Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Introduction: Black Resonance 1
5. 1. Vivid Lyricism: Richard Wright and Bessie Smith’s Blues 27
6. 2. The Timbre of Sincerity: Mahalia Jackson’s Gospel Sound and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man 66
7. 3. Understatement: James Baldwin, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday 99
8. 4. Haunting: Gayl Jones’s Corregidora and Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” 137
9. 5. Signature Voices: Nikki Giovanni, Aretha Franklin, and the Black Arts Movement 173
10. Epilogue. “At Last”: Etta James, Poetry, Hip Hop 209
11. Notes 227
12. Index 275
13. About the Author 287