"Proverbs are potent truths embodied in a grain of sand," says Jewell Parker Rhodes in the foreword of this delightful collection of age-old sayings enhanced and writ large by a legion of African American writers, both renowned and unknown. Gathering nearly 60 short stories that probe subjects as wide ranging as ancestry, May-December unions, and the politics of working nine to five, the editors deftly weave a tapestry of humor and truth. Each short story begins with a proverb whose origins might have come from as far away as a Senegalese village or as close as a dusty township in Georgia. Using riddlelike textures to speak the truth, sayings like "Never declare war unless you mean to do battle" illustrate "First Thing Monday Morning"(Gwynne Forster), the story of a woman constantly threatening to leave her husband until he beats her to the draw. "Back Then,"by Michael P. Fuller, the reminiscence of an adolescent betrayal, carries the wisdom of an Ethiopian proverb. Each entry in this irrepressible anthology offers a contemporary tale gift-wrapped in the delectable wit of ancient lessons. Terry Glover
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