How I Became Hettie Jones [Paperback]

Hettie Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 6, 1996

Greenwich Village in the 1950s was a haven to which young poets, painters, and jazz musicians flocked. Among them was Hettie Cohen, who'd been born into a middle-class Jewish family in Queens and who'd chosen to cross racial barriers to marry the controversial black poet LeRoi Jones. Theirs was a bohemian life in the awakening East Village of underground publishing and jazz lofts, through which drifted such icons of the generation as Allen Ginsberg, Thelonious Monk, Jack Kerouac, Frank O'Hara, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and Franz Kline.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jones' atmospheric prose brings the Beat era to life with more gusto than any previous memoir, thanks to homely details like eating potato pancakes at the Second Avenue Deli and wearing Ukrainian scarves and black tights. She looks back on her marriage to LeRoi Jones with tenderness, even as she delineates the cultural forces that eventually ripped them apart. Famous friends like Allen Ginsberg make appearances, but Jones' focus is on family (her two daughters are lovingly described) and individual growth. Evocative and touching.

From Publishers Weekly

Glimpses of Allen Ginsberg, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday and Jack Kerouac dot this memoir of a Jew from Queens, N.Y., who met and married controversial black poet LeRoi Jones while living in late-1950s Greenwich Village bohemia. PW called this a "restrained autobiographical mix of introspection and gossip."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Grove Press ed edition (December 6, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802134963
• ISBN-13: 978-0802134967
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not just another beat memoir, June 22, 2000

By 

phigirl (new york, ny) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How I Became Hettie Jones (Paperback)

hettie jones' well-written book is more than just another account of life in what was then the "new bohemia." the parties, the readings, the hand-to-mouth existence are all there, but hettie jones focuses on the every day events and ordinary moments that ultimately define a life and make it real. through one woman's story, we get equal glimpses into women's lives, their unique struggles even within the "free" subculture of the bohemians, the beat scene, and relations between the races. i originally picked up this book because of my interest in the beat generation and growing interest in the role of the women in this movement, but it is so much more. hettie jones uses seemingly ordinary events and through them draws a clear picture of time, place, emotion, and attitude. throughout it all, she manages to be both unbiased and sympathetic, neither overly critical of herself or others nor excessively self-important about being at the center of a cultural revolution. she brings what has become an idolized and mythological movement down to its true base element: people. hettie jones writes about their lives and conflicts and communications and misunderstandings, removing their status as demi-gods or jobless hedonists (depending on if you are a fan or critic) and revealing accessible, real individuals with real lives who just happened to be looking for a little bit more than the accepted american ideals.

this book belongs equally in the womens' studies, beat literature, and race relations sections of any bookstore or library.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hipsters knew monotony too, February 8, 2000

By 

M Savarino - See all my reviews

This review is from: How I Became Hettie Jones (Paperback)

This book is about the hardships, make do's, and sacrifices made in the name of "La Vie Boheme." Mrs. Hettie Jones is a frank and lovely writer, who offers an account of her life with the poet and playwright LeRoi Jones. She could have filled the pages with stories upon stories of her life on the Lower East Side during what would later be know as the Beat movement. But instead, uses the music and art around her like spices to deepen the flavor of her life, as she offers it to us, at that time-frankly. A time when women were just beginning to have choices of what they wanted to BE, Hettie Jones tells us how she reconciled these choices with the responsibility of family. Her love for whom is present throughout.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hettie Jones :Bohemia Mama and Goddess, July 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How I Became Hettie Jones (Paperback)

How I became Hettie Jones is one of the most candid and lovely books I have ever read. I am a fan of Amiri Baraka and I have done a lot of research on him so naturally this book would have been an inside look into his life. Hettie Jones exhibits extreme courage and inner beauty in her prose. I fell in love with her spirit as i read the book. Any woman, black or white will be able to identify with the trials Jones ovecomes. I like Jones because she doesn't compromise herself and loves who she is, flaws and everything. Her artful language places the reader into each time frame, making them become a part of each situation. I would recommend this book to everyone who would appriciate the wise words of an open-minded, creative and intelligent woman.