Worrying the Line

“A valuable resource in the effort to define a critical epistemology of literary matrilineage in African American literature.” — African American Review

“Artfully examines the literary genealogy of a prominent and influential group. . . . Offers keen insights into these writers' formal and thematic uses of other less literary sources. . . . Impressive.” — Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature

“Takes its place alongside other powerful essay collections on the subject. . . . Conveys in intelligent and potentially quite rich ways the process at work in summoning memories, eliciting stories, and recasting them for new contexts.” — Feminist Teacher

“At once clearly articulated and engagingly written, Worrying the Line offers rich insights into the works of twentieth-century African American women writers, brilliantly uncovering their complex responses to earlier writers, both male and female, of various ethnicities. . . . These studies powerfully reveal the complex literary legacies of slavery and suggest new and fruitful ways of thinking about the work of some of the most compelling writers of the twentieth century.” — American Literature

“[A] fascinating study. . . . Cheryl Wall has given us yet another way of looking at black women’s texts through the prism of our multifaceted experiences.” — Journal of African American History

“A lucid map of black women’s late 20th century literary writing deftly rendered by Wall. . . . This is a work of literary criticism I would recommend to nonacademic readers — and reading groups — who want to know more about how our most gifted African American women narrative artists work their magic to enhance readers' appreciation of the miracle of African American families, our cultural wealth, and dramatic historical legacy. Wall weaves a vivid tapestry that allows readers to see clearly common themes and significant relationships among the represented texts and better comprehend the rich cultural sources upon which the writers draw.” — Black Issues Book Review

“Worrying the Line is an important study of contemporary women writers. . . . Wall has provided readers with an excellent study of how a variety of contemporary women writers have examined, altered, and extended the literary and cultural context for the work they do, and she has done it in an intelligent, clearly written, and entertaining fashion.” — Studies in American Fiction

“Wall’s indisputably fine prose conveys valuable information, convincing interpretations, and models for more than academic essays . . . in twentieth-century black women’s writing in the United States.” — Journal of American History

“With remarkable skill and sensitivity, Cheryl Wall explores a series of texts to find in what ways the authors assume attitudes towards earlier writers of varying ethnicities, adopt and adapt themselves to diverse cultural frameworks, and interrogate the idea of 'traditions' — both those that welcome them and those that have historically been closed to them. This is a book that will teach us a great deal about the importance of these debates and these authors.” — Ashraf Rushdy, Wesleyan University

“Brilliantly reworking notions of 'the cut' and 'the line,' both tropes from blues vocalization, in Worrying the Line Cheryl Wall explores not only the complex ways in which African American women writers treat ideas of lineage and the literary tradition, but also the deep interconnections between the two preoccupations. This impressive study will transform our understanding of black women’s writing.” — Valerie Smith, Princeton University