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Every Tongue Got to Confess
- Narrated by: Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Editor reviews
Summary
Every Tongue Got to Confess is an extensive volume of African American folklore that Zora Neale Hurston collected on her travels through the Gulf States in the late 1920s. The bittersweet and often hilarious tales, which range from longer narratives about God, the Devil, white folk, and mistaken identity to witty one-liners, reveal attitudes about faith, love, family, slavery, race, and community.
Together, this collection of nearly 500 folktales weaves a vibrant tapestry that celebrates African American life in the rural South and represents a major part of Zora Neale Hurston's literary legacy.
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More from the same
What listeners say about Every Tongue Got to Confess
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tracy
- 03-03-16
Excellent!
Wonderful stories! Previous reviews rate poor sound quality. I disagree, I think it's clear. Volume is just a little low. I'm glad I decided to give it a chance. The stories are funny, poignant, sweet. They are treasures of our culture!
7 people found this helpful
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- d
- 18-02-15
Difficult to hear so I can't rate Story fairly
Love Hurston's work- wish there was more out there to enjoy. However, the audio quality is terrible!!!! I love the narrators voices and have no trouble with the dialect; however, this is one of the only audible purchases I've had where I thought I should get a free credit or my mom bey back. I've tried turning up the volume on my iPhone 6, running it through my car speakers, etc. It sounds like garbled water.
9 people found this helpful
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- Jonny Ezell
- 20-09-19
A delightful listen. Reminds me of my parents.
I absolutely loved it!
I'll listen to it again and again.
I'll also share it.
3 people found this helpful
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- Sandra Colbert
- 10-12-18
Great Book to listen to!
I loved listening to Rubie Dee and Ossie Davis narrate this book. It was fun to listen to!
3 people found this helpful
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- KG
- 23-06-18
A number of wonderfully performed stories .
Must have more Audio books of Miss Zora.
Listening help put voice and inflection to the work. Helpful when reading the books along. Must read.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall

- Dominique
- 28-05-18
Riveting Tales
Thurston captures amazing narrate that are beautifully brought to life by Ruby See and Ossie Davis.
2 people found this helpful
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- ivy
- 11-05-15
Excellent stories poor performance
Zora's Folktales are magical and Ruby Dee is wonderful however Ozzie Davis was almost impossible to understand. With a different narrator this story deserves five stars.
5 people found this helpful
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- Love Thy Enemy
- 18-01-20
Great American writer as read authentically
The greatest American acting couple on both stage and screen bring great authenticity to their readings of the great American novelist Zora Neale Huston's well researched reporting of many traditional American folktales and fables. I wish audible would offer Ossie Davis's reading of Muhammed Ali's literate autobiography Soul Of A Butterfly. Ruby Dee is warmly loved by all and their readings here open widely hearts and minds and souls.
1 person found this helpful
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- Trevin Harvey
- 07-03-22
A simple smile
I have heard most of the stories before in "Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, but Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, bring the stories to life.
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- James
- 07-11-20
A Wonderfully Eccentric Collection
I used some of these tales in a folk tale and mythology section of a class I teach. I love the variety of the stories, as well as how they are organized in this collection. Definitely a book I will come back to every now and then...