Wiener, Gary. Women’s Issues in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

Wiener, Gary.  Women’s Issues in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”  Cengage/Greenhaven   2012  199p      $28.45  978-0-7377-6627-1  series: Social Issues in Literature  hs      VG-BNS     

In this book, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is analysed from a sociological perspective by a variety of knowledgeable authors.  The book is divided into three sections: the first one deals with Hurston as a person and a literary figure, the second with women’s issues that are raised in the novel, and the third with women’s issues in general, as viewed from a contemporary perspective.  The variety of voices is impressive, and the articles are brief but cogently written.  In addition to the 18 essays, there is an introduction (which must be written by Gary Wiener, the book editor, although no attribution is given), a list of discussion questions for the novel, a bibliography, a list of books for further reading, and an index.  The book will certainly appeal to students who are studying Hurston’s work, and those who teach them.  The length of the book and the layout of its pages will appeal to high-school or college students studying Hurston.   

The Social Issues in Literature series examines works of literature from the perspective of sociological issues, like racism, class, colonialism, poverty and women’s studies.   

Zora Neale Hurston                                          --Carol Kennedy