Not Without Laughter

Langston Hughes's debut novel, a moving portrait of African American family life in 1930s Kansas, newly reissued for Union Square & Co.'s Herald Classics line.

Originally published in 1930, Not Without Laughter follows Sandy Rogers as a boy living in rural Kansas to his arrival in Chicago as a young man, set against a backdrop of poverty, racial segregation, and the onset of World War I. Orbiting Sandy are a host of vividly realized family members, including his mother Annjee, a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his irresponsible father Jimboy, who plays guitar and is constantly in search of work; his aunts, blues-singing Aunt Harriet and social-climbing Aunt Tempy; and his pious, strong-willed grandmother Hager, who holds the generations together.

Partly inspired by Langston Hughes's early life in the Midwest, Not Without Laughter is the debut novel of the literary giant, a sweeping and elegiac family drama that traces Black life in the early twentieth century, an important setting in the history of a racially divided America.

Author: Langston Hughes
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Published: 02/03/2026
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN13: 9781454964797
ISBN10: 1454964790
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Classics
- Fiction | African American & Black | Historical
- Fiction | Family Life | General

About the Author
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri, and grew up in Kansas before moving to Harlem in New York City. Hughes is a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. In his lifetime, Hughes published over thirty-five works, including poetry, novels, short stories, an autobiography, musicals, essays, and plays.