What surprised you about Harlem Rhapsody? What did you learn that was new to you?
I had no idea that WEB was having a relationship with someone other than his wife. Therefore I was surprised.
Yes I was a bit surprised by it. This is a part of history I didn’t know much about. I really, really loved this book. I loved how well it was written….you got a lot of history without feeling like you were reading history. I loved this time period and the people in it. I didn’t know about many of them and have been led to research a little more.
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I was not familiar with the history of these individuals/characters and the particular events of that time. The book is so well written and easy to read even though the subject matters are so important and timely, even for today.
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A few things surprised me. That I had never heard of this talented brillant woman! That WEB DuBois was a bit of a cad, and some of his beliefs..like making sure about the whole college thing. Very interesting.
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What surprised me was how important of an influence Jessie Fauset was for the entire community of writers and poets, both men and women. She was an astounding woman! After reading the book I wonder what would the Harlem Renaissance been if not for her? She was truly the backbone of the literary world. Both Jessie Fauset and the Harlem Renaissance need to be included in all historical curricula.
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I was unfamiliar with Jessie Fauset and the important role she played developong and promoting the literary giants of the Harlem Renaissance. I also didn’t know details about the personal life of WEB DuBois, having only studied him in an historical context; not sure I’ll ever be able to respect him quite as much after reading this book.
As with many others who have responded, Jessie Fauset was an entirely new person of history for me. I have read some, but not a lot of black history and, although I knew the name W. E. DuBois, I knew nothing about him. I was not surprised by the amount of prejudice that Jessie had to face but I am always amazed by the determination of some people who succeed despite it.
I didn’t know about Jessie Fauset or her relationship with W. E. DuBois. I am so grateful more people will know of her accomplishments.
So much of this book was new to me. I’ve read Langston Hughes and some other names were familiar to me but I certainly didn’t know anything about Jessie
Just about everything. Before reading the book I didn’t know anything about Du Bois and Fauset. It was a walk through a history I never received in my high school or college classes.
This is true for a lot of us. Unless you took a specific kind of history class it wasn’t taught. I went to The University of Texas in Arlington and we never touched on this topic and certainly we didn’t in Warren, PA. That’s why I love Historical Fiction so much. It helps fill in holes in our education. I hope this author continues to write these stories.
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I was also unaware of Jessie Fauset. Her influence with Black authors during this period of time was enormous.
The whole story surprised me. I knew nothing about that publishing world or the characters. I enjoyed the book!
I was unaware of Jessie Fauset and of The Crisis magazine. Jessie gained so much fame and then more or less disappeared. I wanted her work as an editor to continue. It is also disheartening that more than one hundred years later so many struggles continue.
I didn’t know about Jessie and her relationship with WEB. I’m glad that her story was told.
Many things were new to me - more information about Du Bois and the beginning of the NAACP were probably the biggest. Faust was unknown to me prior to this book and also how Langston was discovered.
Even though I was aware of DuBois and Langston, I was not familiar with either’s writing. I am now exploring Langston’s contributions with much pleasure. I also was not aware of Dubois attraction to the opposite sex. He certainly enjoyed the company of many, didn’t he??