{"product_id":"9781466894860","title":"The Best of Simple","description":"\u003cp\u003eLangston Hughes's stories about Jesse B. Semple--first composed for a weekly column in the Chicago \u003ci\u003eDefender\u003c\/i\u003e and then collected in \u003ci\u003eSimple Speaks His Mind\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSimple Takes a Wife\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSimple Stakes a Claim\u003c\/i\u003e--have been read and loved by hundreds of thousands of readers. In \u003ci\u003eThe Best of Simple\u003c\/i\u003e, the author picked his favorites from these earlier volumes, stories that not only have proved popular but are now part of a great and growing literary tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSimple might be considered an Everyman for black Americans. Hughes himself wrote: \"...these tales are about a great many people--although they are stories about no specific persons as such. But it is impossible to live in Harlem and not know at least a hundred Simples, fifty Joyces, twenty-five Zaritas, and several Cousin Minnies--or reasonable facsimiles thereof.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Arnold Rampersad has written, Simple is \"one of the most memorable and winning characters in the annals of American literature, justly regarded as one of Hughes's most inspired creations.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47172167696624,"sku":"9781466894860","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781466894860_p0.jpg?v=1763688383","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781466894860","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}