Although her literary career spans over fifty years, Dorothy West has not received the critical attention her contributions to black American literature merit. Too often critics devote only a few paragraphs to her critically acclaimed novel, The Living Is Easy (1948), and largely ignore her some forty published short stories and her editorial achievements. West's writings, however, exemplify the wealth of artistic talent prevalent during and after the Harlem Renaissance and the concern of its participants with the realistic treatment of the black man. She was among the first to explore the ironic possibilities of the black urban life-style, a milieu most short-story writers tended to overlook. In addition, during the 1930s West edited two important magazines, Challenge and New Challenge, which helped to crystallize the dominant black literary attitudes of the day. Many luminaries of that era were her contributors and friends, including Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora...