Skip to content

Cane
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Cane Compact disc -

by Jean Toomer; Read by Bahni Turpin; Read by Mirron Willis

About this book

Cane is considered the first novel of the Harlem Renaissance, and today is revered as a classic. This collection was originally published in 1923, sold 500 copies, and then disappeared until it was re-discovered in the 1960s (two years after the author's death). Considered ‘High Modernist’ the novel is composed of vignettes including narrative prose, poetry, and dialogue, moving in a circular fashion to combine life experiences of black in the rural south and urban north.  

From the publisher

The Harlem Renaissance writer's innovative and groundbreaking novel depicting African American life in the South and North

Jean Toomer's Cane is one of the most significant works to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, and is considered to be a masterpiece in American modernist literature because of its distinct structure and style. First published in 1923 and told through a series of vignettes, Cane uses poetry, prose, and play-like dialogue to create a window into the varied lives of African Americans living in the rural South and urban North during a time when Jim Crow laws pervaded and racism reigned. While critically acclaimed and known today as a pioneering text of the Harlem Renaissance, the book did not gain as much popularity as other works written during the period. Fellow Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes believed Cane's lack of a wider readership was because it didn't reinforce the stereotypes often associated with African Americans during the time, but portrayed them in an accurate and entirely human way, breaking the mold and laying the groundwork for how African Americans are depicted in literature.

First Edition Identification

The First edition of Cane was published by Boni and Liveright in 1923, in a print run of just 500. 

Details

  • Title Cane
  • Author Jean Toomer; Read by Bahni Turpin; Read by Mirron Willis
  • Binding Compact Disc
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Blackstone Publishing
  • Features Unabridged
  • ISBN 9781982673574 / 1982673575
  • Weight 0.2 lbs (0.09 kg)
  • Dimensions 5.8 x 5.7 x 0.6 in (14.73 x 14.48 x 1.52 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Hang on… we’re fetching the requested page.