Customer Reviews

How I Became Hettie Jones

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I am an avid reader, and I read an assortment of books, but I have never come across a book like this! Miraculously, I picked it up at a used bookshop and bought it after quickly scanning the description on the back flap. It seemed interesting, but was thrown in a corner with a bunch of other books that I promised myself I would read when I caught up on mounds of other books which seemed more important. Fast forward a few years and imagine someone literally nose in book, reading while walking, not able to put it down! This is a woman's fascinating account of life in the '50s and '60s, but that's not all. Hettie's writing style is so unique, beautiful and inspired it's a shame she hasn't written a dozen books with the same freeflowing gorgeous poetry of this one. This book actually made me laugh out loud, sob, smile, feel anger, and shame. It also made me frustrated by the injustices of the world. How can one attend school everyday from the age of five and not learn a tenth of what is taught in this slim book? Buy this for your sons and daughters, your parents, friends, teachers. It's true that this should be required reading. I would love to have a conversation with this wise woman, but in the meantime, this book is as close to that as one can hope for.

I had the honor of taking both a poetry and personal essay class taught by Hettie Jones, and all I have to say, is she is just about the coolest lady I know, and since I met her before reading this memoir, it was absolutely amazing to think of all she has been through, she is wonderful and this book reflects just that.

This book has it all. It's half novel, half history lesson, half
feminist screed, and half bittersweet love story. And somehow it all
works.


In my first novel I wrote, "Behind every great man is a good woman he
steals all of his ideas from". But in this case the man had his own
great ideas, and the woman proved later with this book that she is the
equal to the great man.


love, Michael W. Dean

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.

I can't seem to go into a bookstore without spending money. Last week it was HOW I BECAME HETTIE JONES by Hettie Jones, former wife of writer LeRoi Jones and hostess with the mostest in the East Village of the 1950s and '60s. I stayed up until 2 and read it straight through. Jones' experiences as a creative, intelligent woman who was sometimes frustrated by her role as wife and mother and who subordinated her own aspirations to her husband's success will resonate with every woman. The things she learned as the white wife of a black man, and the white mother of two black children, through times of great racial turmoil, add a valuable piece to the mosaic of experience that comprises race relations in the United States. And her writing style is the music of a stream in spring: it carries you along over the rocks and waterfalls, through her estrangement from her father and the frequent times of no money, to the many smooth, scenic patches that were her long lasting bonds and sense of community with the men and women who made music and poetry and babies and conversation there in the center of the universe, New York City.

A great book, which I stayed up until 4am to finish. It was fascinating, heart-wrenching, and powerful. The story also makes Amiri Baraka's later anti-semitic and misogynistic words even more vicious, despite the author's generosity of spirit towards this man who cut off all contact with and support for his own daughters. It really is a must-read for anyone looking for a matter-of-fact history of one woman's life as it related to the creation of the Beat movement.

This book captures the flavor of Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, the Beat Generation and BeBop Jazz, as it was happening. This young and talented white woman falls in love with a black man at a time when interracial relationships were considered shocking. Her father totally cuts off all contact with her for the rest of her life. She raises their two girls, all the while working and barely making ends meet, so that LeRoi Jones can write. She endures his numerous affairs, including with Diane di Prima, who has a baby by LeRoi Jones. Yet he decides he must divorce her because (his reason) she is white. Like her father he then cuts off all contact with her. However, throughout she does not indulge in self-pity (even as my heart was breaking for her). She does survive and comes to acknowledge her own writing talent.