Poker!

Zora Neale HurstonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 6K words
Chapters: 1

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Poker! by Zora Neale HurstonAuthor: Hurston, Zora Neale, 1891-1960,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 25, 2005

Editor's review

Poker! is a short work by Zora Neale Hurston, available in the Project Gutenberg eBook library. Hurston was a major writer of the Harlem Renaissance, known for writing about Black lived experience and for her use of dialect in narrative. This piece is set at a poker game, where dialogue and psychological maneuvering create the narrative tension; it is brief but tightly paced, and well suited to observing how Hurston reveals character and group relations within a small scene. The Project Gutenberg edition is a public-domain English eBook, easy to search and read on the go. For readers studying American literature, African American literature, or short-story technique, this is a text that can be read alongside other Hurston works; for general readers, it can serve as a light entry point into early twentieth-century American short narrative. As you read, pay attention to the verbal exchanges around the card table and the subtle shifts in the characters' positions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying American literature or African American literature who need a sample short text
Those who enjoy works of the Harlem Renaissance and want to understand Hurston's short-form style
Short-story writers who want to observe how dialogue and tension are built in a small scene
Readers who need a public-domain English eBook for course selections or book-club discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping to learn poker rules or card skills systematically—this is not a how-to book on card games
Readers who prefer long, complete plots and detailed background exposition—this piece is limited in length
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are not used to reading English originals

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the flow of the poker game, then revisit the dialogue and note differences in tone and word choice
Read alongside other Hurston short stories or novels to observe her dialect narrative and scene arrangement
Book clubs can frame questions around power relations at the card table and discuss how characters probe one another through speech
When reading the English original, keep a dictionary handy and focus on dialect spellings and period expressions

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this Poker! a novel or a short story?

According to the Project Gutenberg entry, it is a short work by Hurston, brief enough to read in one sitting. The source does not provide a specific page count; readers can check the length directly in the eBook. If using it for a course or book club, it is best to read it through first and then read closely.

Is the Project Gutenberg edition in English or Chinese?

The entry lists the language as English and classifies it under American and Canadian literature. Project Gutenberg provides a public-domain English eBook, not a Chinese translation. Readers who need to read in Chinese should look for a translation or read bilingually.

Do I need to know Hurston's biography before reading this?

You do not need to read a biography first. You can begin with the text itself, paying attention to the verbal exchanges among the characters and the details of the scene. For deeper understanding, add background on the Harlem Renaissance, which helps clarify Hurston's place in literary history and her choice of dialect narrative.

Comments

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About the author

Zora Neale Hurston Author · American · 1891–1960

Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, and one of the representative writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Alabama and raised in Eatonville, Florida, she devoted herself to documenting the folk culture of Black communities in the American South, a concern that runs through her writing as well. Four of her works are included here—Three Plays, The Mule-Bone:, De Turkey and De Law, and Poker!—most of them plays, reflecting her attention to Black dialect, folktales, and everyday life. Her best-known works include Their Eyes Were Watching God and Mules and Men. Her writing, distinguished by vivid spoken language and folkloric color, has had a lasting influence on later African American literature.