Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women's Humor

This massive (nearly 700 pages) anthology offers a fascinating survey of black women's humor, compiled from folk sources, the blues, and poetry, fiction, anecdotal recollections, and routines by such comedians as the late Jackie "Moms" Mabley. The title, editor Daryl Cumber Dance informs, is a "playful entreaty" that black women use to encourage each other or to express disbelief in private conversations when swapping jokes and tall tales. Some of the material in Honey, Hush is a bit bawdy and off-color, and Dance, a professor of English at the University of Richmond in Virginia, warns that "humor is often unkind, unfair, and unjust." Enter with an open mind and a willingness to laugh, however, and you'll be sure to have fun.