Some Sing, Some Cry

By: Ntozake Shange, Ifa Bayeza

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 26 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Audible presents the multigenerational epic Some Sing, Some Cry. Created by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza, this audiobook takes listeners on a journey through Reconstruction, two world wars, the Harlem renaissance, and Vietnam to modern day America.

Some Sing, Some Cry begins at the threshold of one family’s freedom. We meet Betty Mayfield, newly emancipated from Sweet Tamarind, a lush and haunted rice plantation off the Carolina coast. Betty and her feisty teenage granddaughter Eudora are leaving for the mainland, bringing with them the ghosts, scars, and songs they have carried for so long as they meet unknown challenges ahead. From there, we meet seven generations of Mayfield men and women, and hear the songs that provide the score to their lives. Acclaimed narrator Robin Miles goes beyond the prose to transform song lyrics sprinkled throughout the book into beautiful music, making this a uniquely rich literary and audio experience.

Playwright, poet, and novelist Ntozake Shange’s Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be a star-studded major motion picture this fall, directed by Tyler Perry.

Ifa Bayeza is an Edgar Award-winning playwright, producer, and conceptual theater artist.

Yale Drama School-trained Robin Miles has appeared on stage and TV and narrated over 100 audiobooks.

Free with this audiobook: an exclusive interview with the authors.

©2010 Ntozake Shange, Ifa Bayeza (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“If there are shoulders modern African-American women's literature stands upon they belong to Ntozake Shange who revolutionized theater and literature with her iconic work for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf in the 1970's. Any of us writing today are inheritors of her genius. Some Sing, Some Cry will show her to be as potent and irrepressible a force as she was thirty years ago.” (Sapphire, author of Push)

“In this epic saga, the sister-sister author combination of Bayeza and Shange offers a richly detailed and boldly colored account of one family’s experience in slavery and its legacies for the generations that followed. Some Sing, Some Cry is both moving and arresting.” (Annette Gordon-Reed, author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family)

“This is a complex poetic treatise on race, culture, love, and family, the use of regional vernacular, dialect, and pure song, resulting in a provocative fictional history.” (Publishers Weekly)

"Vibrant... Some Sing, Some Cry is Shange and Bayeza at their poetic best." (Essence)

"Keeps the reader turning page after page…. This story of lifesaving music and heartbroken maternity is engaging from start to finish. The Mayfield women are hilarious and sexy, gorgeous and strong." (New York Times Book Review)

Some Sing, Some Cry is a must read

Excellent book, I couldn't stop listening!! And the narration made it even better!! A generational saga from slavery to now, of families Hope's, dreams, losses, loves, talents!! With the beautiful poems and songs, along with the narrator's beautiful voice I truly could live the lives within this powerful family!!

Some Sing Some Cry - perfect for audio experience

I can't imagine this book would be as rich if I had just read it. Robin Miles brings life and rich texture to this saga in her performance. Thank you!

Will be sad to finish the last 3 hours.

The performance of narrator, Robin Miles, is wonderful. Her many voices and singing add so much that I could never put into my head by reading it myself. The story is long but I'm sorry that there are times where 10 years pass in a paragraph. I want more.

It's well written. Very well written and that's a treat compared with some of the books recently read such as Pillars of the Earth and Kindred.

The women characters can be foolish, especially as young people, but many are admired by their fellow characters in the book while the reader also finds them strong. The men seem to start strong and then either run out of drive, die young, or suffer from self abuse. Only Deacon, easy to hate and hard to forgive, seems to transform into a stronger person.

Great story, rushed ending

What did you love best about Some Sing, Some Cry?

I really enjoyed each of the women's stories and seeing how their relationships wove into each other.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I thought the ending of the book felt rushed, like the authors had been told to cut pages or something. I thought we got such a full, beautiful story up until that last generation and then it just became snippets and it moved much faster than I would've liked.

Which character – as performed by Robin Miles – was your favorite?

I loved Cinnamon!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It did make me deeply sad at times when the women in the story were going through very difficult times.

Any additional comments?

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, I just wish that they had cut the book into 2 instead of making the ending seem so rushed.

Awesome Work

This book is definitely an excellent literary piece of art. I appreciate this in audible because the singing which really enhances the story. I love the flow of story through the different periods of times as it relates to African American’s journey here in America and abroad. There is humor in the story as well. The book held my attention absolutely. I hope that this book will become a movie one day. Excellent, skilled writers. WOW!!!!!

Spiritual Journey, Voices Rising

I thoroughly enjoyed Some Sing, Some Cry, but agree with another reviewer that it was a bit too long, AND that the first half was by far the best. The human stories, of Ma Bett, her daughters and grandchildren were my favorite, and the love and wisdom that she passed down to her family blessed my soul. The history of the jazz movement, with the very personal stories were incredible. Though important for the people and our country, the political actions, did not interest me nearly as much. I love stories of the south, and this one is very good. It doesn't come close to The Help or The Kitchen House, however. But perhaps one shouldn't compare them, as they are different in that this one spans a much longer time period, and follows several generations.

I loved this book!

This book is about a multi generational family starting from antebellum to the 20th century. I read this book once before and listened to it twice! The Narrarator did a wonderful job bringing this story to life.

Good Historical Fiction

A really good book. Although I was a little disappointed at how the book ended. It felt a little rushed to be finished. Overall it was a good book and the reader was amazing with her singing voice.

Nothing short of wonderful

I sang and I cried through this book -- and I have started it again as soon as I finished it the first time.. This novel is the history of an African American family from slavery through the civil rights movement. The audio novel is captures the music that colored the lives of these women ,,, primarily women. .The language is as musical as the actual songs. Sometimes, the novel is in third person, and other times in first person with so much pain that I listened with tears on my face. These authors also wrote "for colored girls ..." and this novel is a fitting follow-up. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. The one exception is the adult language and adult situations. which are appropriate to the plot but people need to be aware in advance.

Awesome book

Loved this book! Definitely a must read
Loved the narrating of this book. Listen today!!!