The Review of Contemporary Fiction
The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories by Stewart Brown and John WickhamNancy D. Tolson
Stewart Brown and John Wickham, eds. The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories. Oxford Univ. Press, 1999. 476 pp. $18.95.
From the writings of Frank Collymore to Edwidge Danticat, from the Caribbean pioneers to the Caribbean contemporaries, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories has gathered some of the most stimulating writings from an area of the world that is thought of as being more exotic than artistically intellectual. From the plantation settlers to the revolutionaries, this collection of short stories not only details the diversity of the Caribbean writers who celebrate their Caribbea but also reveals the diversity of the islands which editor Stewart Brown describes as a “multilingual, multicultural space.”
An air of isolation trickles throughout the stories creating a strong sense of how Caribbean writers have handled colonial alienation for so many years. There is a flow of strong individuality tracing the loneliness that reflects an array of people living in a tropical part of the world that is much more diverse and larger in size than most realize. The stories selected weave themes of class issues, love, racial issues, humor, and passion that take place in various Caribbean settings as well as stories of Caribbean experiences in various settings around the world.
With a thorough introduction by Brown, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories brings forth an insightful history of the literary movements of Caribbean literature. This is a chronological celebration of the history, the evolving lifestyles, and the people who make up the commonality of being a part of a much larger literary community of Caribbea. [Nancy D. Tolson]