Customer Reviews

Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston

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Wrapped In Rainbows is the biography of literary giant, Zora Neale Hurston and
chronicles her life from early childhood to her death in 1960. Valerie Boyd
does an excellent job with her subject and her extensive research is apparent.

Boyd paints a wonderful picture of Zora as a free spirit who has two loves,
writing and black folklore. Zora's years of researching the folk history of
black people is depicted as well as her burning desire to merge her two loves.
Animated and full of spunk, Zora's story is told through the eyes of people who
knew her and the back drop of American history.

The Harlem Renaissance is also featured in glorious detail interspersing Zora's
friendships and kinship with many of the writers and artists of that era and
with the white patrons of black art and literature. Zora loved Harlem and in
some of the descriptions in the book, the reader can almost see Zora strolling
the streets of "Harlem City" as she affectionately called it.

Fans of Zora Neale Hurston will thoroughly enjoy this account of her life and
those who are unfamiliar with her will long to read her work. Wrapped In
Rainbows is beautiful tribute to an awesome talent.

Reviewed by: Diane Marbury (HonestD)

Valerie Boyd has written an incredible biography of an amazing life. Before reading Wrapped in Rainbows, I considered myself pretty knowledgeable about Zora Neale Hurston. I had read Hurston's autobiography, Robert Hemenway's biography, several of Hurston's books, and various articles about her work. However, Boyd's book gave me a deeper understanding of Hurston than I would have thought possible. Boyd's meticulous research and insightful analysis bring the places and times of Hurston's life into detailed focus. This gives a rich backdrop to the events of Hurston's life and helps clarify her actions. This is the job of any good biographer.

What makes Boyd a great biographer is her ability to get inside Hurston's skin so that the reader experiences the complexities of her great life. Many people view Hurston's life as tragic. She was a wonderful writer and champion of the "folk," yet she died in poverty--with all of her books out of print--and was buried in an unmarked grave. Boyd skillfully takes us on the journey of Hurston's life--through her successes and failures, her accolades and obscurity, her dreams and realities. I felt the passion and conviction and courage Hurston must have called on to accomplish what she did despite the challenges she faced. When I finished the book, I cried--not because Hurston's life was tragic, but because of the wonder of the Wrapped in Rainbows experience. Boyd's poetic writing was a joy to read. The beauty of her writing was breathtaking at times. Perhaps more significantly, through it, I identified with Hurston more than I ever had before and felt the supreme contentment of a life well lived.

Turning the last page of Valerie Boyd's riveting bio-novel was like saying goodbye to a close friend; you know the time is spent but you wish there were just one more day.

As I mentally re-wind the Zora tape to examine the data-laden pages, I recall how many times I had the recurring thought mid-sentence, "I never knew that before." The serendipity in discovery of never-before-published information was like a curtain continually opening and closing, each movement creating more anticipation than the one before.

A tireless collector of biography, there have been times when I have found turning the last page to seem as far away as Christmas when I was a child. That Valerie Boyd kept the story's edge speaks to just that--she sculpted a story, a true story. And in her artist hand ample language and enviable metaphorical lacing together of fact and feeling grabbed imagination already primed by exquisite descriptive characterizations of Zora and her Zen.

Reviewers before me have said that Wrapped in Rainbows "reads like a novel." It does that and more. Wrapped in Rainbows reads like a virtual visit to Eatonville, New York and Fort Pierce with all of the exotic excursions in between. Our gifted tour guide spared neither journalistic nuance nor verbal luxury as she deftly crafted the never-before-travelled itinerary.

Finally, for some of us telling the unlacquered truth propels our pen to caustic betrayals or veiled assertions. Every writer can learn from Valerie Boyd's capacity for authenticity without condecension and forthrightness sans pomposity. After experiencing Wrapped in Rainbows in the author-audience venue, I better understood why: Valerie Boyd's six-year dedication to the formidible task of research and writing the biography of this extravagantly endowed word masseuse and cultural connoisseur reveals what is most important: Valerie Boyd has a passion for the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston. So will you after reading the book you won't want to end.

Valerie Boyd's biography of Zora Neale Hurston is an important corrective to the many myths which have swirled around this major 20th century American writer since her death in 1960. Of course, the myths began in part because Hurston died in poverty and obscurity, all her books out of print, but Boyd has done the needed research to present a full picture of the writer's life, and it's a picture that will add immensely to Hurston's stature. A writer of enormous talent who wrote not only novels (Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937) but folklore (Mules and Men, 1935), Boyd shows how Hurston struggled against enormous odds. As an independent African-American woman, Hurston was constantly reinventing herself in order to overcome the racist and sexist limitations of her society. Boyd's biography will last a long time, and will help readers to rediscover the less familiar Hurston, both novels (Jonah's Gourd Vine, 1934, and Seraph on the Sewanee, 1948) and her autobiography (Dust Tracks on the Road, 1942).

Valerie Boyd does what most biographers cannot; she makes facts as savory as fiction. As a great admirer of Zora Neale Hurston--the woman, I had long been searching for a piece of work that captures her emminence and vitality. I stumbled across "Wrapped in Rainbows" at Borders and resolved then and there that I HAD to have it. I do not at all regret this choice. Order this book, and I guarantee that it will be one of the best investments you ever make! The chapters on the Harlem Renaissance and Zora's involvment with it are magical, and the sections detailing Zora's friendship and eventual fued with Langston Hughes are fascinating. I can't say enough positive things about this biography. If you admire the spunky and talented Ms. Hurston, you will NOT be disappointed.

Valerie Boyd has given us a brilliantly balanced portrait of Hurston as writer, folklorist, intellectual and human being. Given her research from interviews and published sources, Boyd weaves her narrative with quotes and analysis that gives insight into the life of a rather complex historical figure. So much insight allows readers to conclude that Hurston deserves to be canonized for having survived many tragic and important events relative to her personal history and American history in general. Hurston was a controversial figure in her time and Boyd generously provides evidence why readers should understand her from a historical and political perspective.

The friendship sparked between Hurston and Hughes--and its demise--is very a interesting chapter in Hurston's life. Boyd has readers wanting a reconciliation because, as Boyd declares, their friendship was one that was perhaps the greatest in American literature. Boyd is careful not to dismiss Hughes but elevate him in balance with Hurston's creative accomplishments during and after the Harlem Renaissance.

This book is a wonderful addition to reading Hurston's "Dust Tracks..." and "Mules and Men." Hurston fans will love this book for its emotional intensity. Scholars will get a fair insight and a generous dose of the humanity added to her intellectual accomplishments summing up Hurston as a true legend in American literature, African American literature and Women's Literature.

What is missing from this book? I would have liked to have read a bit about Langston Hughes' sexuality. However, such an issue would certainly border on the line of gossip. In any case, the issue proves irrelevant in this book.

Certainly the question about what parts of her life Hurston might have concealed from her own biography is important in this book. Boyd certainly has filled in the gaps as to the how and the why of several episodes in Hurston's life. What were Hurston's relationships with editors? What was the state of the publishing industry during Hurston's time? What fed Hurston's struggle for money even as a successful writer? Why does Hurston continue to matter? All these questions are answered and more.

In sum, Boyd's book defines the careful balance of emotion and scholarly research that paints a portrait of a truly historical figure who has defined culture like no other. Simply said, without Zora, there would be no Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, bell hooks or Maya Angelou.

Valerie Boyd has written a truly fine book that details the life of Zora Neale Hurston. I didn't want to put it down and was very sad when I came to the end. Zora Neale Hurston was a phenomenal woman who lived her life the way she wanted without comprimising her independence and love of writing and folklore. The book is an adventure that gives the reader an intimate portrait of what life was like for a talented African-American female writer who did not receive the appropriate accolades or financial success while she was alive. I learned so many interesting facts about Zora's life, the Harlem Renaissance, racism, other well-known writers' (black and white) experiences, and have come away with a genuine appreciation for the arts and Zora's legacy. Bravo Valerie Boyd. You have done a remarkable job!

What a monumental task -- telling the story of such a remarkable, complex literary figure. Valerie Boyd does an outstanding job of revealing Hurston's motivations, inspiration and personal character. I've always loved Hurston as a writer. Reading this biography fortified my respect for her talent and sheer will to create. This book provides a spiritual lift -- ZNH is solid evidence that creativity cannot be suppressed. Additionally, the book is a virtual tour of the Harlem Renaissance and some its most illustrious players, and a thoughtful chronicle of the black experience in the early 20th century. A must-read for students of African American history and culture.

Valarie Boyd's insightful biography of the great Zora Neal Hurston flows wonderfully like butter. I commend the spirited and authoritative nature in which Boyd absorbed and accessed Hurstons' professional scholarship; while simultaneously deciphering her often-riddled autobiographical timeline. Boyd has enormously widened the scope of understanding into the trailblazing life of a powerful literary goddess.

Congratulations! I applaud Ms. Boyd's ambitious undertaking of this ambitious endeavor. The biography, as complex yet illusive as it was, of Zora Neale Hurston, the most colorful African-American literary figure, is well-written and interesting. The book is amazingly detailed, yet never fast moving. Hurston's admirers, of which I am one, will be captivated as much by the story as the way Ms. Boyd had chosen to write it. Wrapped in Rainbows. Excellent Pat Neblett, author: Circles of Sisterhood: A Book Discussion Group Guide for Women of Color.