Customer Reviews

Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light

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Stovall faithfully captures the beginnings of the African American community in Paris, tracking music, artistic, and literary communities separately. He is attentive to detail in the extreme and vibrantly captures the excitement of Montmartre. However, little is done to bring these observations together or forward any argument. Stovall does more to present fact that persuade. _Paris Noire_ is better as a reference than a 'read' and for someone interested in comparing the time period with the Harlem Renaissance, this book does little to track what events were happening outside of Paris. Nevertheless, the amount of research in this book is amazing. The picture inset features beautiful photos of Tanner and Josephine Baker, cartoons of the time, and is a very welcome addition to the book. Stovall's work is an opening into a relatively uncharted area of African American history but it is not the final word. _Paris Noire_ opens a dialogue that I hope is continued in future books on the subject.

I recently checked out this book from my University library for a term paper on the 1920s. It was so informative; I could not put it down! I then decided I had to purchase this book for my library. I highly recommend this interesting and informative book!