This image is the cover for the book Walls of Jericho

Walls of Jericho

A Black lawyer’s move to a white neighborhood is anything but straightforward in this jazz-age satire by “the wittiest of the Harlem Renaissance writers” (Langston Hughes).

When Fred Merrit buys a house on Court Avenue, he knows it will be no ordinary move. Despite his education and success, the light-skinned Black man is sure to cause a stir in the exclusive white neighborhood bordering Harlem. He must hire the toughest movers in the area to help him get his belongings past the hostile neighbors. And those movers—Jinx Jenkins and Bubber Brown—have their own issues with Merrit.

The Walls of Jericho is a hilarious satire of Harlem in the Jazz Age and the social boundaries people build around themselves, especially those based on color and class. Originally published in 1928, it is the debut novel of Rudolph Fisher and a classic of African American fiction.

Rudolph Fisher

Rudolph Fisher was a literary legend of the Harlem Renaissance. He began his career as a successful physician and radiologist. He graduated from Brown University and Howard University Medical school with honors before embracing the arts. After moving to New York City in 1925 to join a physicians and surgeons fellowship at Columbia University, he became a novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator.

Open Road Media