The Brass Bed and Other Stories

Author: Pearl Cleage

Publisher: Third World Press (1991)

In The Brass Bed, a collection of autobiographical short stories, Cleage engages the reader in refreshing prose/poetry which reconciles gender consciousness with the collective African American experience.

"This magnificent and totally original book highlights the emotional battles that blacks will recognize from their own lives in a racist society. As she offers glimpses in her stories of her personal experiences, like her family's migration from south to north, she sends the message that unless you have self-knowledge others can make you become what they desire you to be. She also reminds us that a person without a past is a person without an identity. The richness of this black writer's prose weaves a delicate thread throughout this appealing collection, which will acquaint its readers not only with life's everyday dilemmas but with distinct experiences within the black community itself. Recommended."

–Gayle Leach