Writing Himself into History : Oscar Micheaux, His Silent Films, and His Audiences [Paperback]

Pearl Bowser (Author), Louise Spence (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Oscar Micheaux's name is emblazoned on a golden star on Hollywood Boulevard and on a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Director's Guild of America, as well as an award named after him from the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Yet this pioneering African-American novelist, screenplay writer, producer and director was forgotten for decades after his heyday in the late 1920s and '30s, and is relatively unknown today. Born in 1884, Micheaux published his first novel at age 29, and released his first film six years later, in 1919. At the time of his death in 1951, he had not only written seven novels but had also written, produced or directed more than 40 films. Perhaps just as important, Micheaux "developed a public persona of an aggressive and successful businessman and a controversial and confident maverick producer," which allowed him to transcend the enormous obstacles faced by African-American artists of his generation. Bowser (founder of African Diaspora Images) and Spence (associate professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut) study Micheaux's early career up to 1929, examining both the African-American and mainstream social and political contexts surrounding his work. Reacting against critiques that Micheaux was a product of a reactive, even defensive racial sensibility, the authors deftly place the artist in the context of the "symbols, artifacts, and social realities of Black popular life and culture." While the book's circumscribed scope may primarily attract readers who are already familiar with his work, this engaging, freshly researched look at a major American artist is an important contribution to both U.S. history and media studies.

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Although Bowser (codirector of the documentary Midnight Ramble: Oscar Micheaux and the Story of Race Movies) and Spence (media studies, Sacred Heart Univ.) focus solely on the 20 silent films Micheaux directed between 1919 and 1929, the reader gets a stronger feel for the cultural milieu of Micheaux!s work here than in Green!s book. The authors carefully interlace their own critiques of these films with contemporary African American press responses, details on moviegoing in an era of segregated cinemas, and biographical information derived from interviews with the director!s family and others involved in early African American cinema. The plentiful production stills highlight this highly readable narrative. Both books are highly recommended for all film and black studies collections as the only major press monographs to treat this sorely neglected pioneer."Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ., TX
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press; First Edition edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813528038
• ISBN-13: 978-0813528038
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,697,467 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The First Good Book about an Important Director--& His World, January 2, 2001

By 

Marc Dolan (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing Himself into History : Oscar Micheaux, His Silent Films, and His Audiences (Paperback)

Those who are troubled by academic writing may be a little put off by this book--but only just a little. Particularly in the opening pages, the authors go to great pains to make the usual postmodernist genuflections: "how can we possibly know anything?" "do we exist?" etc. Once you get past that, their reconstruction of Micheaux's career and films is wonderful. They not only reconstruct his life as an artist--in the process separating a great deal of fact from self-generated fiction--but they also reconstruct his cultural setting and the context in which his films are released. To my taste, they're a little too easy on Micheaux for his fairly reflectionist notion of cinematic realism. However, they almost convinced that I'm wrong--which is the highest compliment you can pay any work of scholarship.