What a great book. It is amazing how much correspondence reveals about people. This book was so interesting. It truly covers decades of Black artisitic history.

Bernard gathers and edits the letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, written between 1925-64, presenting a notable work of Hughes' mentor and the friendship which evolved between the two men. From discussions of literature and the publishing world to politics and gossip, these letters hold important keys to the personalities and concerns of two great men of the Harlem Renaissance.

If you like cats, this book is for you. It discusses cats in every area of our lives! Cats in folklore, cats in theatre, cats and the law- the list goes on! I enjoyed this book!

Rimsky-Korsakov's reallife personality exhibited signs of a clear split. His outward manner was dry, didactic, taciturn, argumentative, fussy and straight-laced. But to those who knew him more personally--his family, his friends, and those who saw his actions, rather than his words-- the man who emerged was kind, thoughtful, generous, colorful, provocative, and uncoventional in the extreme.

Unfortunately, My Musical Life carefully maintains the public persona with which Rimsky-Korsakov walled off his private thoughts. You'll look in vein for what led this one-time career naval officer to write several operas which cast the Tsar and his court as buffoons and lackeys, causing his work to be banned; or for any analysis of either his music or its generation. This musical life is a series of dull, faded pictures; dull not because of images whose meaning has been lost to cultural changes, but because the pictures are deliberately bland reminiscences of a man who did not care to extend his confidence to strangers.

It is almost never that a CD of music of Rimsky-Korsakov or any of the Russian five does not quotes a line or two from this autobiography.In it the composer himself tells about his life,works,and also about those that were fortunate enough to be close to him.He speaks of every aspect of his life with specific details....I wish to tell you more,but I would really like for you to read the book...

In this book, Rimsky-Korsakov gives the inside story of his life and those of his fellow musicians. The book itself is very readable and very interesting for anybody interested in the history of music to read. There are many interesting references to musical works, pupils, and fellow composers such as Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. This book is an excellent account of a composer's life and legend. Recommended if you can find it!

Nigger Heaven was/is a highly controversal novel that came out during the Harlem Renaissance as noted before. I think for all that it is worth, Van Vetchen influenced a lot of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance. His importance to the period is fact,however one should look at the work before they judge it. It is an interesting look at how this work ignited the fire that fueled the lore of white america to black america; combining the once divided country.

Van Vechten's work, which gained its title from an old slang reffering to the back of the theatre, illuminated the complexity of "white Negrophilia" at a historical moment in which "white reconnaissance missions" to Harlem were becoming more popular. Ultimately, Nigger Heaven served not only "as a test-case for black attitudes about white Negrophilia," it also stood as a touchstone for the economic crisis facing black publishing. The publishing of Nigger Heaven signaled the importance of fostering Black literary venues and raised significant questions for Harlem Renaissance writers as to their audience, their tradition, and their relations within a community.

This book is a re-release of a book written during the Harlem Renaissance. There will much debate when the re-release hits shelves, just like when it first came out. The problem is, it's only a mediocre book. The author used the title to garner attention; unfortunately the book isn't good enough to warrant it. It's only a decent read at best. But, I would recommend reading it if for no other reason than so that you can know what everyone is talking about when the fireworks begin.

Interesting, isn't it, that in a book of photographs, it is the text which comes across more interesting and well considered? Paul Padgette writes a wonderful, lengthy introduction, especially fine for someone, like me, who knows nothing about Van Vechten: dance critic, novelist and photographer.

Padgette selected the 200 photographs in the book from the 5,000 left to the Dance Collection at Lincoln Center. If, as we are told, Van Vechten was "amazingly creative," it will have to be proved in a volume which reproduces his photographs more carefully. Van Vechten, evidentally, chose to remain an amateur photographer, although he got most of the famous stars to sit for him: from Martha Graham to Alecia Markova, from a nine year old Balinese dancer to Josephine Baker, but....(and it is a large "but") the photographs have been reproduced so poorly that they, indeed, look amateurish, poorly lit, grainy.

I own two of Van Vechten's photographs. One is of a scene from the ballet, "Afternoon of a Faun" and the second is of a very young, very handsome Marlon Brando. They look anything but amateurish.

Jablonski and Stewart have done diligent research and this is a very useful compendium of data, but they are too much invested in a kind of sycophantic worship to present a truly incisive or analytic sense of this immensely creative duo. Stewart's contribution as Ira Gershwin's one-time assistant is especially problematic for its lack of objectivity. And the writing throughout is quite pedestrian.