Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent (Paperback)

~ Richard BruceNugent (Author), Thomas H.Wirth (Editor), Henry LouisGates (Contributor)
Key Phrases: red calla lilies, silver poppies, blue piled, Gentleman Jigger, The Bible Stories, Early Work (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gay Rebel is an unexpected, shiny-wrapped Christmas gift—one that keeps giving all year round. . . . [A]n extraordinary feat." -- Thumper, African American Literature Book Club

"Nugent is finally given the chance to speak for himself in this volume. . . . Academic collections at all levels." -- J. Shreve, Choice

"This book is a fascinating, well-researched, and loving tribute to an artist worth remembering." -- Martha E. Stone, The Gay and Lesbian Review/WORLDWIDE

"[A] must-have. . . . [T]he missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle that comprises black history in the 20th century" -- Anthony Glassman, Gay People’s Chronicle

"[T]he sheer volume of Nugent’s work, some published for the first time here, would warrant such a collection." -- Terrance Heath, Lambda Book Report

Product Description

Richard Bruce Nugent (1906–1987) was a writer, painter, illustrator, and popular bohemian personality who lived at the center of the Harlem Renaissance. Protégé of Alain Locke, roommate of Wallace Thurman, and friend of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, the precocious Nugent stood for many years as the only African-American writer willing to clearly pronounce his homosexuality in print. His contribution to the landmark publication FIRE!!, "Smoke, Lilies and Jade," was unprecedented in its celebration of same-sex desire. A resident of the notorious "Niggeratti Manor," Nugent also appeared on Broadway in Porgy (the 1927 play) and Run, Little Chillun (1933)

Thomas H. Wirth, a close friend of Nugent’s during the last years of the artist’s life, has assembled a selection of Nugent’s most important writings, paintings, and drawings—works mostly unpublished or scattered in rare and obscure publications and collected here for the first time. Wirth has written an introduction providing biographical information about Nugent’s life and situating his art in relation to the visual and literary currents which influenced him. A foreword by Henry Louis Gates Jr. emphasizes the importance of Nugent for African American history and culture.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822329131
• ISBN-13: 978-0822329138
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #738,732 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Move over Langston Hughes! A real diva is here! SNAP!, January 7, 2003

By	Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This book is a mixture of biography and collected works of Richard Bruce Nugent, the most openly gay writer of the Harlem Renaissance. His 1920s story, "Smoke, Lillies and Jade" has been called the first African-American fictional account regarding homosexuality. The book also includes many photos of Nugent and his gay peers as well as Nugent's artwork.

The book is divided into five sections, emphasizing Nugent's fictional and non-fictional work. However, the best part of the book is the historical introduction; it should have been highlighted somehow. This book is a veritable "Who's Who?" of the Gay Harlem Renaissance. Unfortunately, this excellent documentation of the numerous gay Black authors writing in the early 20th century leaves the impression that little is known about Nugent or little is worth saying. Still, I found myself wanting to read every footnote because they show how much material is out there that has yet to be reviewed scholastically. Heads up, gay studies graduate students!

Though the excerpts of Nugent's writings span a fifty-year period, the grand majority of it comes from the 1930s. Nugent, in "Smoke" and most other writings, was a blatant cheerleader for the Renaissance. I found his work challenging, though at times incredibly boring. It's admitted that his artwork is faux Erte, but it's implied homoeroticism must truly be relished. Be warned that it's very campy. I applaud Nugent in his continual inclusion of women in his artwork, non-fiction, and fiction. You would never have to worry about him saying some foolishness like "Hated it!" Besides, if I read this correctly, Nugent never went to college, yet his writing is quite sophisticated.

Surprisingly, this book reminds me of Little Richard's biography, even though that was written during one of Richard's homophobic stages. Both Richard and Nugent were/are frequently X-rated in order to get laughs and push the envelope on societal norms. Like Dennis Rodman, Nugent swears that because Blacks rejected him, he only pursued "Latins." This fetishization may really disturb gay Latino and Italian-American readers. But remember: gay whites of the era like E.M. Forster also celebrated "difference" in ways that we would now deem politically incorrect.

Skip Gates' forward is scant, but it does reprove his commitment to an anti-homophobic, African-American scholarship. The biographer is a white gay man "interested" in Black culture. Shockingly, he never cites Eric Garber, the non-Black scholar who was the first in gay studies to report on the gay underpinnings of the Harlem Renaissance. It's a shame too, because many of Garber's insights are still useful, yet they go unacknowledged. Wirth includes a section in which Nugent remembers Carl Van Vecten, the gay white celebrity-maker who promoted the Renaissance. This section is confusing and says little. It somewhat re-centers Van Vechten and feels slightly Eurocentric. Still, the biographer has a Ph.D. in chemistry from CalTech yet he writes like the most sophisticated gay studies Ph.D. I give him much credit.

Finally, this book has been categorized under "racially mixed persons." Though it is mentioned that Nugent had some Native American ancestors, interracial romantic liaisons and passing come up much more often than multiracial identity matters in this text.

All people who want to challenge the idea that gayness is a "white thing" or "recent phenomenon" need to read this book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive tribute to a remarkable cultural figure, April 9, 2004

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent (Hardcover)

"Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent" is edited by Thomas H. Wirth, who also wrote the introduction. Also included is a foreword by Henry Louis Gates Jr. Over 300 pages long, this book offers a comprehensive and compelling look at Nugent (1906-1987). In his foreword Gates writes that Nugent was "boldly and proudly gay" and that he "linked the black world of the Harlem Renaissance with the gay world of bohemian New York."

Wirth's fascinating, 61 page introduction is full of photos and illustrations. Wirth looks at Nugent's life and work; among the topics covered are Nugent's relationships to other Harlem Renaissance figures and his involvement with the periodical "Fire!!".

A note to the reader tell us that the book includes previously unpublished work taken directly from manuscript. Overall there is a rich selection of material. Among the pieces included in this book are the short story "Smoke, Lilies and Jade," an oft-reprinted piece described as "Nugent's most important work"; poems; an essay entitled "On Harlem" which was written for the Federal Writers' Project in the late 1930s; excerpts from an unpublished novel; and more. There are also many reproductions (both color and black-and-white) of Nugent's artwork.

"Gay Rebel" is a superb contribution to both African-American studies and gay studies. But beyond that it's a very moving tribute to a remarkable cultural figure.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Discovering a forgotten Hero of the Harlem Renaissance, August 21, 2004

By	T. Kelley (houston, texas United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Richard Bruce Nugent was the son of two black parents,his father was an entertainer and his mother was a member of one of the leading black Washington D.C. families of the day. Nugent was out of the closet at 19 years of age, black and proud and proud to be gay and unconventionally bohemian.

Nugent has often been relegated to only a footnote and a provider of anecdotal stories about the Harlem Renaissance and its leading canonized figures by reserchers and biographers past and present. Thomas Wirth's book seeks to rectify an injustice and put Nugent back to the forefront as a contributing member to the Renaissance. After a brief foreward by Herny Louis Gates Jr. stressing Nugent's importance to the history of black literature, gay literature, especially black gay literature and literature in general, the reader is treated to a very brief biography of Nugent and his milieu of the time by Wirth.

From this point on in the book, Wirht allows Nugent's words to speak for Nugent himself by offering a variety of work that was unpublished during Nugent's lifetime and forgotten or lost. Wirth gives a brief introduction to each piece of work presented explaining nuiances and the history behind it. In addition, presented in GAY REBLE.. are some of Nugent's diverse artwork.

Unlike Langston Hughes who showed very little interest in white men sexually and as objects of desire in much of his life and work, barring simple friendships----but whose preference was for men of his own race, especially the handsome "darker-skinned" black men---- Nugent, in his own words, favored white men. The reason he gives is somewhat inanitious, but is represented in much of his work and life.

Smoke, Lilies, and Jade is the most famous and infamous work presented in GAY REBEL... because it was the first piece of writing by an OPENLY GAY BLACK MAN whose protagonist was a black gay man and "Beauty," the object of desire in the story was a composite of Langston Hughes, Harold Jackman and Valentino. Lesser known works include "Geisha Man" and "Gentleman Jigger," a somewhat semi-autobigraphical sketch where Nugent is honest in how he managed to come to terms with and extinguish his skin color prejudices with darker-skinned black after meeting Wallace Thurman, another influential and leading intellectual of the Harlem Renaissance.

It should be pointed out that Nugent, like Langston Hughes, Zora Hurston, Wallace Thurman were all proud to be black. But again, like Hughes, Hurston, and Thurman, Nugent understood that black Americans are a multicultural people of mixed bloodlines no matter the complextion of skin and the race of either parent. It is important to remeber this when reading some of Nugent's poems and looking at his artwork where he took care to include this fact.