Fradin,
Dennis Brindell & Judith Bloom Fradin.
Zora! Houghton Mifflin/Clarion 180p $17.99 978-0-547-00695-6 2012 ms/hs E-BN Biography
Passionate in both her life and her
works, Zora Neale Hurston comes alive in this biography, which includes a
look at all aspects of her career.
Successes and failures in relationships, in her vocation and in her attempts to
break down barriers are included. The font,
layout, photographs, writing, research and, yes, even the cover combine
to make the life and times of Zora Neale Hurston come alive. The presence of stellar biographical data
depicts the life of this woman who fought for her rights as an independent
author during a time when women did not have many rights. The paradox is that she should have become
famous during her life, not after her death.
She did her best writing about African Americans, her best research
about African Americans and her best living with African Americans; yet her fame extends
to people of all races. The Fradins’
writing style is exciting, and the book should be required reading for all high-school students, whether or not they
are fans,
for it demonstrates the drive necessary for one to become successful in the face of
adversity. Several highlights come to
mind: the account of Fannie Hurst’s
introduction to Jonah’s Gourd Vine is one of the most interesting
anecdotal stories in the entire biography. Hurston’s feud with
Langston Hughes at the midway point of the book reads like a novel, and Hurston’s foray
into plagiarism is amazing in light of the fact that, with her talent, she
could have easily used her own words to pen an article for the Journal of
Negro History. Hurston’s
relationships with everyone around her were fiery, passionate and
authentic.
Readers will either enjoy the authors’
conjecture, which is entirely their own, or they will be upset that the Fradins
inferred certain pieces of information that they included in the text, as on page 37, where they state
that Zora was probably not very impressed by the famous patrons she met while
waitressing at the Cosmos Club in Washington.
That being said, the Fradins offer their readers the chance to form opinions about this dynamic author for themselves,
and that is what makes this book so good.
Hurston, Zora
Neale–Biography --Martha
Squaresky
