Black White and Jewish
$15.00
- Description
- Additional information
Description
The Civil Rights movement brought author Alice Walker and lawyer Mel Leventhal together, and in 1969 their daughter, Rebecca, was born. Some saw this unusual copper-colored girl as an outrage or an oddity; others viewed her as a symbol of harmony, a triumph of love over hate. But after her parents divorced, leaving her a lonely only child ferrying between two worlds that only seemed to grow further apart, Rebecca was no longer sure what she represented. In this book, Rebecca Leventhal Walker attempts to define herself as a soul instead of a symbol—and offers a new look at the challenge of personal identity, in a story at once strikingly unique and truly universal.”Compelling.”—The Washington Post
“Stunningly honest.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“A complex, all-American story.”—USA Today
“Walker masterfully illuminates differences between black and white America…A heartbreaking tale of self-creation.”—People
“[Walker] offers painful childhood memories of straddling two vastly different cultures—black bohemia and Jewish suburbia—to fashion a cautionary tale about the power of race in shaping identity…[a] highly readable debut.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Walker [writes with] elegant, discreet candor…will attract a wealth of well-deserved praise.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A beautifully written meditation on the creation of a woman’s sense of self.”—Jane Lazarre, author of Beyond the Whiteness of Whiteness
“Powerful…deeply affecting.”—Danzy Senna, author of Caucasia
Rebecca Walker has received numerous awards and accolades for her writing and activism. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and publications; in addition to the international bestseller Black, White, and Jewish, her books include Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence, and the anthologies To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism, which has become a standard text in gender studies courses around the world, and What Makes a Man: 22 Writers Imagine the Future. A popular speaker at universities and in business settings, Walker teaches the art of memoir at workshops and writing conferences internationally. She lives in Hawaii.
INTRODUCTION
Black, White, and Jewish is the story of a child’s unique struggle for identity and home when nothing in her world told her who she was or where she belonged. Poetic reflections on memory, time, and identity punctuate this gritty exploration of race and sexuality. Rebecca Walker has taken up the lineage of her mother, Alice, whose last name she chose to carry, and has written a lucid and inventive memoir that marks the launch of a major new literary talent.
ABOUT REBECCA WALKER
Rebecca Walker has written for or been featured in stories in The New York Times, The Chicago Times,Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Esquire, and U.S. News & World Report, and has appeared on CNN, MTV, and Charlie Rose. She is the founder of Third Wave Direct Action Foundation, a national nonprofit organization devoted to cultivating young women’s leadership and activism.
Praise
“The daughter of famed African American writer Alice Walker and liberal Jewish lawyer Mel Leventhal brings a frank, spare style and detail-rich memories to this compelling contribution to the growing subgenre of memoirs by biracial authors about life in a race-obsessed society. Her artfulness in baring her psyche will, spirit and sexuality will attract a wealth of deserved praise.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
US
Additional information
Dimensions | 0.8300 × 5.1500 × 8.0000 in |
---|---|
Imprint | |
ISBN-13 | |
ISBN-10 | |
Author | |
Audience | |
BISAC | |
Subjects | autobiography books, attachment, memoirs, books for women, child development, relationship books, autobiographies, literary gifts, biographies of famous people, discipline, memoir books, biographies and memoirs, inspirational books for women, historical biographies, literary biographies, parenting book, attachments, child anxiety, biography, parenting, women, feminism, BIO022000, mindfulness, relationships, children, family, Literature, Memoir, drama, parenting books, black history month, BIO002000, autobiography, women in history, biographies |