Montage of a Dream Deferred  (1951), a collection of Hughes's poetry dealing with the pleasures and disappointments of Harlem's urban world. In this book, as in much of his poetry, Hughes refers to the rhythms and themes of the African-American musical tradition of the blues.

The Best of Simple (1961), a compilation of tales that Hughes wrote featuring the urban folk hero Jesse B. Simple, a character he invented for a column in the Chicago Defender in the 1940s. Hughes uses oral story-telling methods in these witty, comic, ironic sketches about everyday people.

The Collected Stories by D. H. Lawrence, a British modernist whose work greatly influenced Hughes. Hughes admired Lawrence's bold, direct style of psychological analysis and social critique. One story in this collection, "The Lovely Lady," which is about a controlling elderly woman who reminded Hughes of his mentor...