Before you go...
Check Out
The Bestselling Books of All Time
See the List

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

By Ernest J. Gaines

By Ernest J. Gaines

By Ernest J. Gaines

By Ernest J. Gaines

By Ernest J. Gaines

By Ernest J. Gaines

Best Seller
Paperback $17.00

Jan 27, 2009 | ISBN 9780385342780

Mass Market Paperback $7.99

Jul 01, 1982 | ISBN 9780553263572 *This format is not eligible to earn points towards the Reader Rewards program

Ebook $5.99

Oct 24, 2012 | ISBN 9780307830258

All Formats
+
    The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
    Paperback $17.00
    Jan 27, 2009 | ISBN 9780385342780

    Also available from:

    See All Formats (2) +

    Paperback (2)
    –

    • Paperback $17.00

      Jan 27, 2009 | ISBN 9780385342780

      Also available from:

    • Mass Market Paperback $7.99

      Jul 01, 1982 | ISBN 9780553263572

      Also available from:

      *This format is not eligible to earn points towards the Reader Rewards program

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Oct 24, 2012 | ISBN 9780307830258

      Available from:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman


    Miss Jane Pittman. She is one of the most unforgettable heroines in American fiction, a woman whose life has come to symbolize the struggle for freedom, dignity, and justice. Ernest J. Gaines’s now-classic novel—written as an autobiography—spans one hundred years of Miss Jane’s remarkable life, from her childhood as a slave on a Louisiana plantation to the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. It is a story of courage and survival, history, bigotry, and hope—as seen through the eyes of a woman who lived through it all. A historical tour de force, a triumph of fiction, Miss Jane’s eloquent narrative brings to life an important story of race in America—and stands as a landmark work for our time.

    About The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

    "This is a novel in the guise of the  tape-recorded recollections of a black woman who has  lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a  witness to the black militancy of the 1960’s. In this  woman Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure,  a woman equipped to stand beside William  Faulkner’s Dilsey in The Sound And The  Fury." Miss Jane Pittman, like Dilsey, has  ’endured,’ has seen almost everything and foretold the  rest. Gaines’ novel brings to mind other  great works The Odyssey for the way  his heroine’s travels manage to summarize the  American history of her race, and Huckleberry  Finn for the clarity of her voice, for  her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years  and things to find the one true story in it all."  – Geoffrey Wolff, Newsweek.

    "Stunning. I know of no  black novel about the South  that excludes quite the same refreshing mix of wit  and wrath, imagination and indignation, misery and  poetry. And I can recall no more memorable female  character in Southern fiction since Lena of  Faulkner’s Light In August than Miss  Jane Pittman." — Josh Greenfeld,  Life

    About The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

    "This is a novel in the guise of the  tape-recorded recollections of a black woman who has  lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a  witness to the black militancy of the 1960’s. In this  woman Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure,  a woman equipped to stand beside William  Faulkner’s Dilsey in The Sound And The  Fury." Miss Jane Pittman, like Dilsey, has  ’endured,’ has seen almost everything and foretold the  rest. Gaines’ novel brings to mind other  great works The Odyssey for the way  his heroine’s travels manage to summarize the  American history of her race, and Huckleberry  Finn for the clarity of her voice, for  her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years  and things to find the one true story in it all."  – Geoffrey Wolff, Newsweek.

    "Stunning. I know of no  black novel about the South  that excludes quite the same refreshing mix of wit  and wrath, imagination and indignation, misery and  poetry. And I can recall no more memorable female  character in Southern fiction since Lena of  Faulkner’s Light In August than Miss  Jane Pittman." — Josh Greenfeld,  Life

    Read An Excerpt

    Teacher’s Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Teacher’s Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Teacher’s Guide

    Also by Ernest J. Gaines

    The Tragedy of Brady Sims
    My Grandpa and the Haint
    Mozart and Leadbelly
    Bloodline
    A Lesson Before Dying
    See all books by Ernest J. Gaines

    Also by Ernest J. Gaines

    The Tragedy of Brady Sims
    My Grandpa and the Haint
    Mozart and Leadbelly
    Bloodline
    A Lesson Before Dying
    See all books by Ernest J. Gaines

    Also by Ernest J. Gaines

    The Tragedy of Brady Sims
    My Grandpa and the Haint
    Mozart and Leadbelly
    Bloodline
    A Lesson Before Dying
    See all books by Ernest J. Gaines

    About Ernest J. Gaines

    Ernest Gaines was born on a plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish near New Roads, Louisiana, which is the Bayonne of all his fictional works. He is a writer-in-residence emeritus at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Gaines received a MacArthur Fellowship… More about Ernest J. Gaines

    About Ernest J. Gaines

    Ernest Gaines was born on a plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish near New Roads, Louisiana, which is the Bayonne of all his fictional works. He is a writer-in-residence emeritus at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Gaines received a MacArthur Fellowship… More about Ernest J. Gaines

    About Ernest J. Gaines

    Ernest Gaines was born on a plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish near New Roads, Louisiana, which is the Bayonne of all his fictional works. He is a writer-in-residence emeritus at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Gaines received a MacArthur Fellowship… More about Ernest J. Gaines

    Product Details

    Category: Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Dial Press Trade Paperback
    Jan 27, 2009 | 272 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780385342780

    Category: Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

    Mass Market Paperback | $7.99
    Published by Bantam
    Jul 01, 1982 | 272 Pages | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 | ISBN 9780553263572

    Category: Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

    Ebook | $5.99
    Published by Bantam
    Oct 24, 2012 | 272 Pages | ISBN 9780307830258

    People Who Read The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Also Read

    ‹ ›
    Little Fires Everywhere (Movie Tie-In)
    All We Ever Wanted
    If Beale Street Could Talk (Movie Tie-In)
    Small Great Things
    White Tears
    The Darkest Child
    Loving Day
    Murder in the Marais
    In the Heat of the Night
    Paris Trout
    Raising Steam
    Helsinki White
    Home
    The Confession
    Sisters in War
    Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
    Across the Endless River
    Blacksad
    Bruno, Chief of Police
    MASTER HAROLD AND THE BOYS
    Babylon Rolling
    The Deportees
    Boom!
    Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician
    La Perdida
    The Shape of Snakes
    Family Tree
    Wisdom of Our Fathers
    A Million Nightingales
    The Perfect Man
    After Dachau
    Death of Innocence
    The Fortress of Solitude
    The White Lioness
    Restoration
    A Man in Full
    The Human Stain
    Kingsblood Royal
    The Intuitionist
    Black No More
    Breakfast of Champions
    Caucasia
    The Tortilla Curtain
    The Price of a Child
    Billy

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Praise

    “In this woman, Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure. . . . Gaines’s novel brings to mind other great works: The Odyssey, for the way his heroine’s travels manage to summarize the American history of her race, and Huckleberry Finn, for the clarity of [Pittman’s] voice, for her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years and things to find the one true story of it all.”—Newsweek

    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!