"African-American folklore was Zora Neale Hurston's first love. Collected in the late 1920s, Every Tongue Got to Confess is the third volume of folk-tales from the celebrated author of Their Eyes Were Watching God. It is published here for the first time.".

"These hilarious, bittersweet, often saucy folk-tales - some of which date back to the Civil War - provide a fascinating, verdant slice of African-American life in the rural South at the turn of the twentieth century. Arranged according to subject - from God Tales, Preacher Tales, and Devil Tales to Heaven Tales, White-Folk Tales, and Mistaken Identity Tales - they reveal attitudes about slavery, faith, race relations, family, and romance that have been passed on for generations.

They capture the heart and soul of the vital, independent, and creative community that so inspired Zora Neale Hurston."--BOOK JACKET.