{"product_id":"the-best-of-simple-stories","title":"The Best of Simple: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLangston Hughes's stories about Jesse B. Semple--first composed for a weekly column in the Chicago \u003ci\u003eDefender\u003c\/i\u003e and then collected in \u003ci\u003eSimple Speaks His Mind\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSimple Takes a Wife\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSimple Stakes a Claim\u003c\/i\u003e--have been read and loved by hundreds of thousands of readers. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Best of Simple\u003c\/i\u003e, the author picked his favorites from these earlier volumes, stories that not only have proved popular but are now part of a great and growing literary tradition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSimple might be considered an Everyman for black Americans. Hughes himself wrote: \"...these tales are about a great many people--although they are stories about no specific persons as such. But it is impossible to live in Harlem and not know at least a hundred Simples, fifty Joyces, twenty-five Zaritas, and several Cousin Minnies--or reasonable facsimiles thereof.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Arnold Rampersad has written, Simple is \"one of the most memorable and winning characters in the annals of American literature, justly regarded as one of Hughes's most inspired creations.\"","brand":"Hill \u0026 Wang","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48515459383545,"sku":"9780374521332","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/1811\/7625\/files\/imageloader_5ed344b6-bd12-474c-b0f8-8e92eaebb614.jpg?v=1781207811","url":"https:\/\/hookeandplotte.com\/products\/the-best-of-simple-stories","provider":"Hooke and Plotte Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}