The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader (Portable Library) [Paperback]

David Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1995 | Series: Portable Library

Gathering a representative sampling of the New Negro Movement's most important figures, and providing substantial introductory essays, headnotes, and brief biographical notes, Lewis' volume—organized chronologically—includes the poetry and prose of Sterling Brown, Countee Cullen, W. E. B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, and others.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This collection magnificently represents the great voices of this era. The volume includes the work of some forty-five Renaissance figures: short fiction and self-contained novel excerpts by Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Wallace Thurman, and Jean Toomer; poems by Gwendolyn Bennett, Countee Cullen, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay; essays, manifestos, speeches, and nostalgic reminiscences by Romare Bearden, W. E. B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, James Weldon Johnson, Alain Locke, and Richard Wright.

From Library Journal

Editor Lewis is a noted author of several books, e.g., When Harlem Was in Vogue ( LJ 3/15/81) and, most recently, W.E.B. DuBois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 ( LJ 8/93). This hefty tome features many significant essays, poems, and stories not readily available to all scholars that are drawn from African American journals of the period, including Opportunity, Crisis, and Fire! In his introduction, Lewis carefully explores tension within this arts and letters movement. The collected excerpts of writers like Cullen, Hurston, Hughes, McKay, DuBois, and Wright represent a balance between those Renaissance supporters and writers who "saw the small cracks in the wall of racism that could, they anticipated, be widened through the production of exemplary racial images" and those who "saw art not as politics by other means--civil rights between covers or from a stage or an easel." This anthology will balance and enhance any modern American literature collection.
- Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140170367
• ISBN-13: 978-0140170368
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very well put together., June 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader (Portable Library) (Paperback)

I give this book five stars because it has a wonderful cross-section of female and male Harlem Renaissance writers, and also because it includes fiction, prose (articles and essays), and poetry. This volume is nicely compiled, and it is a lovely companion to similar anthologies, such as "Trouble the Water," which is an anthology of black poetry from slavery through modern times. Also, because the Harlem Renaissance happened so long ago, The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader includes works and excerpts from works that are seemingly out of print, such as a selection by Carter G. Woodson. This book has a lovely variety of practically every genre of literature, and is a must for any African-American studies scholar, though it is a capable volume for any student of literature, period. The only possible drawback of this book is that it contains a lot of excerpts. If you enjoy a certain excerpt (and it is almost guaranteed that you will), finding a copy of its parent body of work will become frustratingly high on your list of priorities. The Harlem Renaissance Reader is truly reccommended.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent source for the Harlem Renaissance writers, March 8, 2007

By 

merryprankster "Big Man on Campus" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader (Portable Library) (Paperback)

This is a fantastic source for essays by many of the Harlem Renaissance writers. Every convievable writer is highlighted in this book, from W.E.B. Dubois, to Alain Locke, to George S. Schuyler. Their most influential essays are presented in this book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader, January 18, 2009

By 

Betty Wilson "Author of Mr. Jefferson's Piano... (New York City, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader (Portable Library) (Paperback)

This hefty book has stories and poems written by the great writers of the Harlem Renaissance era. If you've ever been curious about the Harlem Renaissance--what it was; who was a part of it and when did it happen, this is the book for you.

You can sample stories and poetry written in the language of the times from Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, Claude Mc Kay, Carl Van Vechten, Richard Bruce Nugent, Sterling Brown, Nella Larsen, Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Marcus Garvey, Alaine Locke, Wallace Thurman.

While you won't be able to see the marvelous art works of Aaron Douglas, Romare Bearden or watch the acting talent of Paul Robeson in this book but each of the men and other visual artists of the day were interviewed or have written descriptive essays about their works or the times in which they lived.

This book gives the reader a splendid view of the Harlem Renaissance and why it was important time not just in Black History but also in American History.