This is a look at how jazz and blues began, from the man who was instrumental in getting it started. W.C. Handy tells us how the transition was made from marches, classical music, dance music, Stephen Foster, vaudville tunes and folk blues to the arranged and orchestrated blues and jazz of the 20th Century. Not only did Handy help create the music, but he also helped preserve it through recordings and publications. In this book, he tells in detail how he came to compose his most famous pieces, including Memphis Blues, St. Louis Blues and Beale Street Blues. Handy is a superb storyteller who paints a vivid picture of life in the Reconstruction South, and the world of the African-American entertainer during the minstrel show days and the birth of the jazz era.

W.C. Handy is well known in Memphis, TN because of the blues, but his story begins in Florence, Alabama. I teach 8th graders a unit comparing and contrasting his life with his neighbor from Tuscumbia, Helen Keller. Handy's life was rich with music, travel, hard times, discrimination, and fame. The picture he paints of minstrel days and struggling to live on the road sticks in your mind. His words provide a rich setting for the birth of music that my students listen to today. The book is too long to require them to read, but I read them sections to give them a flavor of the South they do not comprehend. I highly recommend this book to lovers of jazz, Southern history and stories about people who overcome great adversity and succeed.

This is one of the most touching, endearing books I have ever been blessed to read. Think of it! For forty-two years Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes wrote letters to each other---literally thousands of letters. From 1925 to 1967, when Mr. Hughes passed away---a period of astounding historical events, during which they wrote. Both men were born in 1902, and met in Harlem in 1924 when attending a poetry reading of Countee Cullen's. They became friends immediately, soon collaborating on their first of several successful books written together. Within the pages of these letters is a treasure trove. The wealth of information is incredibile. We begin during the Harlem Renaissance...then the south and New York City during the Depression...from this, World War II, followed by the many events of the fifties and sixties. Throughout it all, the men are struggling both as writers, and as African Americans during a time of horrendous Jim Crow and lynching. But the horrors of such discriminations do not defeat them...with untold courage and dignity both writers plunge onward. By the time both men reached retirement age, they each had become so famous that universities were diligently seeking to obtain their letters! Charles Nichols who selected and edited their letters here, writes a wonderful introduction about the lives of both men. Aside from a really neat chronology following the letters, the whole of the book is dedicated to the letters. There is so much here, folks. This is one, very awesome book, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

This work by an important author of the Harlem Renaissance focuses on African American folk life, folklore, and folk music (Blues) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It is a delightful first work of fiction by the author. The character of the protagonist is based on that of his Uncle Buddy, who inspired his love for the folk tradition.

I thought the book was insightful and related well the oppression of American slaves in 17th century Virginia. Slavery is a subject not often discussed without the emotion of guilt affixed to it. This book presented the racism of slavery in a de facto way that allowed the reader to understand the feelings of inferiority and the rage. The book used several perspectives to provide a thorough analysis. By removing the issue of racism, it helped me better understand and therefore identify with the disdain of injustice and desire for freedom that drove the protagonists to revolt.

Bontemps also dealt with the mix of Christian faith and superstition held by the book's central figures. This is one aspect with which I identified and it may be overlooked without predisposition. The author specifically addressed this through several one-sided discussions between Gabriel and God and the questions of faith raised by his misfortune. The clash of beliefs over the calamity that ensued raised my awareness of how we mix our faith with popular culture and how this mixture often fails to answer our troubled questions in difficult times.

This is the best book by Bontemps, a significant author from the Harlem Renaissance period. This book received the most admiration from his peers such as W.E. B. DuBois and Langston Hughes and continues to receive praise from contemporary literary scholars. This story is based on facts of the actual slave rebellion of Gabriel Prosser in Virginia.

This is such a beautiful novel. I am still stunned by the power of it. It is not to be missed. Highly recommend this one.

Arna Bontemps delivers an overview that is often overlooked in American history books, the African American migration. Bontemps decribes the hardships and struggles of Africans searching for a better life. To really enjoy the drama and detail of this novel, you must realize the impact that African Americans had on the history of America. I believe that this book gives a great presentation of black americans depicting the theme of hope, with disappointment, and love of life, and the struggle to gain that, any place but here (in the South). Although it is not grand reading material, you will learn a lot.

This is a charming poetry anthology. Although it has the flavor of another era, it is an excellent collection of Black(African American) poetry for younger (pre-k thru 3rd) children. It has examples of poetry from different sources, including traditional songs and spirituals, which may be hard to find. It has many poems from various African-American poets etc. The poems selected are excellent, and well-suited for children. It can be used as a cultural resource for many purposes.

Sadly, there are many who will never have heard anything about Arna W. Bontemps (pronounced "bon-tom") who this book is written about. Had it not been for the poet Langston Hughes, I too would not know who Arna Bontemps was. The two best friends were both struggling African American writers when they met in 1924... a friendship which would last until Mr. Hughes untimely death in 1967. Both were born in 1902. This book details Mr. Bontemps' life, and while he lived during a very exciting time in our history, he lived during a time of struggle. African American writers did not always receive all the same breaks as white writers. Then too, there were also some of the other horrors of the time as well. Even so, Mr. Bontemps couragiously plunged onward. Despite struggling to raise a fine family of six children with his wife Alberta, Mr. Bontemps still managed to follow his dream of writing novels, poems, short stories, children's books, and articles. After a few years in Harlem, he obtained his Masters in Library Science, and eventually became the Librarian/curator at Fisk University, where he then remained for many years until his retirement. When I read about Mr. Bontemp's life, and of his place in the lives of others during that time, I am always reminded of the song, "The Wind Beneath My Wings." You know, "You are my hero," and all that? Arna Bontemps quietly, yet always, was the constant, uplifting wind that helped keep Langston Hughes going, and many others going. And reading about his life, he keeps me going too. This book takes us from Arna Bontemps' birth to his death...through his struggles and many accomplishments...and those of many others during this time who touched his life. Though the subject matter meant alot to me, I can't say that this is a well written book. It really draaagggs in places, and deserved to be written better. Nevertheless, this is the only biography that I know of about Mr. Bontemps, and if you are interested in his life, or, Langston Hughes' life, or the Harlem Renaissance, then I strongly recommend this illustrated book.

James Weldon Johnson was a man of many firsts. For me, this book was also a first. It was the first time that I had ever sat down with a book and not wanted to get up. I was thoroughly captivated by this fabulous piece of African-American literature.

I thought this book was great. The writing was good and the story was good, and what else can I say? It gives you insight into life. He's a good storyteller.

Johnson's novel travels through various African-American societies (New England, Jacksonville, New York City, the Black Belt) in a story of a mulatto caught between two opposing racial identities. The novel is an epic journey (emotionally and physically) of this African-American, who is light enough to "pass" into the white American dominating the turn-of-the century. The Ex-Coloured Man's personal struggles to reconcile his true private self with his public self in a divided and prejudiced society makes this novel an emotional and enlightening read. Johnson takes up the issue of WEB DuBois's double-consciousness, and gives it life in the form of this ambivalent protagonist.