A serviceable introduction for general readers.
A concise exploration of the life and work of the acclaimed writer, anthropologist, and folklorist.
In the latest in the Critical Lives series, Hopson, a professor of English and African American studies, argues that Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) used her “firm foundation of self-knowledge and self-worth” to “build herself up from the frontier that was Eatonville, Florida, where she grew up, and from out of the squalor in which she lived after her mother died in 1904.” The author’s upbringing in all Black Eatonville fostered the bright girl’s curiosity and daydreaming. When she was 13, her father sent her to a Christian school in Jacksonville, after which she continued her education at Howard. At 37, with financial help from friends, Hurston graduated from Barnard College, its first Black student. She was mentored in anthropology by Franz Boas, who sent her to Eatonville to research Black culture; then she moved to New York City and “quickly transitioned…to an award-winning Black woman intellectual” amid the Harlem Renaissance. Her 1926 play, Color Struck, a “pioneering literary work,” won second place in drama from Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life. In 1928, she “underwent a voodoo conversion” in New Orleans, later writing her “manifesto of selfhood and identity,” “How It Feels To Be Colored Me.” In 1931, Hurston wrote the posthumously published Barracoon, which deals with the slave trade, and two years later, her first novel, Jonah’s Gourd Vine. In 1935, she published her important folklore collection, Mules and Men, with Boas’ introduction, and her highly influential novel Their Eyes Were Watching God came out the next year. After moving to California, she wrote a memoir, Dust Tracks on a Road, which Hopson describes as “an invaluable work of self-fashioning and self-promotion.” Though well researched, the narrative suffers from patches of dry, choppy prose.
A serviceable introduction for general readers.Pub Date: July 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781789147957
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.
A carefully curated personal portrait.
First ladies’ roles have evolved significantly in recent decades. Their memoirs typically reflect a spectrum of ambition and interests, offering insights into their values and personal lives. Melania Trump, however, stands out as exceptionally private and elusive. Her ultra-lean account attempts to shed light on her public duties, initiatives, and causes as first lady, and it defends certain actions like her controversial “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket. The statement was directed at the media, not the border situation, she claims. Yet the book provides scant detail about her personal orbit or day-to-day interactions. The memoir opens with her well-known Slovenian origin story, successful modeling career, and whirlwind romance with Donald Trump, culminating in their 2005 marriage, followed by a snapshot of Election Day 2016: “Each time we were together that day, I was impressed by his calm.…This man is remarkably confident under pressure.” Once in the White House, Melania Trump describes her functions and numerous public events at home and abroad, which she asserts were more accomplished than media representations suggested. However, she rarely shares any personal interactions beyond close family ties, notably her affection for her son, Barron, and her sister, Ines. And of course she lavishes praise on her husband. Minimal anecdotes about White House or cabinet staff are included, and she carefully defuses her rumored tensions with Trump’s adult children, blandly stating, “While we may share the same last name, each of us is distinct with our own aspirations and paths to follow.” Although Melania’s desire to support causes related to children’s and women’s welfare feels authentic, the overall tenor of her memoir seems aimed at painting a glimmering portrait of her husband and her role, likely with an eye toward the forthcoming election.
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781510782693
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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