Dorothy West

RESUMEN

Véritable classique de la littérature noire américaine, Le Mariage est paru en 1996 chez Belfond. En digne héritière du mouvement Harlem Renaissance, Dorothy West livre une saga familiale qui nous pl

Un clásico moderno. La obra maestra de la última gran figura del renacimiento de Harlem.Ambientada en el bucólico enclave de Martha’s Vineyard en la década de 1950, La boda narra veinticuatro horas d

Véritable classique de la littérature noire américaine, Le Mariage est paru en 1996 chez Belfond. En digne héritière du mouvement Harlem Renaissance, Dorothy West livre une saga familiale qui nous pl

On the heels of the bestseller success of her novel The Wedding, Dorothy West, the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance, presents a collection of essays and stories that explore both the realism of everyday life, and the fantastical, extraordinary circumstances of one womans life in a mythic time. Traversing the universal themes and conflicts between poverty and prosperity, men and women, and young and old, and compiling writing that spans almost seventy years, The Richer, The Poorer not only affords an unparalleled window into the African-American middle class, but also delves into the richness of experience of "one of the finest writers produced in this country during the Roaring Twenties"(Book Page).

In her final novel, a beautiful and devastating examination of family, society and race (The New York Times), Dorothy West offers an intimate glimpse into the Oval, a proud, insular community made up of the best and brightest of the East Coasts Black bourgeoisie on Marthas Vineyard in the 1950s.Within this inner circle of "blue-vein society," we witness the prominent Coles family gather for the wedding of the loveliest daughter, Shelby, who could have chosen from "a whole area of eligible men of the right colors and the right professions." Instead, she has fallen in love with and is about to be married to Meade Wyler, a white jazz musician from New York. A shock wave breaks over the Oval as its longtime members grapple with the changing face of its community.With elegant, luminous prose, Dorothy West crowns her literary career by illustrating one familys struggle to break the shackles of race and class.

INTRODUCED BY DIANA EVANS A writer of huge compassion and acute observation, and also of dazzling style . . . Her work is more relevant than everDIANA EVANSTimelessly cinematic, with painterly visual descriptions and pitch-perfect dialogue that ranges across class, region, race, age, and genderEMMA GARMAN, PARIS REVIEWIts as though weve been invited not so much to a wedding as to a full-scale opera . . . She brings down the houseNEW YORK TIMESYoure on the brink of turning your back on your family, your community, your race, all for some white-bread fantasy you dont half understand.On a summer weekend in 1953, the residents of the Oval - an exclusive middle-class Black community on Marthas Vineyard - are gathering for the wedding of Shelby Coles. The loveliest daughter of the Ovals most prestigious family, Shelby could have chosen any number of eligible men of the right colours and the right professions. Instead she has fallen in love with a white jazz musician from New York - creating a shockwave that ripples across five generations of family history.Weaving together past and present, North and South, black and white, The Wedding is an audacious, wise and shattering portrait of American identity.

UN CLÁSICO MODERNO. LA OBRA MAESTRA DE LA ÚLTIMA GRAN FIGURA DEL RENACIMIENTO DE HARLEM.Ambientada en el bucólico enclave de Martha’s Vineyard en la década de 1950, La boda narra veinticuatro horas d

A writer of huge compassion and acute observation, and also of dazzling style . . . Her work is more relevant than ever DIANA EVANSAn incredible collection of writing - both essays and short stories - spanning the long career of Dorothy West. Includes a new introduction by Diana Evans.Wests work is timelessly cinematic, with painterly visual descriptions and pitch-perfect dialogue that ranges across class, region, race, age, and gender Emma Garman, Paris ReviewThe stories contained here are as American as jazz, and as wise and multifaceted as their writer. Dorothy Wests metier is the unique crucible in which America places its black middle class, but her themes are universal: the daily misunderstandings between young and old, men and women, rich and poor that can lead to tragedy; and the ways in which bonds of family and community can bring us together, and tear us asunder. Dorothy Wests autobiographical essays explore the poles of her remarkable life - from growing up black and middle-class in Boston to her near-mythic trip to Moscow in 1933 with Langston Hughes and other Harlem Renaissance writers to life on her beloved Marthas Vineyard. They cohere into a beautiful and poignant memoir of a singular American life, a memoir that communicates with her short stories in a host of fertile ways. Taken as a whole, The Richer, The Poorer is a triumphant celebration of the long life and work of one of Americas genuine treasures.