Gayl Jones

Gayl Jones is dedicated to the art of "verbal authenticity," stemming from her identification with her African American heritage. Amid widespread critical praise as well as pointed attacks for her controversial first two novels, Jones has shown a constantly evolving cultural consciousness.
This first single-author study of Gayl Jones recovers the work of an under-examined yet immensely skillful contemporary writer. It offers a thorough examination of her technical innovations as well as her willingness to explore controversial subject matter.
The book addresses such crucial themes as Afrocentrism, diasporas, mythopoesis, post-colonialism and globalization, and offers close readings of the aesthetic and political interchanges within Jones's fiction, drama, poetry, and criticism. Two interviews with Gayl Jones are included.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Abbreviations     
Foreword by Daniel Cross Turner     
Introduction: Liberating Voice     

1. "Toward an All-Inclusive Structure": Early Fiction     
2. Speaking the Grotesque: Short Fiction     
3. Toward Feminine Mythopoetic Visions: Poetry     
4. Afrocentric Recolonizations: 1990s Fiction     
5. A Quest for Wholeness: Criticism     

Conclusion: Liberated Voice     
Appendix I: An Interview with Gayl Jones, by Claudia C. Tate     
Appendix II: An Interview with Gayl Jones, by Charles H. Rowell     
Annotated Bibliography and List of General Works Cited     
Index