All-Night Party: The Women of Bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem, 1913-1930

by Andrea Barnet

The ladies were smart. Sassy. Daring. Exotic. Eclectic. Sexy. And influential. One could call them the first divas--and they ran absolutely wild. Poets, actresses, singers, artists, journalists, publishers, baronesses, and benefactresses, they were thinkers and drinkers. They eschewed the social conventions expected of them--to be wives and mothers--and decided to live on their own terms. In the process, they became the voices of a new, fierce feminine spirit.

There's Mina Loy, a modernist poet and much-photographed beauty who traveled in pivotal international art circles; blues divas Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters; Edna St. Vincent Millay, the lyric poet who, with her earthy charm and passion, embodied the '20s ideal of sexual daring; the avant-garde publishers Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap; and the wealthy hostesses of the salons, A'Lelia Walker and Mabel Dodge. Among the supporting cast are Emma Goldman, Isadora Duncan, Ma Rainey, Margaret Sanger, and Gertrude Stein.

Andrea Barnet's fascinating accounts of the emotional and artistic lives of these women--together with rare black-and-white photographs, taken by photographers such as Berenice Abbott and Man Ray--capture the women in all their glory.

This is a history of the early feminists who didn't set out to be feminists, a celebration of the rebellious women who paved the way for future generations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Womens, Music, New York, Feminism

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Andrea Barnet is the author of Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall and Alice Waters Changed Our World, a finalist for the 2019 PEN/ Bograd Weld Award for Biography and one of Booklist’s four “2018 Editors’ choice for biography” selections. Her previous book, All-Night Party: The Women of Bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem, 1913-1930 was a nonfiction finalist for the 2004 Lambda Literary Awards. She was a regular contributor to the New York Times Book Review for twenty-five years, where she wrote primary on the arts and culture. Her journalism has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, the New York Times, Elle, Harpers Bazaar and The Toronto Glove and Mail, among other publications. She splits her time between the Hudson Valley and New York City, where she lives with her husband, the painter Kit White.

Reviews

[Sketchbook · Rating 4 out of 5]

They were thinkers and they were drinkers, says author Barnet. They ignored the social conventions expected of them - to become wives and mums - and chose to live on their own terms. "They blasted the door open to the rest of the 20thC." Victorian morality was the oppressor. By 1916, "going public with one's animal nature" was the vogue, often at great personal cost. With the 1919 enactment of Prohibition, the forbidden - thanks to religio Americans - had glamour.

An amiable, not always precise, survey of some unique women, and the men (or women, yes, a lot of same sex) in their lives. There's nothing to stop anyone from reading a big boring bio on any of the subjects, except who wants to? Handsomely packed w stunning pix by Man Ray, Berenice Abbott, Carl Van Vechten and drawings x Djuna Barnes.

This survey also addresses the men on the scene and in the bedroom: Edmund Wilson, William Carlos Williams, Floyd Dell, Picabia, Marinetti...yes, a lively band of artists and intellectuals...not to be found anywhere in today's 21stC world.

Starring Mina Loy, who sacrificed all for love; salonista Mabel Dodge, who sacrificed nothing; Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters; druggie Edna St V; Jane Heap & Margaret Anderson; the one and only A'Lelia Walker, 'the era's most audacious hostess,' who had a palatial mansion up Hudson and was 'the richest black woman in America'; Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven (who gets a drawing x George Biddle, 1921), known as the Mama of Dada. The party's on!

A memorable, most cinematic moment c 1918: a pregnant Mina Loy watches lover Arthur Cravan test a dilapidated sailboat in Mexico...ahh, he's off, yes, the boat is really sailing--. Mina watches delightedly as the boat sails into the sun, then it becomes a speck on the horizon, and then it is gone...now, she's horrified... he is never seen again.

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm listening to music from the pop-jazz singer Ethel Waters, and the blues great Bessie Smith as I'm writing. They are two of the creative women featured in this book about bohemian New York, 1913-1930. Others were the poet and artist Mina Loy, the avant-garde publishers Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, the poet Edna St Vincent Millay, the wealthy hostesses Mabel Dodge and A'Lelia Walker and their salons, and their artistic friends.

After the Great War, Victorian times were left behind as people grasped new freedoms through artistic pursuits, interesting conversation, and unconventional lifestyles. When Prohibition arrived in 1919, a network of speakeasies with bootleg liquor appeared where people of different social classes mixed. The stock market crash in 1929 ushered in the Great Depression. There were fewer funds for artistic expression and entertainment, and the mood of the country became more conservative.

The author chose women with creative, daring personalities as her subjects so it is a very entertaining book. Many of their friends also had interesting bohemian lifestyles which included sexual freedom. Wonderful black and white photographs showed the glamour of the era. But alcohol, stress, lack of money, and broken relationships led to difficulties in many cases. A book of this size is a great introduction to this passionate group of women in 1920s New York. It might prompt some readers to pick up a biography of one of these women that caught their interest. 3 1/2 stars.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointment -- good choice of women to profile, but little depth in the writing and very little analysis.

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primarily discusses the artist/poet Mina Loy, publishers Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, hostesses Mabel Dodge and A'Lelia Walker, and the singers Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters. It also brings in a number of artists, singers and writers in their periphery. Also the men in their lives.

Kind of gossipy. Doesn't appear to be any original research but a compilation of what others have written. But well documented. And a decent bibliography leading to other books about these people.

Presents a really sad view of their collective youths. Millay's mother had kicked her husband out while her children were still quite young. The only reason given was for gambling. I had a great-grandfather who was kicked out of the house. For many years we thought it was for drunkenness, now we tend to think he was gay, and only invited back to perform his husbandly duties. But at least Edna knew she had a father. The same couldn't really be said for Waters and Smith. Ethel was raised by her grandmother as her mother had been raped by a white boy at the age of 12. Of course, Mabel Dodge and A'Lelia Walker inherited wealth from their parents. Not having talent themselves they fostered it in others.

Very nice to read about Waters and Smith while listening to their music, readily available on YouTube.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the dawn of the 20th century a group of people arose to challenge the public thinking on poetry, art, literature and music......call them Futurists or Bohemians, they made a difference to the arts in the years to come. This book concentrates on six women who were a leading force in the movement in both Greenwich Village and Harlem from 1913-1930. Some went on to fame and long careers while others are almost unknown today

The lived their lives on their own terms and public opinion be damned. They were smart, colorful, talented, and eccentric......although in a couple of cases I felt that the eccentricities were really only affectations to gain attention. Nevertheless, they soldiered on when money was lacking and no one appreciated their contributions to the arts. They broke the color barrier and supported each others efforts even when jealousies and tempers flared. In most cases they were flawed individuals but they had something to say and were not hesitant to put forth their abstract (for the times) ideas. An interesting look at an interesting time. and interesting women......a quick and informative read.

[Jean Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about creative women of the 1920's. The sub-title is "the Women of. Bohemian Geenwich Village and Harlem. It led me to look for other books about the women described. I was a little put-off by the fact that the Black women were ALL talked about at the end of the book. Really!?! I'm a 70 year old White woman and have nothing to do with the publishing business and even i know that that is not good editing of material and might be offensive to some readers. I couldn't see any reasoning for placement - they weren't alphabetical, they weren't chronological. The closest idea i could see for placement was that the African-American women were all entertainers or actresses as opposed to writers or artists at the beginning of the book. But really, a little consciousness please.

The book gves summaries of the lives of ( in order) Mina Loy, margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, EdnaSt Vincent Millay, hostesses of salons,i.e. Mabel Dodge and A'Lelia Walker, Bessie Smith, Ethel Walters. BTW this book was published in 2004.

[Kim Springer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by my sister so yes, 5 stars. Each chapter focuses on different women from this time period, Edna Vincent Millay, Mina Loy, and Bessie Smith to name a few. Well written and easy to read.

[Madeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is not very much analysis in All-Night Party, which is really a shame, especially given the women she chose to focus on: the hostesses are fairly obscure, and Mina Loy is probably not as popular as she was, but Edna St. Vincent Millay, Bessie Smith, and Ethel Waters are all well-known artists. My favorite chapter was the one which discussed Jane Heap and Margaret Anderson, who are much more obscure and therefore more interesting. I am a big fan of Millay, but one chapter in a group biography is bound to suffer in comparison with Nancy Milford's excellent Savage Beauty. But I suppose one of the virtues of this book is that it shows a little bit of flair with its selection. Not too much flair, of course. Enough that the pedestrian parts are disappointing.

Ultimately, Barnet fails in her premise and disappoints the promise of the title. She never shows the true intersection of Greenwich Village and Harlem (except for some comments about Carl Van Vechten). What analysis she does offer is facile, and on issues of race and sexuality she seems uncomfortable (or unqualified). Although the time period post-WWI is a fascinating one (it gave us Fitzgerald, the Mitfords, the women in this book, Evelyn Waugh and on and on!), All-Night Party is not a particularly original representation of it. The book needed a unifying theme, at the very least. It also needed more depth.

Or, if it didn't have some more depth, then it might have gone for flash. But the production values aren't very high on this one either. So it isn't even a tony coffee table book. . . Probably would be great for first-year high school students, though! I think high school students would find this genuinely useful, especially if they're looking for something a little bit unexpected for their Harlem Renaissance project, or whatever.

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting glimpse into the lives of several women who were contemporaries during the Progressive Era. I'm chagrined to admit I'd never heard of most of them, the exceptions being Edna Millay, Bessie Smith, Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap.

It makes me think of social progress from a different perspective; it seems not to be a steady push forward, but we advance in great waves and heaves.

[Pia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biographies are somewhat incomplete. You can definitely find better information elsewhere on some of the women included in this book. However, as a whole it's worth reading as a portrait of the era. It's a great starting point if you're interested in any of the subjects.

[Diane Nagatomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I skimmed this book in one sitting on the train to prepare for a "React to the Past" workshop that will cover this era. I'll definitely go back and reread it again...fascinating women in a fascinating era. I had no idea.

[Donna Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed most of the book but did read the sections about Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters, both of whom had much more difficult lives than the white bohemians in Greenwich Village. Interesting.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too many generations ago, American women were expected to get married, take care of a household, have babies, and cater to their husbands’ whims. The suffragette movement for women’s right to vote and the advent of female-operated birth control changed all that. But you won’t learn about such context in this book, which is strictly about selected women from Greenwich Village and Harlem between 1913 and 1930. These women also threw out the old notions of women’s roles in family and society. They are mostly white writers, black singers, or patrons of the arts.

One strength of this book is that it presents many of these women in relation to one another, so that the reader gets an idea of the overall Greenwich Village society. It does less well depicting Harlem, where just two singers and one arts patron are considered. One theme is the intermixing of whites and blacks, of uptown and downtown, at social events hosted by patrons. But as another reviewer noted, the chapters on the black women are at the very end of the book and not as elaborated as earlier chapters, which tended to trivialize their stories. The book would have been better if each woman’s story was edited to a similar size. I learned way too much about Edna St. Vincent Millay for example, and not enough about Bessie Smith.

The main women whose lives are described are Mina Loy, Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, Bessie Smith, Ethyl Waters, Mabel Dodge, A’Lelia Walker, and of course Edna St. Vincent Millay. A helpful “cast of characters” guide in the beginning gives synopses of the lives of these and other “minor character” women in the book. This is most useful when the characters appear in several chapters.

Overall, All Night Party is an interesting read for those who want to learn about the Greenwich Village scene during the era just prior to WWI through the beginning of the Great Depression. Readers interested in the rejection of Victorian women’s constricting clothing and roles, and/or women’s sexual liberation during this era will also enjoy it.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The women Barnet includes in this look at the early 20th-century Boho set are fascinating: Edna St. Millay, Mina Loy, Bessie Smith, among others. They led wild, excessive lives in the pursuit of art and the New Woman. They took part in salons, started their own literary journals, declared themselves futurists and modernists, fostered addictions, slept with whomever they liked, and generally scandalized the rest of post-Victorian America.

While there stories are all very interesting, much of the book just amounts to portraits of each woman rather than a cohesive portrait of an era. It would've helped for Barnet to give more of a social backdrop, to further define their struggles and triumphs. Despite that nitpickiness, All-Night Party definitely has me interested in looking further into these women and their work.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but skimmed

[Shelley Marlow]

This book is helping me research for my silent film actress character in Two Augusts in a Row in a Row.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of poorly written, but still worth it to find out the stories of these cool ladies. Skip the St. Vincent Millay chapter, though, and just read her bio..

[Irene Palfy · Rating 5 out of 5]

read my review here:

http://allthatglistensisnotold.blogsp...

Thank you! ;")

[K.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For years, I’ve avoided more modern history.

This book let me know just how much I’ve been missing.

In vibrant, yet accessible language, Andrea Barnet paints pictures of Mina Loy, Margaret Anderson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mabel Dodge. A’Lelia Walker, Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters. She brings to life their connections with Greenwich Village and Harlem, along with the times they existed. She shows the impact these individuals had on them, exploding like fireworks which shook rigid systems of gender, and created bright possibilities of individuality.

I’d never heard of many of these women. Some of their names stirred a dim recognization, but little character. This brief, but brilliant taste of whom they were and what they accomplished left me hungry for more. The taste included a glimpse of other fascinating individuals such as Madam C. J. Walker (whom every American child should be learning about in their grade school texts) and Carl Van Vechten.

Many of these people played not only played vital and vibrant parts in history, but in long neglected herstory and queerstory.

I laughed, cried, and found myself inspired by these women, delighting in the many memorable quotes they’d left behind. Not to mention the ones Andrea Barnet came up with herself in bringing these women back to life.

This was a delightful, empowering read, illuminating the strength of the individual during dark times. I welcomed its presence in my own life at this moment. May it be rediscovered, bringing hope to all readers fortunate enough to find it.

[Kai Coates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter of this book is a biographical essay on a different woman of the era (one chapter clumsily combines two hostesses). The women Barnet chose to highlight - including Edna St. Vincent Mallay, Ethel Waters, and Bessie Smith - are all worthy (and I believe all have received) their own full-length biographies. They were not only what Barnet describes as "the first Moderns" - they were artists who lived their lives outside of the predetermined barriers women of the time were prescribed.

The book feels a lot like an introductory work for a college seminar, rather than the result of comprehensive historical analysis. (I did appreciate the quality of the print and the many photographs.) In fact, a lot of the book seems to be filler, especially the Harlem parts which are kind of disrespectfully stuck on the end. I think it would have been much better to focus one or the other, because despite occurring at the same time in New York, the modern bohemians and the Harlem Renaissance were not very similar movements. Barnet tries to argue that they were all the first wave of feminists, therefore they should be discussed as a group, yet does very little of that herself in the book.

Use it as a jumping off point for more in-depth reading.

[Juliet Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a well written, exciting non-fiction book featuring the women who rebelled against society's norms, playing vital roles in both the Roaring Twenties, and the Harlem Renaissance. It was also nice that she didn't gloss over the Sapphic relationships and unlike certain people she actually acknowledges that bisexuality exists. I agree with another reviewer that this book could have been longer, and I'm a bit miffed the author neglected to discuss Virginia Woolf (whose novel Orlando was based on her romantic relationship with Vita Sackville-West). Like the author herself stated in the afterword, the reason these women fascinate us is the questions they pondered are still ones we face today.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was, like, the Contiki tour of Bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem—a bit of a whirlwind, lots of booze, and generally a good way to figure out what subjects I want to go back and revisit.

One thing I kept coming back to again and again in reading these profiles: all of these women made tremendous art, but seemingly at great cost to their mental or physical well-being and relationships. So many of them lived their lives relying on the crutches of alcohol or sex or food and ended their lives either destitute or depressed or forgotten. Why? I don't really have an answer, but it is something I have been mulling over since finishing this book.

[ANITA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer look into the interesting lives of Bohemians.

[Carinn Candelaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made me want to stop reading and start writing 😙

[Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHERE THE HECK IS THIS LIMITED SERIES?

[Anetka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspirierend.

[Sabena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Women after (before) my own heart!

On an ole- New York books binge...

[Kelly M Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it it was a very easy read and very light. Just a teaser. This might be a book for ppl that know nothing about these woman but if you've read and studied this period this isn't the book for you too light