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Langston Hughes : An Illustrated Edition
The life and times of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes vibrantly unfolds in this lavishly illustrated, deluxe edition of the 1968 National Book Award finalist.
- GenresBiography
Library Binding
First published January 1, 1968
About the author
Milton Meltzer
181 books27 followersMilton Meltzer wrote 110 books, five of which were nominated for the National Book Award. With Langston Hughes, he co-authored A Pictorial History of Black Americans, now in its sixth edition. He received the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his contribution to children's literature, the 1986 Jane Addams Peace Association Children's Book Award, and the 2000 Regina Medal. He died in New York City of esophageal cancer at age 94.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 13, 2012
"Langston Hughes: A Biography" by Milton Meltzer didn't strike me as any different than any other biography I've read. When I picked up the book, I thought that it might be different, considering how rich of a life Langston Hughes had. I felt a little disappointed with how the book turned out. Although there was lots of interesting content, the way the book was written didn't impress me as much as it could have if it was written a little differently. I think it could have been better if the book was more focused on keeping events in Langston’s life in order. I lost track of where I was in Langston’s life because the author kept jumping around to different things without any specification to when they were. The book also had a lot of boring little details that I didn’t really want to know. In the author's defense, Langston Hughes died before the book could be finished, so Milton Meltzer didn't get as much information as he could have otherwise. I think that Mr. Meltzer tried to fill up all the gaps in his information with little extra details that would have been left out otherwise. There were so many little gap-filling details throughout the book that it was impossible not to get bored with it, no matter how well it was written.
Don't get me wrong; this book was very descriptive, even though it bored me a little. After I finished the book, I really felt like I had learned a lot about Langston Hughes’s life. As you probably already know, this book was a biography describing the turbulent life of Langston Hughes. The biography detailed the trouble Langston Hughes had throughout his life. All his problems are based on the harsh reality of segregation that tore his life and the lives of countless other African-Americans in America's history apart. In Langston Hughes's time, African-Americans were forced to do whatever the Caucasian Americans wanted. If a black had a job that a white wanted, the black got fired so the white could work there. If a black lived somewhere a white wanted to live, the black might have gotten kicked out so the white could live there.
The injustice like the examples I gave that many African-Americans experienced was terrible. For example, the biography said that in Harlem, many of the basements of the buildings were filled with homeless and unemployed African-Americans. Those poor people were being denied all the basic necessities that that humans require to live, including food, water, and a clean and safe shelter. They went to bed hungry each night jam-packed into slimy old basements inhabited by repulsing rats that crawled over them on nimble little feet while they slept. I am very surprised that white people in our nation were ever that mean and closed-minded to our fellow African-American citizens. Just because your father and grandfather and great-grandfather have done things a certain way, like treating blacks poorly, doesn't mean that it is the right or just way to do things, and it certainly doesn't mean that you are supposed to do it to.
My favorite part of the book was when Langston Hughes got a job as steward on the S. S. Malone, a ship bound for Africa. Once the ship finally got to Africa, the S. S. Malone would dock at various ports on the African coast to unload its cargo. While the ship was at these ports, Langston enjoyed visiting with the Africans that worked at the ports unloading cargo. Langston tried to empathize with the Africans, because they were also experiencing problems with segregation. To his surprise, when he tried to tell them that a black man’s problems were the same in America as in Africa, they just laughed at him. They told him that he, with his copper skin and straight black hair, was a white man to them. When I read that, it reminded me that we are all different. Even if we perceive ourselves as the same as someone else, we are all our own people. We also can’t predict how someone will see us, because their background knowledge and where they live can change their perception of other people. For example, the Africans that Langston met where used to seeing people with super dark skin, and they were also living a poorer lifestyle than Langston. That influenced how they perceived him, because Langston was so different than them that they thought he was practically a white. I know that if I was Langston, I would have been devastated if that happened to me. I would feel terrible if I had dreamed all my life to go and visit Africa, the land of my ancestors, and once I actually got there, to be rejected by the Africans as a white would be horrible for me. I think that that was a major event in Langston’s life that he remembered until the day he died.
I did not have to spend a lot of time researching Milton Meltzer’s purpose for writing the biography. In fact, the second to last section of the book explained all the information that I could find on this topic. In the first paragraph of Author’s Note and Acknowledgements, Mr. Meltzer explains how he first met Langston Hughes when they collaborated to work on a history book together. Once Mr. Meltzer and Mr. Hughes were finishing their work on the second book they had written, Mr. Meltzer asked if he could write a short biography of his friend, and Langston said yes. The book that I read was the finished product of that biography. The biography doesn’t say why Milton Meltzer wanted to write the book, but I have an idea why he might have wanted to. The biography describes how Langston’s outgoing personality, his sense of humor, and his unwavering and loyal perseverance affected many people that he encountered in his life. I think that in the process of writing two books with Langston, Milton was also affected by his amazing friendliness. I think that once Milton realized how great of a person Langston was, Mr. Meltzer wanted to recognize Langston. If I am right, then Milton recognized Langston by writing this biography so the entire world could also see how great of a person he was.
While I was reading the book, I connected with Langston’s protectiveness and loyalty to his people. Langston worked very hard his entire life to try and protect his people from segregation and injustice. He felt that it was his duty to use his very moving and expressive writing to change how African-Americans were treated in America. I know that I feel the same way about my family when they are in trouble. I also feel that I am sort of obligated to look out for them, and that they are sort of obligated to look out for me. Langston felt the same way about his family as I do, but his family was much larger than mine. His family was all the African-Americans in America, and maybe some other countries too. That goes to show how kind of a person he was, being able to care for so many people. As Mr. McDonald tells us, “The “bigs” should look out for the “littles.”” Langston Hughes is a great example of a “big” that really took the time to look out for the “littles” around him. He was a “big” because he possessed more power than other African-Americans in his time, thanks to his moving poetry. Other blacks were “littles” because they possessed little or no power. They were ignored by America, and Langston Hughes wouldn’t stand for that. He was very brave to stick up for his people and do what he thought was right.
The book taught me a very important life lesson, which is to never give up. Langston Hughes demonstrated that valuable lesson throughout his entire life in innumerable ways. If you think about how Langston started out, completely poor and practically homeless, it is amazing that he was able to become a world-famous poet. What made Langston unique so that he was able to rise to that level? Obviously, he had his natural talent for writing. Besides that though, what made him exceptional was his steady perseverance. Most Americans hated him and his poetry, but he was unfazed by that. According to his biography, even some of his own people, the African-Americans that he was fighting for, didn’t like him. The book said that those people didn’t want to be reminded of how terrible their lives were. The writing also made them look bad. Langston, obviously, knew that in the long run, he was helping to make things better. In the end, that was exactly what he did, because people recognized that he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone by reminding them of segregation. He was actually urging the world to realize how unjustly African-Americans were being treated so that segregation could be stopped. You may be telling yourself that it was unfair that in the process of writing his poems, Langston Hughes brought back many hurtful memories to people. If you are telling yourself that, you have to remember that no challenge can be accomplished without sacrifice or pain. Langston had the strength and perseverance to accept that pain.
This requirement, the last one that I had to include in my book review, was one of the hardest. The requirement was to state whether or not you would recommend the book to someone else. That question doesn’t really have a definite answer, considering that it really depends on your opinion of what defines a good book. Every person looks for something different in a book to assess its quality: some people look for elaboration and detail, some people look for a complex and dramatic plot, some people look for significant character development, etc. I, for one, am sort of split over my opinion of this book. On the one hand, it is fairly dull and boring, as you probably already know from my first paragraph. On the other hand, though, you learn about the rich, full life of an important human rights activist in America’s history. I think that I would recommend this book to someone, considering the important lessons and enlightening events that you learn about from it. The recommendation, though, would only go to someone who is willing to sacrifice a few days of reading time to learn some important things. That was exactly what I did, and I am pretty sure that the sacrificed time and the wasted boredom were worthwhile.
Don't get me wrong; this book was very descriptive, even though it bored me a little. After I finished the book, I really felt like I had learned a lot about Langston Hughes’s life. As you probably already know, this book was a biography describing the turbulent life of Langston Hughes. The biography detailed the trouble Langston Hughes had throughout his life. All his problems are based on the harsh reality of segregation that tore his life and the lives of countless other African-Americans in America's history apart. In Langston Hughes's time, African-Americans were forced to do whatever the Caucasian Americans wanted. If a black had a job that a white wanted, the black got fired so the white could work there. If a black lived somewhere a white wanted to live, the black might have gotten kicked out so the white could live there.
The injustice like the examples I gave that many African-Americans experienced was terrible. For example, the biography said that in Harlem, many of the basements of the buildings were filled with homeless and unemployed African-Americans. Those poor people were being denied all the basic necessities that that humans require to live, including food, water, and a clean and safe shelter. They went to bed hungry each night jam-packed into slimy old basements inhabited by repulsing rats that crawled over them on nimble little feet while they slept. I am very surprised that white people in our nation were ever that mean and closed-minded to our fellow African-American citizens. Just because your father and grandfather and great-grandfather have done things a certain way, like treating blacks poorly, doesn't mean that it is the right or just way to do things, and it certainly doesn't mean that you are supposed to do it to.
My favorite part of the book was when Langston Hughes got a job as steward on the S. S. Malone, a ship bound for Africa. Once the ship finally got to Africa, the S. S. Malone would dock at various ports on the African coast to unload its cargo. While the ship was at these ports, Langston enjoyed visiting with the Africans that worked at the ports unloading cargo. Langston tried to empathize with the Africans, because they were also experiencing problems with segregation. To his surprise, when he tried to tell them that a black man’s problems were the same in America as in Africa, they just laughed at him. They told him that he, with his copper skin and straight black hair, was a white man to them. When I read that, it reminded me that we are all different. Even if we perceive ourselves as the same as someone else, we are all our own people. We also can’t predict how someone will see us, because their background knowledge and where they live can change their perception of other people. For example, the Africans that Langston met where used to seeing people with super dark skin, and they were also living a poorer lifestyle than Langston. That influenced how they perceived him, because Langston was so different than them that they thought he was practically a white. I know that if I was Langston, I would have been devastated if that happened to me. I would feel terrible if I had dreamed all my life to go and visit Africa, the land of my ancestors, and once I actually got there, to be rejected by the Africans as a white would be horrible for me. I think that that was a major event in Langston’s life that he remembered until the day he died.
I did not have to spend a lot of time researching Milton Meltzer’s purpose for writing the biography. In fact, the second to last section of the book explained all the information that I could find on this topic. In the first paragraph of Author’s Note and Acknowledgements, Mr. Meltzer explains how he first met Langston Hughes when they collaborated to work on a history book together. Once Mr. Meltzer and Mr. Hughes were finishing their work on the second book they had written, Mr. Meltzer asked if he could write a short biography of his friend, and Langston said yes. The book that I read was the finished product of that biography. The biography doesn’t say why Milton Meltzer wanted to write the book, but I have an idea why he might have wanted to. The biography describes how Langston’s outgoing personality, his sense of humor, and his unwavering and loyal perseverance affected many people that he encountered in his life. I think that in the process of writing two books with Langston, Milton was also affected by his amazing friendliness. I think that once Milton realized how great of a person Langston was, Mr. Meltzer wanted to recognize Langston. If I am right, then Milton recognized Langston by writing this biography so the entire world could also see how great of a person he was.
While I was reading the book, I connected with Langston’s protectiveness and loyalty to his people. Langston worked very hard his entire life to try and protect his people from segregation and injustice. He felt that it was his duty to use his very moving and expressive writing to change how African-Americans were treated in America. I know that I feel the same way about my family when they are in trouble. I also feel that I am sort of obligated to look out for them, and that they are sort of obligated to look out for me. Langston felt the same way about his family as I do, but his family was much larger than mine. His family was all the African-Americans in America, and maybe some other countries too. That goes to show how kind of a person he was, being able to care for so many people. As Mr. McDonald tells us, “The “bigs” should look out for the “littles.”” Langston Hughes is a great example of a “big” that really took the time to look out for the “littles” around him. He was a “big” because he possessed more power than other African-Americans in his time, thanks to his moving poetry. Other blacks were “littles” because they possessed little or no power. They were ignored by America, and Langston Hughes wouldn’t stand for that. He was very brave to stick up for his people and do what he thought was right.
The book taught me a very important life lesson, which is to never give up. Langston Hughes demonstrated that valuable lesson throughout his entire life in innumerable ways. If you think about how Langston started out, completely poor and practically homeless, it is amazing that he was able to become a world-famous poet. What made Langston unique so that he was able to rise to that level? Obviously, he had his natural talent for writing. Besides that though, what made him exceptional was his steady perseverance. Most Americans hated him and his poetry, but he was unfazed by that. According to his biography, even some of his own people, the African-Americans that he was fighting for, didn’t like him. The book said that those people didn’t want to be reminded of how terrible their lives were. The writing also made them look bad. Langston, obviously, knew that in the long run, he was helping to make things better. In the end, that was exactly what he did, because people recognized that he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone by reminding them of segregation. He was actually urging the world to realize how unjustly African-Americans were being treated so that segregation could be stopped. You may be telling yourself that it was unfair that in the process of writing his poems, Langston Hughes brought back many hurtful memories to people. If you are telling yourself that, you have to remember that no challenge can be accomplished without sacrifice or pain. Langston had the strength and perseverance to accept that pain.
This requirement, the last one that I had to include in my book review, was one of the hardest. The requirement was to state whether or not you would recommend the book to someone else. That question doesn’t really have a definite answer, considering that it really depends on your opinion of what defines a good book. Every person looks for something different in a book to assess its quality: some people look for elaboration and detail, some people look for a complex and dramatic plot, some people look for significant character development, etc. I, for one, am sort of split over my opinion of this book. On the one hand, it is fairly dull and boring, as you probably already know from my first paragraph. On the other hand, though, you learn about the rich, full life of an important human rights activist in America’s history. I think that I would recommend this book to someone, considering the important lessons and enlightening events that you learn about from it. The recommendation, though, would only go to someone who is willing to sacrifice a few days of reading time to learn some important things. That was exactly what I did, and I am pretty sure that the sacrificed time and the wasted boredom were worthwhile.
September 6, 2018
I came across the book in the kids' section of the library but found it to be a perfectly acceptable level for adults. I great overview of LH's life and work.
March 9, 2023
A starter kit biography outlines the event packed life of Hughes. Prepares one for a deeper dive elsewhere.
June 11, 2015
Sheepish confessions - I didn't know what Langston Hughes was famous for prior to picking up this book. I knew OF him from the lyrics to the song "La Vie Boheme" from RENT. This makes me feel incredibly uneducated.
After reading about his life, I am left wondering. Although there was some information regarding his family life and his friendships, it was mostly fact-driven and stayed hovering at the surface. For a book written by someone who knew him personally, and considering that such an emphasis was placed on Hughes poetry being very strongly based on FEELING, this was a bit surprising.
In truth, the book died for me on page 140 (I believe it was) when it said that Langston Hughes had written an autobiography; If he had, why was I bothering to read the story from a secondary source rather than the primary? (The answer is that this is the book that I actually HAVE.) Later on, I read that Hughes had actually produced TWO autobiographical works, but that they only covered roughly the first half of his life. Still then, the author should have merely written a follow-up to those, in my opinion.
I liked Hughes' work that was included, and would be interested to read/hear more if I ever have the opportunity. So I suppose the author made him seem interesting enough.
It also seemed odd that no photographs of Hughes were included, and just one drawing of him. And if none exist, which I doubt, that should have been mentioned.
After reading about his life, I am left wondering. Although there was some information regarding his family life and his friendships, it was mostly fact-driven and stayed hovering at the surface. For a book written by someone who knew him personally, and considering that such an emphasis was placed on Hughes poetry being very strongly based on FEELING, this was a bit surprising.
In truth, the book died for me on page 140 (I believe it was) when it said that Langston Hughes had written an autobiography; If he had, why was I bothering to read the story from a secondary source rather than the primary? (The answer is that this is the book that I actually HAVE.) Later on, I read that Hughes had actually produced TWO autobiographical works, but that they only covered roughly the first half of his life. Still then, the author should have merely written a follow-up to those, in my opinion.
I liked Hughes' work that was included, and would be interested to read/hear more if I ever have the opportunity. So I suppose the author made him seem interesting enough.
It also seemed odd that no photographs of Hughes were included, and just one drawing of him. And if none exist, which I doubt, that should have been mentioned.
April 11, 2016
I liked this approachable and interesting bio of the great writer. The fact that the authors knew each other and were friends makes the prose personal and engaging. My biggest single problem with this book is that he had given a bibliography and references for his quotes from Hughes himself. It will often give some information about Hughes's life, a quote on how he reflected on it and then move on. I want to know where that quote comes from so that I can go and read it! Frustrating. Still, it's a light and fast moving intro to the great man and does not shy away from talking about the important issues in his life (race, freedom, practice, action, etc.).
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March 9, 2013This is a most amazing bio, even though it's written with all ages in mind. It proves how higher powers step in in every instance of his life, no matter how many obstacles (I've never heard of so many obstacles overcome as in his life!) and how his perserverance and willingness to take unusual paths set him in motion for his amazing life and poems and stories. F@#king great!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews