DarkestAmerica_JKT

About the book

In Darkest America, Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen investigate the complex history of black minstrelsy, adopted in the mid-nineteenth century by African American performers who played the grinning blackface fool to entertain black and white audiences. We now consider minstrelsy an embarrassing relic, but once blacks and whites alike saw it as a black art form—and embraced it as such. And, as the authors reveal, black minstrelsy remains deeply relevant to popular black entertainment, particularly in the work of contemporary artists like Dave Chappelle, Flavor Flav, Spike Lee, and Lil Wayne. Darkest America explores the origins, heyday, and present-day manifestations of this tradition, exploding the myth that it was a form of entertainment that whites foisted on blacks, and shining a sure-to-be controversial light on how these incendiary performances can be not only demeaning but also, paradoxically, liberating.

Events

February 23, 2:00 pm. Reading. Parnassus Books, 3900 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37215.

Reviews

  • SALON
    “A fulsome summary of black minstrelsy’s indelible effect on American popular culture. [The authors] reference all the key figures and historical debates and their basic conclusions are sound. . . . [Their] points need to be made (and remade for new audiences), because without them we cannot begin to understand the persistence and importance of African American folkways in contemporary popular culture.”
  • KEVIN YOUNG, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
    “[A] thoughtful book . . . Darkest America shines. . . . [It includes] great discussions of the controversial Amos ’n’ Andy; black singers recording ‘songs of Southern nostalgia, a mainstay of the minstrel tradition’; Ben Vereen’s performing in blackface at Ronald Reagan’s inauguration; and Spike Lee’s Bamboozled, which [the authors] persuasively contend is his best film.”
  • MILWAUKEE SHEPHERD EXPRESS
    "Taylor and Austen infuse their fascinating cultural history with tension and complexity. . . . [A] nuanced account."
  • SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
    “Exciting . . . convincing . . . entertaining and well-paced . . . rich in detail.”
  • CHICAGO READER
    "Sure-footed, thoughtful, and perceptive . . . a graceful and erudite rediscovery of what may be our most inspiring, shameful, and American art form."
  • LOS ANGELES TIMES
    “A fascinating and authoritative critical history. . . . A thoughtful and well-written exploration of themes that cut to the heart of our national identity and culture.”
  • ROBERT CHRISTGAU, BARNES & NOBLE REVIEW
    “In the long, powerful title chapter, [the authors] tell a story absent from the many minstrelsy studies to arrive since Robert Toll’s Blacking Up in 1974. . . . Their polemic is convincing.”
  • PRESTON LAUTERBACH, WALL STREET JOURNAL
    “While the authors acknowledge the appalling truth about minstrelsy, its carefree trafficking in vicious stereotype, they also successfully suggest that we’ve averted our eyes too quickly. . . . Darkest America contains delicious twists . . . [and] carries a truth so heavy it trumps race.”
  • LIBRARY JOURNAL
    "[This] illuminating book demonstrates serious regard for the history of black performance and . . . encourages further exploration. It will interest both general readers and specialists in black entertainment."
  • KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred)
    "A provocative, compelling exploration of one of the most controversial elements of the black entertainment world. . . . The authors take a kaleidoscopic look at their topic, emphasizing a diverse range of individuals and works. . . . An innovative, marvelous book about comedy, stereotypes and the struggle to steer through the sometimes fierce internal debates over African-American identity in a society still struggling with its racial past."
  • PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
    "A comprehensive and perceptive history and critique of black minstrelsy. . . . This well-informed work deepens our understanding of a lasting element of American culture."
  • JAMES GAVIN, author of Lena Horne:
    "Before Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen wrote this important book, the minstrel era had regressed into vague and dusty African American history; its aftereffects were felt but little understood. Darkest America plunges us back into an unenlightened age and shows us that the villains and the heroes aren't always who we thought they were. Taylor and Austen's book is a meticulously researched, eye-opening, action-packed read."