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(More customer reviews)This book is a mixture of biography and collected works of Richard Bruce Nugent, the most openly gay writer of the Harlem Renaissance. His 1920s story, "Smoke, Lillies and Jade" has been called the first African-American fictional account regarding homosexuality. The book also includes many photos of Nugent and his gay peers as well as Nugent's artwork.
The book is divided into five sections, emphasizing Nugent's fictional and non-fictional work. However, the best part of the book is the historical introduction; it should have been highlighted somehow. This book is a veritable "Who's Who?" of the Gay Harlem Renaissance. Unfortunately, this excellent documentation of the numerous gay Black authors writing in the early 20th century leaves the impression that little is known about Nugent or little is worth saying. Still, I found myself wanting to read every footnote because they show how much material is out there that has yet to be reviewed scholastically. Heads up, gay studies graduate students!
Though the excerpts of Nugent's writings span a fifty-year period, the grand majority of it comes from the 1930s. Nugent, in "Smoke" and most other writings, was a blatant cheerleader for the Renaissance. I found his work challenging, though at times incredibly boring. It's admitted that his artwork is faux Erte, but it's implied homoeroticism must truly be relished. Be warned that it's very campy. I applaud Nugent in his continual inclusion of women in his artwork, non-fiction, and fiction. You would never have to worry about him saying some foolishness like "Hated it!" Besides, if I read this correctly, Nugent never went to college, yet his writing is quite sophisticated.
Surprisingly, this book reminds me of Little Richard's biography, even though that was written during one of Richard's homophobic stages. Both Richard and Nugent were/are frequently X-rated in order to get laughs and push the envelope on societal norms. Like Dennis Rodman, Nugent swears that because Blacks rejected him, he only pursued "Latins." This fetishization may really disturb gay Latino and Italian-American readers. But remember: gay whites of the era like E.M. Forster also celebrated "difference" in ways that we would now deem politically incorrect.
Skip Gates' forward is scant, but it does reprove his commitment to an anti-homophobic, African-American scholarship. The biographer is a white gay man "interested" in Black culture. Shockingly, he never cites Eric Garber, the non-Black scholar who was the first in gay studies to report on the gay underpinnings of the Harlem Renaissance. It's a shame too, because many of Garber's insights are still useful, yet they go unacknowledged. Wirth includes a section in which Nugent remembers Carl Van Vecten, the gay white celebrity-maker who promoted the Renaissance. This section is confusing and says little. It somewhat re-centers Van Vechten and feels slightly Eurocentric. Still, the biographer has a Ph.D. in chemistry from CalTech yet he writes like the most sophisticated gay studies Ph.D. I give him much credit.
Finally, this book has been categorized under "racially mixed persons." Though it is mentioned that Nugent had some Native American ancestors, interracial romantic liaisons and passing come up much more often than multiracial identity matters in this text.
All people who want to challenge the idea that gayness is a "white thing" or "recent phenomenon" need to read this book.
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