Putting words to paper, from writing letters, notes, or even a book often epitomizes the need to garner those thoughts that should be preserved lest we forget that when done right, can be worth the work. Zora Neale Hurston: A Life In Letters, edited by Karla Kaplan captivates an anthology revealing contradictions and conjectures of a woman who was the most brazenly impious of the Harlem literary avant-garde, and who never fit happily within any political group. This is truly a big book at 880 pages, certainly not one to read verbatim. Even in bulk, the substance therein is worth spending time getting a gist of what was on her mind while appealing to the personalities that she directed the letters to. Ironically, I used a unique method to get more out of this tome by reading it in tandem with Wrapped In Rainbows, a biography written by journalist Valerie Boyd. By doing it this way, I was able to make direct reference to certain passages outlined in the biography whenever emphasis was made to specific letters written. This book has a character of its own, and allows you to feel the essence of Zora herself. The fact that Zora was quoted often enough to be elevated to legendary status, and what you read therein is Zora at her best. The letters were more than 500 in all, written through the eyes of a woman who always had something to say and said it vociferously.

I personally feel that her life in letters reveal more about her than perhaps the entire body of her published works combined, especially since books that were considered autobiographical didn't reveal nearly as much as they should have. Her tone and tenor for the most part was vivacious illustrating wit, irony, satire, and quirky anecdotes that were evident in some capacity as she conveyed her thoughts. The subjects of her intent were to authoritative figures such as Carl Van Vecten, Lanston Hughes, Franz Boaz, Dorothy West, W.E.B. DuBois, Alain Locke, and many others..And you could see what gave her spunk. The true essence of the book other than giving you what you already know about Zora, would be other facets of her personality. I was able to get views of different transitional periods as she endeavored to reinvent herself whenever the mood struck. To wit: Her years as a Barnard College undergrad; Turbulent years trying to conform to Columbia University studying under Franz Boaz; Zora the twice honored Guggenheim fellow; Zora the folklorist; and, Zora in total chaos.

To suffer bitterly and not be considered within the public domain for acceptability, A Life In Letters reads like a gigantic reference manual with gobs of information, a well-documented glossary of the people, places, events, and institutions meticulously annotated by Ms Kaplan. Check out how each decade is introduced by an essay on societal and personal points that distinguished Zora relative to that specific time frame. This is a fine, well put together, if not revealing work into the intimate psyche about this brilliant and complex woman who all acknowledge now of being way ahead of her time. Reading this book, Hurston fans will slake thirst, appease hunger, and get a better flavor to what has been cooked up about her....real or imagined. What better way to shed light than to illuminate periphery than with the vivid letters she wrote?

I've just finished reading this book as a summer reading assignment for school, and to my surprise, I found myself actually enjoying it. I went into the reading of this book with reluctance. I've read THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, and while I enjoyed that book at first, I was always frustrated that the main character had to find herself through dependence on men, namely Tea Cake, whom I despised because of his controlling nature and ultimate betrayal. However, despite my prejudices against it, this book managed to grab my attention.

That is, in the last three chapters. I did not think this book was mostly an account of the other books Hurston has written, as some other readers have stated. Hurston only focused one or two chapters toward the middle of the book on other works, but even then it was only to list when she wrote which book, not to go in depth on the process and motivation. However, it seemed to me that it was an account of Hurston's journey through life, including details on her childhood in Eatonville. This is all well and good, except, especially as Hurston gets into the adult years, she tends to gloss over much of the details, omitting names, and mentioning events which obviously impacted her life yet for some personal reason or another, refusing to describe to the reader these events for fear of who knows what.

This was only the first confusing element. I also had a difficulty with Hurston's writing style. She tends to jump from one anecdote in the middle of another with no explanation before returning to her original story, which left me as the reader, feeling befuddled. The sequence of the chapters, out of her childhood, also does not really seem to follow a sequential storyline.

I was also bothered with Hurston's portrayal of herself, especially her childhood self. She seems to portray herself as the only child there ever was with an active imagination. Perhaps I am actually a member of the privileged minority, but I know that I told myself stories and had imaginary friends when I was a child. I was also very devoted to literature, and reading, as I still am, though Hurston's individualities in that area are more understandable, perhaps, considering the circumstances.

Despite all this, I walked away from this book with a respect for Hurston that I hadn't felt before because of the last three or so chapters in the book where Hurston discusses her thoughts and feelings on her race, and the inter-racial strife which hurt the African-American Civil Rights movement. I also enjoyed the appendix in which the reader is allowed a glimpse at Hurston's more controversial writing.

I don't hold a grudge against Hurston's perhaps unorthodox method of writing an autobiography, far from it. In fact, I think this book would have benefited greatly if Hurston had included more of her personal view points on the world as she did in the last few chapters. Hurston was often criticized for writing African-American literature that was not a rousing cry for Civil Rights, in this book, Hurston finally explains WHY. It also would have been helpful if Hurston either would have detailed the events in her life which were so groundbreaking, or simply not mentioned them at all, instead of saying "Then this happened and it changed my life and for that I will be forever grateful, but I'm not going to tell you anything about what it was." The strange presence of such passages was much more disquieting then their absence would have been.

So in conclusion, I'm glad this book included an appendix, and I do feel Hurston deserves some plaudits for writing what was eventually a stimulating autobiography.

The autobiography of Zora Neale Hurston, "Dust Tracks on the Road", proved to be an incredibly interesting book. This book shows the hardships that Zora underwent during her rise from childhood poverty in the rural south to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. One part of the book that really caught my attention is how Zora manages to give her reader glimpses of a character that is a very public and privet artist, writer, and companion of black heritage. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to deepen as well as straighten their knowledge of the African American Heritige.

This autobiography of Zora Neale Hurston was very fascinating. She talks about her childhood on to her others works. I found this very humorous. I recommend this book for anyone wanting a interseting read.

This work excels both as scholarship and as entertainment. It is highly readable, well researched, and full of astute observations about Tocqueville and his world. I found myself as fascinated by the life of this great man as I was by the time in which he lived. Jardin truly offers the reader a vivid, three-dimensional portrait of 19th century France through its political, cultural, and social faces.