Jesse B. Semple is a character Langston Hughes created and used throughout a string of his short stories. Jesse is an uneducated Harlem man who has both wise and hilarious views on topics, mostly women and race. The type of barbershop wisdom and comedy that comes from Jesse is comfortably familiar to some, and attracts others who aren't familiar with Jesse's version of Black identity. Essentially, Jesse was an ode to a group of people whom authors would seldom write about. Towards the end of his career, Hughes compiled The Best of Simple, which were his favorite stories of Jesse.