My Soul Looks Back
My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir is a memoir by cookbook author and food historian Jessica B. Harris,[1][2] particularly describing on her life and friendships with major black writers including James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison in New York City in the 1970s.
Author | Jessica B. Harris |
---|---|
Language | English |
Subject | Autobiography |
Genre | Memoir |
Publisher | Scribner |
Publication date | 2017 |
Pages | 255 |
ISBN | 978-1-5011-2590-4 (Hardcover) |
Content and reception
Publishers Weekly described the book as "a lively, entertaining, and informative recounting of a time and place that shaped and greatly enriched American culture,"[2] namely Harris's life as a young person in New York City in the 1970s amid black authors including James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison; Harris was introduced to this circle through her romantic relationship with Sam Floyd, Baldwin's best friend.[4] Reviewing the book for The New York Times, critic Dwight Garner described it as having a "simmering warmth" and "was never, to this reader, uninteresting" even if it also had a "softness of focus", suggesting at times the book fails to "recall the best lines and jokes" from the literati Harris describes.[5]
References
- Evans, Dayna (May 9, 2017). "What It Was Like to Live Among James Baldwin and Maya Angelou in 1970s New York". The Cut. New York Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- "Nonfiction Book Review: My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir by Jessica B. Harris. Scribner, $25 (272p) ISBN 978-1-5011-2590-4". Publishers Weekly. March 27, 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- "MY SOUL LOOKS BACK by Jessica B. Harris". Kirkus Reviews. March 2, 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- Larson, Susan (May 22, 2017). "Soul stirrer: In new memoir, culinary historian Jessica Harris looks back at a life well lived". The Advocate. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
- Garner, Dwight (9 May 2017). "'My Soul Looks Back' Warmly Recalls New York's Black Elite in the 1970s". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
External links
- My Soul Looks Back at Simon & Schuster