Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folk-tales from the Gulf States

A recently discovered collection of folktales celebrating African American oral tradition, community, and faith...”splendidly vivid and true.”—New York Times

Every Tongue Got to Confess is an extensive volume of African American folklore that Zora Neale Hurston collected on her travels through the Gulf States in the late 1920s.

The bittersweet and often hilarious taleswhich range from longer narratives about God, the Devil, White Folk, and Mistaken Identity to witty one-linersreveal attitudes about faith, love, family, slavery, race, and community. Together, this collection of nearly 500 folktales weaves a vibrant tapestry that celebrates the African American life in the rural South and represent a major part of Zora Neale Hurstons literary legacy.

“Paint[s] a vivid portrait of the turn-of-the-century South.” - Washington Post

“Overwhelmingly good...luminous tales.” - Oregonian

“Splendidly vivid and true...A sharp immediacy and a fine supply of down to earth humor. In stories that are variously jokey, angry, bawdy, wildly fanciful or Reader’s Digest-style anecdotal, the speakers present a world in which anything is possible and human nature is crystal clear.” - New York Times

“Entertaining and thought provoking.” - Vibe

“Quite funny, and profoundly emblematic.” - San Francisco Chronicle

“Unadorned testaments to the suffering and the vibrant, creative humor of her [Hurston’s] people.” - Book Magazine

“Stories rich in insight [and] humor.” - Rocky Mountain News

“Fascinating, funny...priceless.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer

“[Every Tongue Got to Confess] is vibrant, evocative, heartwarming and sometimes hilarious...Like no other in its richness and variety.” - Philadelphia Inquirer

“[An] entertaining collection . . . A rich harvest of native storytelling.” - Kirkus Reviews

“What treasures these are--mordantly clever and quintessentially human stories about God and the creation of the black race, the devil, preachers wily and foolish, animals, the battle between the sexes, and slaves who outsmart their masters. Invaluable tales of mischief and wisdom, spirit and hope.” - Booklist

“An extraordinary treasure.” - Boston Globe