Hue and Cry

Hue and Cry is the remarkably mature and agile debut story collection from James Alan McPherson, one of America's most venerated, most original writers. McPherson's characters — gritty, jazzy, authentic, and pristinely rendered — give voice to unheard struggles along the dividing lines of race and poverty in subtle, fluid prose that bears no trace of sentimentality, agenda, or apology.

First published in 1968, this collection includes the Atlantic Prize-winning story "Gold Coast" (selected by John Updike for the collection Best American Short Stories of the Century) and introduced America to McPherson's unforgettable, enduring vision and distinctive artistry.

Pulitzer Prize winner and Guggenheim Fellow James Alan McPherson was born in Savannah, Georgia. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds an MFA from the University of Iowa. In a writing career that spans forty years, McPherson has been a contributor to many publications, including The Atlantic, Esquire, and Playboy, and was the editor of Double Take magazine. He is a professor of English at the University of Iowa.