In the early nineteenth century, the southern poor white had a reputation for comic vulgarity and absurd violence; postbellum writers saw him as a quaint peasant; the 1920s transformed him into a revolutionary proletarian. Of the literary treatments discussed, Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath emerges as a skillful compromise of documentary accuracy and political daring by reviving the tradition of degeneracy.

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a powerful and groundbreaking novel that played a pivotal role in shaping American history. Published in 1852, the book provides a stark depiction of the brutal realities of slavery in the United States. The story revolves around the life of Uncle Tom, an enduring and compassionate African American slave, and the various characters he encounters through his life of servitude. Stowe's narrative vividly...

A novel about black Americans in Florida that centers on the life of Janie and her three marriages.

Inman, a young Confederate soldier, who is injured during the explosive 1864 battle of Petersburg, Virginia, is struggling to make his way home to Cold Mountain, NC, where his beloved Ada awaits him. In Inman's absence, Ada befriends Ruby, who helps her keep up her late father's farm. Meanwhile, in his travels, Inman encounters a menagerie of interesting and colorful characters.

"Eleven-year-old Zomorod, originally from Iran, tells her story of growing up Iranian in Southern California during the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis of the late 1970s"--

"Black reporter Zane Pinchback goes undercover as a white man to investigate the arrest of his brother and save him from a lynch mob."-- "This tenth anniversary edition of the acclaimed and fearless graphic novel features enhanced toned art, an afterword by Mat Johnson, character sketches, and other additional material. In the early 20th Century, when lynchings were commonplace throughout the American South, a few courageous reporters from the North...