Wallace Thurman Knihy

Set against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance, this illustrated edition captures the essence of a groundbreaking literary magazine that aimed to reflect the African-American experience in a modern light. Founded by notable figures like Wallace Thurman and Zora Neale Hurston, it tackled controversial topics such as sexuality, interracial relationships, and color prejudice. Despite its brief existence, with only one issue published before a fire destroyed its quarters, the magazine sought to articulate the evolving perspectives of younger African Americans during a transformative cultural period.

This minor classic of the Harlem Renaissance centers on the larger-than-life inhabitants of "Niggerati Manor," an uptown apartment building modeled on the rooming house where the author once lived among other celebrated black artists and writers. The rollicking satire's characters include knowing stand-ins for Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Alain Locke.

Mirroring Nella Larsen's Passing, The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life is the fantastic debut of Wallace Thurman. A Black boy could get along but a Black girl would never know anything but sorrow and disappointment. Emma Lou was born black. Abandoned by her father at birth, she is subjected to skin bleaching by her mother, hoping to make her child more desirable. Learning that she is unwanted in white society but also ostracized within her own, Emma Lou navigates a harsh and unrelenting world as she tries to come to terms with her life and love herself in the skin she's in. Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life is a reimagining of a Harlem Renaissance staple for the modern reader.