All-Bright Court (1987) by Connie Porter

 1001 Novels: A Library of America

All-Bright Court (1987)

by Connie Porter

New York: 3/105

Buffalo, New York

Upstate New York: 3/23

  

  Buffalo's sole representative in the 1001 Novels project is All-Bright Court is Connie Porter's 1987 debut novel about a community of African American steelworkers living in the eponymous housing block.  It's another collection of interlinked short stories spread over decades.  All-Bright Court accomplishes exactly what books in the 1001 Novels project are supposed to accomplish- giving the reader an idea about a community of American with whom they may be unfamiliar.  It's not fair to say I've never thought about Buffalo- I have two friends who are from there and I've talked about their experiences growing up in Buffalo dozens of times.  However, they are both Jewish-American professionals who left after high school, i.e. nothing like this community of African American steelworkers.