Early, Gerald

Tuxedo Junction: Essays on American Culture

ISBN: 0880012323
New York, NY, USA: The ECCO Press, 1989. First Edition. Hardcover. "I identified with "Howl" because it talked about a world I could identify with and relate to. His language and his rhythyms were real to me. Unlike the cold edges of "The New Yorker" poem that had made me cry, Ginsberg talked of a different world, one much closer to my own..." (Amiri Baraka, pg. 204). "Tuxedo Junction" is the first book from American essayist and culture critic Gerald Early (b. 1952). He is currently the Merle Kling Professor of Modern letters, English, African studies, African-American studies, American culture studies, and Director of Center for Joint Projects in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, his alma mater. Early overcame the childhood hardships of being orphaned at nine months old to being raised around the gang culture of Philadelphia, P.A. to become one of the premiere culture critics and consultants to Ann Arbor's own documentarian Ken Burns (b.1953), collaborating on lauded films such as "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," "The War," and "Muhammad Ali." In "Tuxedo Junction," Early discusses racial issues in contemporary American society, with an emphasis on Black writing, art, and culture, featuring appraisals of James Baldwin (1924-1987), Jesse Jackson (b. 1941) and Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones; 1934-2014), the controversial poet & publisher of many Beat Generation legends including Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), and Diane DiPrima (1934-2020), many of whose work you can find in-store or on our website. From the collection of Laurence Goldstein (1943-2023), a renowned poet, author, critic, editor & academician at the University of Michigan. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket: First edition as stated at copyright page, presumed first printing though not indicated as such thereon. A top-tier Early collectible, greatly enriched by its distinguished association & provenance. Book in relatively fine-to-very fine condition with slight age-toning mostly to top fine edges of front and back cover; minor bumping to corners of front, back cover & spine; minor rubbing & chipping to text block. Interior fine-to-very fine with minor discoloration to blank green front endpaper. Dust jacket in fine-to-very fine condition with moderate age-toning at mostly fine edges of front and interior; minor bumping to fine edges of same. Fine-Very Fine / Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8060]

Price: $50.00