From acclaimed novelist Ben Neihart, a vibrant portrait of gay Harlem's most memorable diva: A'Lelia Walker. When A'Lelia Walker died in 1931 after a midnight snack of lobster and chocolate cake washed down with champagne, it marked the end of one of the most striking social careers in New York's history. The daughter of rags-to-riches multi-millionaire Madame C.J. Walker (the washerwoman who marketed the most successful straightening technique for African American hair), A'Lelia was America's first black poor little rich ...
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From acclaimed novelist Ben Neihart, a vibrant portrait of gay Harlem's most memorable diva: A'Lelia Walker. When A'Lelia Walker died in 1931 after a midnight snack of lobster and chocolate cake washed down with champagne, it marked the end of one of the most striking social careers in New York's history. The daughter of rags-to-riches multi-millionaire Madame C.J. Walker (the washerwoman who marketed the most successful straightening technique for African American hair), A'Lelia was America's first black poor little rich girl, using her inheritance to throw elaborate, celebrity-packed parties in her Westchester Mansion and her 136th Street would-be salon, 'Dark Tower'. In Rough Amusements , third in Bloomsbury's Urban Historicals series, Neihart takes us into the heart of A'Lelia's world-gay Harlem in the 1920s. In tracing its cultural antecedents, he delves into the sexual subculture of nineteenth-century New York, exploring mixed-race prostitution; the bachelorization of New York society; French Balls (the most sophisticated forum for testing the boundaries of urban sexual behavior); and The Slide (New York's most depraved nineteenth-century bar). Using A'Lelia's lavish parties as a jumping-off point, Neihart traces the line connecting Davy Crockett's world without women to Walt Whitman's boundless love of beautiful men to A'Lelia's cultivation of the racial, social, and sexual risk that defined the Harlem Renaissance.
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Seller's Description:
The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact (including the dust cover, if applicable). Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 7x5x0; Crisp, clean hardcover with black illustrated boards and tissue type dust wrapper. First edition stated. The binding is tight, corners sharp. No markings to text. Small stamp along lower edge of text block.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. An interesting book that seems akin to a "non-fiction novel." This is a Fine copy of the First Edition in a Fine, unclipped dustjacket. In an archival plastic protector. Size: 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Near Fine jacket. Book Urban Historical series. 210 pages, acknowledgments, 12mo, black boards, white line drawings. Fine; dust jacket near fine. Fictionalized story of daughter of Madame C. J. Walker and one night at a drag ball in Harlem.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Book. 12mo-over 6¾-7¾" tall. Small black-boards hardback with an unclipped dust jacket now protected in a new archival-quality, removable Mylar plastic cover. This copy has an "opened-only-a-few-times" look & feel with no crushes to the boards' corners. Stored in sealed plastic protection and mailed (bubble-wrapped) in a sturdy Jiffy Rigi Bag envelope. We ship daily from Roswell, Ga. Serving satisfied customers since 1999.
