CAROLINA SHOUT!

An interesting cultural history of African-American street vendors in the pre--WW II South. Delia, who hears music in the sights and sounds of her hometown of Charleston, serves as tour guide to the ""shouts"" of these workers. From the Oyster Man's finger-snapping ""Shuckin' Song"" to the ""shack-a-lack/-a-lack-a-lack!"" of a rail-laying chain gang to the coal man's haunting ""Char-coal,"" the songs are lyrical, rhythmic, lively, and memorable. Delia's storyline, bracketing and creating transitions between one chant and the next, is somewhat forced but will give readers a path into the heart of these pieces. In his second collaboration with Schroeder (Ragtime Tumpie, 1989) Fuchs creates powerful oil paintings that beautifully celebrate the vitality of Charleston, and masterfully chronicle this vanished piece of African-American life.