"Lowe has written what may well be the Hurston book for theyears to come." -- Werner Sollors, Harvard University"Lowe's study . . . smartly begins with the assumption that onereason for the stunning popularity of Hurston's work is the verve withwhich it addresses serious subjects in a comic style." -- CherylA. Wall, editor of Changing Our Own Words: Essays on Criticism, Theory, and Writing by Black Women"Appreciative of Hurston's 'bodacious' humor, Lowe argues that sheis 'a profoundly serious, experimental, subversive, and therefore unsettlingartist.' . . . Strongly recommended." -- Choice"A trailblazing effort, a work that will enrich our understandingof Hurston's fiction." -- William R. Nash, The Southern Literary Journal"The most important booklength contribution to Hurston scholarshipsince Robert Hemenway published his biography in 1978." -- Will Brantley,Contemporary Literature