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Also by Paul Beatty:

Tuff, February 2021
Trade Size / e-Book
Slumberland, February 2021
Trade Size / e-Book
Hokum, January 2006
Trade Size
Tuff, August 2001
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White Boy Shuffle, May 2001
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HOKUM
By: Paul Beatty

An Anthology of African-American Humor

Bloomsbury Publishing
January 2006
496 pages
ISBN: 1596911484
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Fiction

Selected and introduced by acclaimed novelist and poet Paul Beatty, Hokum is a liberating, eccentric, savagely comic collection of the funniest writing by black Americans.

This book is less a comprehensive collection of African-American humor than 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, and the world’s funniest radio sermon. The subtle musings of Toni Cade Bambara, Henry Dumas, and Harryette Mullen are bracketed by the profane and often loud ruminations of Langston Hughes, Darius James, Wanda Coleman, Tish Benson, Steve Cannon, and Hattie Gossett. Some of the funniest writers don’t write, so included are selections from well-known yet unpublished wits Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mike Tyson, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Selections also come from public figures and authors whose humor, although incisive and profound, is often overlooked: Malcolm X, Suzan-Lori Parks, Zora Neale Hurston, Sojourner Truth, and W.E.B. Dubois. Groundbreaking, fierce, and hilarious, this is a necessary anthology for any fan or student of American writing, with a huge range and a smart, political grasp of the uses of humor.

Media Buzz

Talk of the Nation - February 6, 2006