The Life of Langston Hughes

by Arnold Rampersad

Poet, playwright, novelist, a grand figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s--Langston Hughes was one of the most extraordinary and prolific American writers of this century. This book is the first installment of a projected two-volume life that will undoubtedly be the definitive
biography of Hughes. Based on exhaustive research in archival collections throughout the country and abroad but primarily in the Langston Hughes Papers (previously closed to most scholars) at the Beinecke Library of Yale University, the book traces in detail Hughes's life from his birth in Missouri
in 1902 to the winter of 1941. Descended from a family steeped in radical Abolitionism (an ancestor had fought and died with John Brown at Harper's Ferry), Hughes was a driven man who often gave the appearance of a happy wanderer. His nomadic life led him to Mexico in 1919 and 1920, Africa in
1923, Europe in 1924, and the Soviet Union in 1932. After his exhilarating Russian travels, he completed a journey around the world by way of China and Japan, and in 1937, he spent several months in besieged Madrid at the height of the Spanish Civil War. Hughes's greatest devotion, however, was to
the word. Inspired by both the democratic chants of Walt Whitman and the vibrant forms of Afro-American culture, he became the most original and revered of black poets as well as a fiction writer and dramatist of considerable power. Although his political vision was often radical and his sense of
injustice acute, he faced the world as an open, laughing, and gregarious man. Yet, as this compelling biography shows, there lurked beneath the laughter a gnawing loneliness that Hughes strove to overcome in his devotion to his art and his ideal vision of America.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Poetry, Biography Memoir, American History, African American

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Arnold Rampersad is a biographer, literary critic, and academic, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the US in 1965. The first volume (1986) of his Life of Langston Hughes was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and his Ralph Ellison: A Biography was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award.

Rampersad is currently Professor of English and the Sara Hart Kimball Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University. He was Senior Associate Dean for the Humanities from January 2004 to August 2006.

Reviews

[Brian Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly the definitive biography of Hughes, it also stands as an adequate overview of his intersections with other African American literati in the first four decades of the twentieth century. It follows Hughes's earlier years of experimentation with poetical form as blues and jazz in rhythm and rhyme through his politicization in the 1930s, a time when Hughes felt he was too anodyne and wasn't saying enough about the plight of the African American in US society. He dabbled with socialism and communism and even made trips to the Soviet Union and Civil War Spain. He met and socialized with Nora Zeale Hurston and Richard Hughes and was a vibrant part of the Harlem Renaissance. Some parts of the biography are more fascinating than others, especially when Rampersad gets out of factual name checking and analyzes relationships and influences. His first patroness for instance was an absolute nutcase. Hughes himself is rather a blank slate personally, as his romantic life was obscured by lack of definitive personal records. Some have even speculated that he was homosexual, although Rampersad convinced me that he was rather asexual and reserved rather than a cad of any type. Sympathetic to a large degree, I look forward to reading the second volume to see how Hughes reacted to the civil rights movement.

[Paul Wilner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Deeply reported and well written. Magisterial.

I hope to be writing more about Hughes and this book soon, and if so I will post the link here.

Here is the link to my interview with Arnold Rampersad about Langston Hughes' adventures, good and bad, in Carmel, California:

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/n...

[Waheedah Bilal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fine literary biography for serious students of Hughes's work and life. You will not be dissatisfied; it is thoroughly researched and well-written.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exemplary biography. Researched more exhaustively than any I've read, and with a rich psychological insight into Hughes.

[Tony Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting adventures of Hughes's travels & journey to his destiny. Extraordinary detail & insightfulness. Led me immediately to Volume II, which is just as wonderful. Now I must read the author's other biographies on Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe, Ralph Ellison & W.E.B Du Bois.

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive biography of Langston Hughes.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not finish but enjoyed the first 150 pages.

[Tom Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we study literature, we are exposed to the Harlem Renaissance. We read the stories, the novels and the poems, linger over them, realize the bigotry around them and feel sorry for the insight. Then, we forget everything, and all the richness of their world is lost to TS Eliot and British Literature or the mysteries of Faulkner and American Modern Literature. This is true, especially is we are not African American. "Yes, it's good, but I have to move on to something else." However, if you are African American and were exposed to the Harlem Renaissance, I can see where is would become part of one's heart, part of one's skin, part of one's blood. In the case of Hughes, his delicacy and his unique outlook to the foreign world of white America in the 30s and 40s, the images and lines should never leave our consciousness. This kind of bio brings it all back and the thoroughness of the research stamps (or re-stamps) his work and his tender lyrical poems deep into our modern lives. There is a Volume Two, but,like hearty, spicy food, I like the way this volume rests on my literary tongue.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third Rampersad biography that I have read and I am a fan of his careful style as a biographer, though the psychoanalysis did take some getting used to in the beginning. I love biographies that show the joys, rewards and struggles of the life of the mind for intellectuals and writers. Makes me keenly aware of what I love about reading and writing, but also of the gifts that I do not have.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me forever to finish this! It was so good, but so dense! Arnold Rampersad is such a gifted writer and I really appreciated that he wove context about other people or the time period into sentences regarding Hughes rather than a separate paragraph.

I've only known about Langston Hughes as far as the Harlem Rennaisance and not much after, so this has been a pleasure to read. I can't wait to read the next volume!

[Shavone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hughes' version of his life, though perhaps less linear and not quite as factual as Rampersad's, is infinitely more interesting. There's also a clear homophobic streak in this book that's beyond troubling.

[Adriana]

This is the first time Hughes' private papers have been open for review, so this book is an exhaustive, meticulously detailed account of Hughes' life. May be perfect for scholars, but not the average reader. Could have used more synthesis and analysis.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first love, Langston Hughes, what a life, brilliant man.

[Kennet Brown]

A great book

[Ivy Pittman-Outen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best biography I've ever read.

[Javon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best biographies that I ever read. I learned about the life of Langston Hughes . This book is very well written. I strongly recommend this book.