Ntozake Shange (1948–2018)

Ntozake Shange's slim cookbook is a deeply satisfying read. Her soulful stories of Afro-centric culinary culture include a variety of Pan-African recipes. Some dishes may go beyond an amateur chef's abilities, but her thoughtful insights into her heritage offer something for all readers; how we prepare, cook and share our food defines who we are as individuals, family and community.

This choreopoem is somewhere between a poetry collection and a play. I found the introduction in this new updated edition incredibly helpful, because while I feel like I have seen this book around and been aware of it for ages, I didn't really know anything about it. The introduction described how this grew from a collection of poems into a performance piece, and then how it was updated over time.

This book is that harrowing kind of beautiful, that gives dignity by bearing witness to people show more living through difficult/impossible situations, that recognizes people fighting for their joy where they can find it, people surviving how they can.

The introduction also places the work in time, from its very beginnings in the mid-seventies to the way audience reactions have changed over time, to the legacy it has created for itself.

If it isn't clear, while I would have enjoyed this collection without the introduction, that context and history increased my understanding/connection/enjoyment of this piece several-fold.

This is beautiful but difficult. Please check the content warnings.

Recommended for fans of The Vagina Monologues, Shonda Rhimes, The Color Purple show less

"We came here hungry, trying to fill our souls and stomachs with anythin'll sustain us ever since." This small delicious and provocative pastiche by the recently deceased Ntozake Shange is unique and strangely beguiling in equal measure. Her love of food and history and how they speak to each other is the underlying reality -yet her book is almost like a dream revel. Generosity and memory always serve well in a food memoir and they are plentiful here -though this goes way beyond cooking and show more eating. This is a book born of rich pain and searing experiences both of the author and the many cultures she encounters throughout. It is not new -having been first published in 1998 - but seems fresh and relevant and also wise. Her voice certainly left us too soon yet can be found here bounding and alive. I close this review with a piece of advice found herein - "If you forget the cayenne. may God have mercy on your soul." Amen to that. show less

Shange's poems are powerful stories that share the experiences of black women in America. They deal with love, heartbreak, growing up, death, friendship, and more. Her writing is beautiful and rhythmic, often mimicking the varied speech patterns of people from different areas of the U.S. She vividly captures the personality of each of the women represented in the Choreopoem, and shows how so many of the stories shared represent shared experiences. The reader walks away thinking about how show more maybe we are not all so different after all - that maybe women from all over share many of the same dilemmas, and we should learn to be kinder to ourselves and each other. show less