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Why did Hurston's star fade? Simple weariness, her correspondence suggests. She was happier, it seems, tilling her Florida garden than revealing her soul to the world. She was also not shy of crossing swords with the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes, and in a time of growing militancy and the awakening civil rights movement Hurston became increasingly conservative, developing political stances that, editor Kaplan writes, "have often baffled her admirers." Hurston developed a pen-stilling, probably ungrounded suspicion that anything she wrote would be stolen by other writers, who would "then hate me for being alive to make their pretensions out a lie. And then take all kinds of steps to head me off."
Having enjoyed early fame, Hurston died alone and in poverty. This well-assembled and very welcome book traces her sad path, and it adds much to our understanding of the once-neglected writer. --Gregory McNamee
| AUTHOR: | CARLA PHD KAPLAN |
| CATEGORY: | Book |
| MANUFACTURER: | Doubleday |
| ISBN: | 0385490356 |
| TYPE: | 20th century, African American authors, Authors, American, Biography / Autobiography, Correspondence, Folklorists, Hurston, Zora Neale, Letters, Literary, Literary Collections, Literature: Classics, People of Color, United States, Women, Biography & Autobiography / Literary |
| MEDIA: | Hardcover |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
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Customer Reviews of Zora Neale Hurston : A Life in Letters
Adventurous life-journey captured in letters Kaplan's collection of Hurston's letters provides her fans with a first-hand intimate view into the mind of the author which has previously been restricted to the perview of scholars. For the first time, readers can draw their own conclusions about Hurston's often contradictory, enigmatic, and adventurous life.
The letters are logically organized in chronological order with a comprehensive and lively introduction to each decade. Kaplan's painstakingly thorough research, evidenced in her footnotes and glossary, help guide the reader's interpetation and understanding of events in a way that a biography cannot. For this reason, I have read Valerie Boyd's excellent biography in tandem with Kaplan's collection of Hurston's letters. I was also impressed with the "new" research in Kaplan's book that sheds light on some of Hurston's social and political stands, such as her involement in the first black doll to be produced in the U.S. In addition to the many new facts she presents, I also found Kaplan's editorial comments to be extremely enlightening and well-founded. I beleive that most fans who read this collection of letters will most likely feel the same way toward Kaplan as I do . . . deeply grateful for the gift of insight.
Hurston Fans Rejoice!
This collection of Hurston's letters not only offers insight into the life and thoughts of this fiercely independent and enigmatic writer, it also lends clarity to the historical and cultural context in which they were written. Kaplan's lively introductions to each decade are laced with intelligent commentary and fascinating details that define the complexities of Hurston's life and time.
a new fan
I wasn't a Hurston fan when I started reading, but now I find myself fascinated by her life and her times. This book was such a detailed and compelling introduction to both. And so well written!