voodoo customs, and superstitions recorded in these pages capture the imagination and bring back to life the humor and wisdom that is the unique heritage of Black Americans.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• One: 7
• Two: 19
• Pa Henrys Prayer: 25
• Why Women Always Take Advantage: 31
• Three: 39
• The Workinest Pill You Ever Seen: 46
• John Henry: 56
• Ole Massa and John Who Wanted to Go to Heaven: 70
• Five: 77
• The TurtleWatch: 84
• Member Youse a Nigger: 90
• You Think Im Gointer Pay You But I Aint: 92
• How the Woodpecker Nearly Drowned the Whole: 102
• Seven: 109
• Tall Hunting Story: 115
• How the Cat Got Nine Lives: 121
• Why the Waves Have Whitecaps: 128
• Sermon by Travelling Preacher: 139
• Nine: 143
• Ahm Gointer Loose Dis Righthand Shackle from: 153
• Why the Dog Hates the Cat: 159
• How a Loving Couple Was Parted: 165
• How the Squinch Owl Came to Be: 171
• Fight at Pine Mill: 179
• EulaliaRitual to Get a Man: 187
• Marie Leveau Confounding an Enemy: 194
• Marie LeveauPutting on Curse: 197
• Three: 207
• Four: 213
• RitualTo Get a Person Out: 219
• RitualTo Silence Opposing Witnesses: 225
• Six: 231
• Seven: 239
• Ritual To Rule the Man You Love: 245
• Appendix: 251
• Afterword: 287
• Selected Bibliography: 299

About the author

Zora Neale Hurston wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountains; and Seraph on the Suwanee) and was still working on her fifth novel, The Life of Herod the Great, when she died; three books of folklore (Mules and Men and the posthumously published Go Gator and Muddy the Water and Every Tongue Got to Confess); a work of anthropological research (Tell My Horse); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road); an international bestselling ethnographic work (Barracoon); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama, grew up in Eatonville, Florida, and lived her last years in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Mules and Men
• Author: Zora Neale Hurston
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2009
• ISBN: 0061749877, 9780061749872
• Length: 368 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / African American & Black / Historical; Fiction / African American & Black / Women; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Cultural Heritage; Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; Fiction / Fantasy / Historical; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Short Stories (single author); Literary Collections / Women Authors; Religion / History; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies