THE PEOPLE COULD FLY American Black Folktales

As performed by Andrew Barnes, this prize-winning text, compiled by the illustrious Virginia Hamilton, is a gem. The only discordant notes in the four hours are banjo, fiddle, and harmonica playing that are more Appalachian than black vernacular music. This trans-cendent audio work entertains a multiplicity of generations and races. It enables us to understand the ways a people survived slavery and the racism that followed, continued folkways, and maintained their sense of the ridiculous in the face of unbearable oppression. These stories, however, are not about race. They are about the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. P.R. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]