Blues in Stereo
The Early Works of Langston Hughes
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Blues in Stereo
Buy for $11.69
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Danez Smith
About this listen
Publishers Weekly’s Top Ten Fall 2024 Poetry Books
From Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes, a stunning collection of early works written from 1921-1927 and curated by award winning poet and National Book Award finalist, Danez Smith.
Before Langston Hughes and his literary prowess became synonymous with American poetry, he was a seventeen-year-old on a train to Mexico City, seeking funds to pursue his passion. His early poems, beloved verses like “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” were written without formal training, often on the back of napkins and envelopes, and were inspired by the sights and sounds of Black working-class people he encountered in his early life.
Blues in Stereo is a posthumous collection of these early works, in which we see Langston Hughes like we’ve never seen him before. In the intimate pages of his handwritten journals, you will travel with Hughes outside of Harlem as he ventures to the American South and Mexico, sails through the Caribbean, and becomes the only Harlem renaissance poet to visit Africa. He celebrates love as a tool of liberation in his poems and journal entries. His songs included showcase musicality of verse poetry. And the book even includes a play he co-wrote with Duke Ellington with a full score that experiments with rhythm and structure.
Blues in Stereo portrays a young man coming of age in a changing world. Moment by moment, a young, fresh-faced Hughes contends with matters beyond his years with raw talent. National Book Award nominated poet Danez Smith offers their insight and notes on themes, challenges, and obsessions that Hughes early work contains. Blues in Stereo foreshadows a master poet that will go on to define literature for centuries to come.
©2024 Danez Smith (P)2024 Legacy LitPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Weary Blues (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Langston Hughes
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Langston Hughes was only twenty-four when he published his debut collection of poetry, The Weary Blues. The poems included here blend vernacular speech and musical rhythms to offer a bracing perspective on the African American experience. Traversing a wide range of settings—including the jazz clubs of Harlem, expansive natural landscapes, and seaside taverns—Hughes’s voice as a poet ties these various places together.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Melancholy Magic
- By Pri_ncess_pri on 03-31-25
By: Langston Hughes
-
The Ways of White Folks
- Stories
- By: Langston Hughes
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 8
A collection of vibrant and incisive short stories depicting the sometimes humorous, but more often tragic interactions between Black people and white people in America in the 1920s and ‘30s.
By: Langston Hughes
-
I Wonder as I Wander
- An Autobiographical Journey
- By: Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 146
In I Wonder as I Wander, Langston Hughes vividly recalls the most dramatic and intimate moments of his life in the turbulent 1930s. His wanderlust leads him to Cuba, Haiti, Russia, Soviet Central Asia, Japan, Spain (during its Civil War), through dictatorships, wars, revolutions. He meets and brings to life the famous and the humble, from Arthur Koestler to Emma, the Black Mammy of Moscow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Writer
- By Marva on 08-10-14
By: Langston Hughes, and others
-
Not Without Laughter
- By: Langston Hughes
- Narrated by: Jaime Lincoln Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 33
This stirring coming-of-age tale unfolds in 1930s rural Kansas. A poignant portrait of African-American family life in the early twentieth century, it follows the story of young Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a man. We meet Sandy's mother, Annjee, who works as a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his strong-willed grandmother, Hager; Jimboy, Sandy's father, who travels the country looking for work; Aunt Tempy, the social climber; and Aunt Harriet, the blues singer who has turned away from her faith.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thank you Mr. Hughes!
- By ThatGuyHerb on 09-16-24
By: Langston Hughes
-
The Complete Collection of Emily Dickinson's Poems
- By: Emily Dickinson
- Narrated by: Elaine Sepani
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a reclusive poet whose only friendships were carried out in correspondence. Despite writing almost 1800 poems in her life, very few were published until after her death. Here, the poems are presented in chronological order in their original form, unaltered by editorial revision, in one volume. It offers a wide-angle view of Dickinson's poetic development, from the clunky rhyme schemes of her youth, through valentines she wrote in the early 1850s, to the gloomy, hell-obsessed writings of her last years.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
It’s not Emily Dickinson’s Fault
- By Mary Beth Hammond on 04-04-21
By: Emily Dickinson
-
The Personal Librarian
- By: Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,338
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,241
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,191
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Treat For This Academic Librarian!
- By AlTonya on 07-14-21
By: Marie Benedict, and others
-
The Weary Blues (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Langston Hughes
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Langston Hughes was only twenty-four when he published his debut collection of poetry, The Weary Blues. The poems included here blend vernacular speech and musical rhythms to offer a bracing perspective on the African American experience. Traversing a wide range of settings—including the jazz clubs of Harlem, expansive natural landscapes, and seaside taverns—Hughes’s voice as a poet ties these various places together.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Melancholy Magic
- By Pri_ncess_pri on 03-31-25
By: Langston Hughes
-
The Ways of White Folks
- Stories
- By: Langston Hughes
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 8
A collection of vibrant and incisive short stories depicting the sometimes humorous, but more often tragic interactions between Black people and white people in America in the 1920s and ‘30s.
By: Langston Hughes
-
I Wonder as I Wander
- An Autobiographical Journey
- By: Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 146
In I Wonder as I Wander, Langston Hughes vividly recalls the most dramatic and intimate moments of his life in the turbulent 1930s. His wanderlust leads him to Cuba, Haiti, Russia, Soviet Central Asia, Japan, Spain (during its Civil War), through dictatorships, wars, revolutions. He meets and brings to life the famous and the humble, from Arthur Koestler to Emma, the Black Mammy of Moscow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Writer
- By Marva on 08-10-14
By: Langston Hughes, and others
-
Not Without Laughter
- By: Langston Hughes
- Narrated by: Jaime Lincoln Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 33
This stirring coming-of-age tale unfolds in 1930s rural Kansas. A poignant portrait of African-American family life in the early twentieth century, it follows the story of young Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a man. We meet Sandy's mother, Annjee, who works as a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his strong-willed grandmother, Hager; Jimboy, Sandy's father, who travels the country looking for work; Aunt Tempy, the social climber; and Aunt Harriet, the blues singer who has turned away from her faith.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thank you Mr. Hughes!
- By ThatGuyHerb on 09-16-24
By: Langston Hughes
-
The Complete Collection of Emily Dickinson's Poems
- By: Emily Dickinson
- Narrated by: Elaine Sepani
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a reclusive poet whose only friendships were carried out in correspondence. Despite writing almost 1800 poems in her life, very few were published until after her death. Here, the poems are presented in chronological order in their original form, unaltered by editorial revision, in one volume. It offers a wide-angle view of Dickinson's poetic development, from the clunky rhyme schemes of her youth, through valentines she wrote in the early 1850s, to the gloomy, hell-obsessed writings of her last years.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
It’s not Emily Dickinson’s Fault
- By Mary Beth Hammond on 04-04-21
By: Emily Dickinson
-
The Personal Librarian
- By: Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,338
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,241
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,191
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Treat For This Academic Librarian!
- By AlTonya on 07-14-21
By: Marie Benedict, and others
AMAZING!!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.