<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: WHAT A PARTY THAT WAS !
Review:
What a group of women they were, nonpareils all. They tossed aside convention to illuminate a period marked by freedom of expression, a disregard for racial barriers, and amazing creativity. The Victorian Ea was on its way out, and they were high kicking it aside. The years 1913 - 1930 in New York City were described as a period of "Going Public with one's animal nature." This was especially true in Greenwich Village and Harlem where white bohemians joined Black Americans in a celebration of jazz and the blues.
Consider just a few in Andrea Barnet's remarkable cast of characters: Bessie Smith, Isadora Duncan, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Margaret Sanger, Gertrude Stein, and that's only a sampling.
Each chapter focuses on a different woman - her life, her pals, and her contributions to this electric change. Mina Loy was an artist and poet. British born she lived in Florence with her husband and two children, ages 9 and 7. When her husband ran off with his mistress Loy determined that she must chart her own course and, in order to do this, she must go to New York City. Leaving her children behind with their Italian nurse she set sail. Tall and extremely attractive she was an eye-catching beauty whose poetry would be widely published.
Edna St, Vincent Millay, a young Maine poet already published in her mid twenties, set tongues wagging with her celebration of the Armistice in 1918 - she and two fellows rode back and forth all night on the Staten Island ferry, chasing along beaches the trio drank jug wine until dawn. At that time Millay returned to her cold water flat and sat down to furiously pound out more poetry.
Who could forget Bessie Smith, all six feet and 200+ pounds of her? "The funk is flyin'" was one of her favorite phrases and she happily ate at a generously laden kitchen table, washing down her food with homemade liquor.
With more than 50 unforgettable photographs and an exciting, comprehensive text Barnet has painted a colorful portrait of the Harlem Renaissance and the women who made it happen. Equal parts history and biography, "All-Night Party" is not to be missed.
- Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: All-Night Party: The Women of Bohemian Greenwich Village and
Review: Take a period of profound social change, add an atmosphere of intellectual and cultural ferment, and mix with women of creativity and courage. The result? Greenwich Village and Harlem from World War I to the Great Depression, brought to life by art and culture writer Barnet. Following a scene-setting prolog, she plunges readers into two distinct urban milieus, each with its own aura and characters. And oh, what characters! Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, entertainers Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters, hostesses Mabel Dodge and A'lelia Walker, and editors Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap share the stage with the likes of renaissance figures Mina Loy and Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, who simply defied categorization. Throughout, Barnet displays a gift for re-creating these flawed but fascinating individuals. An epilog makes a good case for the continuing relevance of these women and their stories; Barnet is to be especially commended for giving equal voice to the women of Harlem who, as a group, have been too long neglected. The informal style, supported by obviously serious scholarship, makes this work suitable for both public and academic libraries
Rating:
Summary: More of an Introduction
Review: Well written and very easy to read, this book is a very good introduction to the pioneers of 'feminism' (I dread using that word, a better phrase would be women who chose to define themselves, who chose to live their lives the way they wanted to). But in some ways the author's reach exceeded her grasp, the reader is given only fragments, brief snapshots of wildly different women that are only tenuously connected by their sex. Mina Loy and Bessie Smith were as radically different from each other as they were from most woman of their times, they didn't so much live in their times as they rose above it. The author just doesn't give enough depth or insight into their lives that I can see any connection.
Again this is a very readable book and there are golden tidbits here..Jane Heap is a revelation and the treatment of her life and relationship is excellent. I guess you can't really hold against the author if at the end you say to yourself "I wish there had been more!"
Rating:
Summary: WHAT A PARTY THAT WAS!
Review: What a group of women they were, nonpareils all. They tossed aside convention to illuminate a period marked by freedom of expression, a disregard for racial barriers, and amazing creativity. The Victorian Ea was on its way out, and they were high kicking it aside. The years 1913 - 1930 in New York City were described as a period of "Going Public with one's animal nature." This was especially true in Greenwich Village and Harlem where white bohemians joined Black Americans in a celebration of jazz and the blues.Consider just a few in Andrea Barnet's remarkable cast of characters: Bessie Smith, Isadora Duncan, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Margaret Sanger, Gertrude Stein, and that's only a sampling. Each chapter focuses on a different woman - her life, her pals, and her contributions to this electric change. Mina Loy was an artist and poet. British born she lived in Florence with her husband and two children, ages 9 and 7. When her husband ran off with his mistress Loy determined that she must chart her own course and, in order to do this, she must go to New York City. Leaving her children behind with their Italian nurse she set sail. Tall and extremely attractive she was an eye-catching beauty whose poetry would be widely published. Edna St, Vincent Millay, a young Maine poet already published in her mid twenties, set tongues wagging with her celebration of the Armistice in 1918 - she and two fellows rode back and forth all night on the Staten Island ferry, chasing along beaches the trio drank jug wine until dawn. At that time Millay returned to her cold water flat and sat down to furiously pound out more poetry. Who could forget Bessie Smith, all six feet and 200+ pounds of her? "The funk is flyin'" was one of her favorite phrases and she happily ate at a generously laden kitchen table, washing down her food with homemade liquor. With more than 50 unforgettable photographs and an exciting, comprehensive text Barnet has painted a colorful portrait of the Harlem Renaissance and the women who made it happen. Equal parts history and biography, "All-Night Party" is not to be missed. - Gail Cooke
<< 1 >>
|
