Father Songs CL

While this book is being published on Father's Day, it seems less a gift for Dad than a chance for the kids to hash out the pride and pain associated with the varieties of black fatherhood. This stimulating collection opens with anguish: the first section concerns fathers who were only intermittently present at best. The second section delves deeper into painful memories, as, for example, Mary Helen Washington tries to understand what made her father so hateful. A third section offers heartening examples, such as Anthony Walton's portrait of a father defined by ""fidelity, simplicity, and frugality."" A selection of farewells to fathers contains essays expressing tenderness and frustration; a final section focuses on the gifts fathers pass on. Because most of the fathers portrayed here grew up in an older America, racial dignity in the face of bigotry is an important facet of their identity. Some essays are reprints; contributors include well-known writers John Edgar Wideman and Pearl Cleage and others less known. Wade-Gayles teaches English and women's studies at Spelman College in Georgia. (June)