The Norton Anthology of African American Literature

A whopping 2,665 pages, The Norton Anthology of African American Literature was 10 years in the making, and it proves to have been well worth the wait. Beginning with vernacular forms such as the spirituals and the blues, it encompasses the whole history of black writing from the poems of Phillis Wheatley to the work of contemporary writers such as Terri McMillan, Toni Morrison, and Charles Johnson. Each section includes an introductory essay, and there is a brief biographical essay for each writer.