University of Delaware Press; Associated University Press; Newark, DE; London, England; 2001, pp. 44-76. "Jean Toomer's Cane, Modernization, and the Spectral Folk," David G. Nicholls, in Scandura and Thurston's Modernism, Inc.: Body, Memory, Capital. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Toomer published three short stories and one novel during his lifetime. All four works deal with black Americans and their experiences during the early part of this century. The first story, "Cane", was published in Poetry Magazine in 1909 when Toomer was just 21 years old. This autobiographical work depicts the life of a black man who is growing up in rural Georgia at the turn of the 20th century. The character struggles with the effects that slavery has on his family while also dealing with issues such as racism, jealousy, and love. The novel was written several years after the publication of "Cane" and tells the story of a young black man who leaves rural Georgia to seek his fortune in Chicago. There, he encounters many difficulties including racial discrimination, poverty, and illness which cause him to reconsider where his true home lies. In addition to writing these literary works, Toomer also painted pictures of black Americans from rural Georgia to urban Chicago. Many of these paintings can be found in museums today including those at Howard University and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.