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"One of the best-selling novels of the Harlem Renaissance ... [this volume has been] out of print for much of the past seventy years... Van Vechten has long been a subject of fervid debate... He was committed to black achievement and creativity but also to the idea that that creativity and achievement only take certain, often racially exaggerated, forms... It seems increasingly incongruous that one of the era's most controversial texts should remain under wraps. 'We're ready now." -- Casey Greenfield, Lingua Franca
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No other contemporary novel received the volume and intensity of criticism and curiosity that greeted "Nigger Heaven" upon its publication in 1926. Carl Van Vechten's novel generated a storm of controversy because of its scandalous title and fed an insatiable hunger on the part of the reading public for material relating to the black culture of Harlem's jazz clubs, cabarets, and social events. "The book and not the title is the thing", James Weldon Johnson insisted with regard to "Nigger Heaven", and the book is indeed a nuanced and vibrant portrait of "the great black walled city" of Harlem. Opening on a scene of tawdry sensationalism, "Nigger Heaven" shifts decisively to a world of black middle-class respectability, defined by intellectual values, professional ambition, and an acute consciousness of class and racial identity. Here is a Harlem where upper-class elites discuss art in well-appointed drawing rooms; rowdy and lascivious drunks spend long nights in jazz clubs and speakeasies; and, politically conscious young intellectuals drink coffee and debate "the race problem" in walk-up apartments. At the center of the story, two young people - a quiet, serious librarian and a volatile aspiring writer - struggle to love each other as their dreams are slowly suffocated by racism. This reissue is based on the seventh printing, which included poetry composed by Langston Hughes especially for the book. Kathleen Pfeiffer's astute introduction investigates the controversy surrounding the shocking title and shows how the novel functioned in its time as a site to contest racial violence. She also signals questions of racial authenticity and racial identity raised by a novel about black culture written by a white admirer of that culture.
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Mary Love closed the door softly behind her, shutting out the brassy blare of the band playing on the floor below, crossed the room, and hesitated before the open window. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Mary Love closed the door softly behind her, shutting out the brassy blare of the band playing on the floor below, crossed the room, and hesitated before the open window. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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4 reviews
26 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Negro Heaven
6 April 2000
Format:Paperback
Van Vechten's work, which gained its title from an old slang reffering to the back of the theatre, illuminated the complexity of "white Negrophilia" at a historical moment in which "white reconnaissance missions" to Harlem were becoming more popular. Ultimately, Nigger Heaven served not only "as a test-case for black attitudes about white Negrophilia," it also stood as a touchstone for the economic crisis facing black publishing. The publishing of Nigger Heaven signaled the importance of fostering Black literary venues and raised significant questions for Harlem Renaissance writers as to their audience, their tradition, and their relations within a community.
17 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Silly title, mediocre book
5 April 2000
Format:Paperback
This book is a re-release of a book written during the Harlem Renaissance. There will much debate when the re-release hits shelves, just like when it first came out. The problem is, it's only a mediocre book. The author used the title to garner attention; unfortunately the book isn't good enough to warrant it. It's only a decent read at best. But, I would recommend reading it if for no other reason than so that you can know what everyone is talking about when the fireworks begin.
14 of 35 people found the following review helpful
An under appreciated work from an appreciated artist
9 May 2000
Format:Paperback
Nigger Heaven was/is a highly controversal novel that came out during the Harlem Renaissance as noted before. I think for all that it is worth, Van Vetchen influenced a lot of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance. His importance to the period is fact,however one should look at the work before they judge it. It is an interesting look at how this work ignited the fire that fueled the lore of white america to black america; combining the once divided country.
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