Book Review: Moses, Man of the Mountain shows the strengths of wily Zora Neale Hurston, godmother to writers such as Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. Although a product of the Harlem Renaissance, as ever she refuses to be politically correct. Here she tells the story of Moses and the Exodus her way, like no other, retelling the story with black slaves from the American South somehow replacing the Hebrew slaves of the original tale in Egypt under Pharaoh. Hurston creates an irresistible mix of myth, satire, legend, spirituals, and parallels. She uses many voices, from the vernacular to the professorial, in telling her story. Her version sheds more light on all permutations, comparing and contrasting, allowing a greater understanding of the American experience. Hurston rejected the idea of African Americans as victims, that their entire lives were nothing but a response to the dominant white oppressors. Hurston denied the "arrogance" of whites assuming that "black lives are only defensive reactions to white actions." She preferred celebrating and acknowledging independence and success than bemoaning wrongs. Alice Walker called this a view of "racial health," black people as complete and whole. This point of view was not widely accepted. But it was her vision as she wrote Moses, Man of the Mountain. She speaks to black Americans, to Jewish Americans, and makes strong points about the place of women in society by acknowledging women's role at the time. Hurston's Moses embodies both male and female, a working stand-in for the author herself. Readers could be forgiven for not knowing that Zora Neale Hurston wrote any novels beyond Their Eyes Were Watching God, as her other three novels are virtually invisible. Which is a shame and a continuing crime as they are valuable contributions, vastly underestimated and underrated, always good and always interesting. Moses, Man of the Mountain is well worth reading. [4★]
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