Street Lit

March 1, 2014

Norris (English, African American literature, Evergreen Valley Coll.; Brother and the Dancer) and contributors (academics, authors, poets, editors, musicians, and a lawyer) broaden the definition of urban literature while drawing a distinction between African American and hip-hop literature and emphasizing the differences between classic African American literature and street literature. This title offers a course in the genre in 16 signed essays with references and bibliographies; six poems by Tristan Acker, Debra Busman, Sterling Warner, Arisa White, and Juan Delgado; and interviews with authors Lynel Gardner, David Bradley, and Ethan Iverson. The poems are each one to two pages long, the essays four to 18 pages, and the interviews two to 16. A few black-and-white photos appear in Ana Lucia Souza and Jacqueline Lima Santos's essay on Brazilian hip-hop. A cumulative bibliography and detailed index round out the presentation. VERDICT Since it is a relatively new literary genre, little expository material has been published on urban or street literature, making this affordable title of interest to literature students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.--Laurie Selwyn, formerly with Grayson Cty. Law Lib., Sherman, TX

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
The foreword alone, by Omar Tyree, makes this book a must for fans both true to the game (as street-lit vernacular would state) of the genre and new to the game alike. Street Lit: Representing the Urban Landscape serves as a history lesson of the genre in its various forms, tracing the trajectory of slave narratives from the Donald Goines and Iceburg Slim era to the days of Flyy Girl (1993) and The Coldest Winter Ever (1999) to today's vociferous offerings from the powerhouse urban-literature publishers Triple Crown and Urban Books.The book is made up of essays deftly divided into three sections that invite discussion and reflection: Street Literature in America, Past and Present; Early Street Lit, 1950s1970s; and Contemporary Street Lit, 1990s and 2000s. These essays take a hard, honest look at the way street lit is marketed, packaged, promoted, and perceived by its intended audience and by those on the outside looking in on a slice of modern street life. The book includes an index as well as an extensive bibliography of articles and accessible book lists of notable works that best represent this popular genre. Although the content is aimed at an academic library audience, this would make a good choice for public library literary-criticism shelves, and librarians interested in developing street-lit collections will want to add this title to their professional reading lists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)