UI Press | Carl Van Vechten | The Splendid Drunken Twenties: Selections from the Daybooks, 1922-1930

The Splendid Drunken Twenties

Selections from the Daybooks, 1922-1930

A startling record of the Jazz Age through the eyes of one of its memorable figures

Between 1922 and 1930, Carl Van Vechten--one of the most significant figures of the Harlem Renaissance--kept a daily record of his activities. The records recount his day-to-day life, as well as the alliances, drinking habits, feuds, and affairs of a wide number of the period's luminaries, providing a rich resource for reconstructing the culture of 1920s New York and the social milieu during Prohibition. Bruce Kellner has provided copious, informative notes identifying central figures and clarifying details.

"This unique document stands alone in its monumental recordings of the comings, goings, and doings of a diverse and fascinating group of prominent writers, artists, publishers, actors, producers, activists, and more. With his painstaking editing and annotation, Kellner has done a tremendous service to all scholars of the period."--Thadious Davis, author of Nella Larsen, Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance: A Woman's Life Unveiled

Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964) was a writer, photographer, and music critic famous for his popularization of African-American culture as portrayed in his 1926 novel, Nigger Heaven. Bruce Kellner is the biographer of Carl Van Vechten and the author of numerous books and articles on literature, art, and the theater.