Black Authors Books - Caryl Phillips

This novel is called Dancing in the Dark which is written by Caryl Phillips.

Black authors books: An outline of Dancing in the Dark

'Bert Williams is the funniest man I ever saw, and the saddest man I ever knew.' W. C. Fields Born in the Bahamas in 1874 and brought up there and in Los Angeles Bert Williams was disappointed early in life when his attempt to enter Stanford University was thwarted by his family's poverty. His early forays into the West Coast entertainment business saw him fare no better. After a time playing African 'savages' in white companies with his friend and theatrical partner-to-be George Walker, they made the agonising decision to 'play the coon'. Off-stage, Williams was a tall, light-skinned man with marked poise and dignity but on-stage he now became a shuffling, inept 'nigger' who pulled a wig of kinky hair over his head, wore blackface make-up, and concealed his hands in gloves.

They were an immediate hit with Walker playing the dapper, straight man, and Williams the bumbling fool. As the new century dawned they were headlining on Broadway and amongst the highest-paid entertainers in the country. But the mask was beginning to overwhelm Williams who felt increasingly degraded by his situation and began to sink into bouts of melancholia and heavy drinking. After his more flamboyant partner died in 1911 the continued personal humiliations that accompanied his professional success became difficult to bear.

In 1921, after a lifetime of being denied top-billing because of his colour, his name was in lights as he headlined in the musical comedy 'Under The Bamboo Tree'. He was leading an entirely white company but he was still trapped in blackface. Dancing in the Dark is an outstanding novel as much about the tragedy of race and identity, and the perils of reinvention, as it is about the life of one remarkable man.

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My Local Libraries Book Sale

Morning to you all, it's a cold winter's day where I live but the lord has blessed me today, so it's a bright day.

I went to my local library today to find they are having another booksale. Oh how I love book sales and considering the recession is on the books now cost next to nothing to purchase. I brought 12 books today and the lady sold them to me for only a £1.00, I saved 20p not a lot but it's a saving. 6 were black authors books for my reading pleasure, 4 were for my son's reading pleasure (2 were also written by black authors)and the last 2 were for business reference purposes. I will now add these great books to my ever growing collection of Black authors books.

I know you want to know what books I purchased and I will share. Each post will have another book as I have already showed via past posts. I have so many books to get through that I will be doing this blog for sometime. Being such a nice person I will list the black authors books I brought today in this post and you will get more detailed information in future posts.

Every Shut Eye by Collen Dixon	Little Scarlet by Walter Moseley	I Left my Back Door Open by April Sinclair

The Interruption of Everything by Terry McMillan	There's A Hole in the Bucket by Rebecca McLean	Dancing in the Dark by Caryl Phillips