Black Books for Fall - Bibliography

American Visions, August, 2000 by V.R. Peterson

There's a red herring in the marketplace concerning the books that publishers direct at a black readership. It's a story that goes something like this: More black books would be published if more people (make that especially black people) would read or buy them, but the size of the market dictates the number of black titles brought to press. It is a sort of what-you-see-is-what-you-get argument that is, at its worst, circular, self-fulfilling and frustrating. Fortunately for black readers and writers, it is increasingly under attack.

On the one hand, it is true that those of us who read black books could buy more of them. At a recent literary conference celebrating black authors and their works, several well-known writers laughed with the audience, answered their questions, and then asked them to buy their books. They explained that their publishers had told them that their fame was up, but their sales were down (as though several hundred people were reading the same copy of any given title). So they implored their fans to support them by buying their books.

One writer recalled sitting at a table after a writing workshop, flanked by stacks of his latest volume. An attractive woman wrapped in fur, dressed in leather pants, adorned with gold bracelets and gold rings and flashing a gold tooth, stopped at his table and handed him a gold Cross pen and a dirty napkin. "This person, wearing $1,500 on her back, who looked able to afford a book," said the writer, agitated by the memory, "smiled at me, said hello, and then asked for an autograph. I said, `Buy a book.'"

On the other hand, more and more black editors are out there. According to Anita Diggs, an editor at Warner Books, every major mainstream publishing house employs at least one black editor. Black readers are out there, too. In New York City, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and other cities, these readers are the not-so-secret strength behind independent black bookshops that are surviving against such megastores as Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and Borders.

Says book publicist Sally Anne McCartin: "Black Independent booksellers have managed to stay in business and hold on to their customer base by deeply listening to their communities." Black readers are on the Internet. They follow the Blackboard best sellers list. They form reading groups. They're even watching The Oprah Winfrey Show, whose book club segments reportedly reach as many as 500,000 readers and have featured such black novelists as Pearl Cleage, Edwidge Danticat, Ernest Gaines and Toni Morrison.

It would be premature to declare ourselves in the midst of a literary renaissance, but we are now seeing a respectable number of black books being published. As Max Rodriguez, the editor of QBR: The Quarterly Review of Black Books, puts it, "Titles that reflect an African-American experience [are] falling into the proper publishing rotation." In other words, black books aren't just for Black History Month anymore.

Indeed. As summer cools, fall heats up with titles That are sure to keep anyone who is interested in black culture reading far into the night. Notable within the hot category that publishers call "contemporary women's fiction" are new story collections by J. California Cooper and Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker. The season also brings novels by Paule Marshall and Caryl Phillips. Nonfiction offerings include memoirs from rhythm and blues legend Al Green, the second volume of David Levering Lewis' study of scholarly icon W.E.B. Du Bois, and a display of art from 18th-century African Maroons.

Of course, no single list can be comprehensive, but across genre and taste--whether you're fascinated by a photo collection about the hats that black women wear to church, an artsy adventure for your 5-year-old, or an academic inquiry into race or male-female relationships -- here's a listing that promises a rewarding fall harvest for all.

September Releases

The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria by Marta Moreno Vega, Ph.D. (One World/ Ballantine, $25.95)--A memoir by a scholar and Yoruba priestess.

Chicago's South Side, 1946-1948 photographs by Wayne F. Miller (University of California Press, $25)--Images of black life in the Windy City, with commentaries by Gordon Parks and Robert B. Stepto.

Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Dial Books, $16.99)--A star is born as little Sassy works on her steps and waits for her big day in the spotlight. Ages 4 to 8.

Freedom's Children: The Passage From Emancipation into the Twentieth Century by Velma Maia Thomas (Crown, $32.50)--An interactive sequel to 1998's best-selling adult pop-up book Lest We Forget.

Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn (Da Capo, $23)--New photos, new thoughts--the same Miles.

The Life You Imagine: 10 Steps to Ultimate Achievement by Derek Jeter (Crown, $21.95)--Still in his 20s, the New York Yankees sensation has three championship rings and millions in the bank (maybe he knows a thing or 10 about success).