From Publishers Weekly
Now in her 80s, Webb reminisces on a life in which she nursed California migrant farm workers, posed for Dal¡ and organized for the Socialist Worker's Party. She financed these activities by working as an actress and model, mingling with people like Walter Winchell and James Baldwin. But the author, who is white, is perhaps best known for her relationships with intellectual black activists and writers Richard Wright and C.L.R. James. She befriended Wright in her 20s and, much later, became his biographer. She began corresponding with James at 19, after hearing him speak about racial politics. While her interest was initially romantic, the two corresponded for nearly a decade before marrying briefly (and having a son together). Clearly, Webb took risks, yet she describes how, as a young woman, she also conformed to norms. Indeed, she obeyed the teenage Socialist boys growing up in Fresno, Calif., who suggested she lose her virginity to her boyfriend because "neither you nor he will be able to concentrate on the most important aspect of your lives-the creation of a Leninist-Trotskyist Party-if either of you is sexually deprived." Webb is a good storyteller, but better editing could have yielded a more powerful social history. She uses little primary source material and doesn't cite interviews with comrades or family members. Webb's memoir ends in the late 1950s when, approaching 40, she questions and separates from the leftist political group she'd long identified with. She struggles with the separation, writing, "there is emotional safety in agreement with others and I was unused to thinking for myself except when dreaming." Readers are left to wonder what happens when Webb does start to think and act for herself. Photos. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
An extraordinary memoir of political activism, high-fashion glamour, and life with C. L. R. James.
From the Publisher
6 x 9 trim. 12 illus.
About the Author
CONSTANCE WEBB is author of Richard Wright: A Biography (1969) and co-author of the original Indignant Heart (1952). C. L. R. James's letters to Webb, written over the course of a decade, have been collected as Special Delivery: The Letters of C. L. R. James to Constance Webb, 1939-1948 (1996). She lives in San Francisco and has just completed editing The Nobbie Stories for Children and Adults written by James for his son, C.L.R. James, Jr. Webb is now at work on a novel, The Black Redeemer.
Not Without Love: Memoirs FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Constance Webb has led a remarkably full life as a committed political activist, a fashion model and actress, a writer whose works include the first biography of her friend Richard Wright, and the wife and confidante of one of the foremost intellectuals of the twentieth century, C. L. R. James." "Raised in Fresno, California, Webb became an ardent Trotskyist while still a teenager. After moving to Los Angeles, she remained politically active and met James on his first U. S. tour when he visited the city to speak. He fell in love instantly with her and established an epistolary relationship, offering advice and support during her two short lived marriages, the launching of her modeling career, an ill-fated affair with a well-known actor, and her move to New York City in the early '40s." "In New York, where she continued to model and act, Webb became a member of the inner circle of James's Johnson-Forest Tendency and eventually James's wife. She also established an enduring friendship with novelist Richard Wright and championed his work. Despite a sometimes-rocky marriage, James and Webb had a son together, but when James finally left the United States for England (under threat of deportation), Webb did not accompany him." Webb offers a candid memoir of political, sexual, and social awakening at a pivotal time in twentieth-century America. Politically committed, she was nevertheless repelled by the misogyny and petty feuds that often marred the actions of the left. She was able to earn her living by using her beauty, but she was compelled to live a double life because of the violent racism that surrounded her working days. Through James, before their marriage, she became a close friend of Wright, Ralph Ellison, Chester Himes, and James Baldwin. Webb provides first-hand portraits of the radical left, the African-American literary scene, and, especially, the intimate daily life and thoughts of C. L. R. James.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Now in her 80s, Webb reminisces on a life in which she nursed California migrant farm workers, posed for Dal and organized for the Socialist Worker's Party. She financed these activities by working as an actress and model, mingling with people like Walter Winchell and James Baldwin. But the author, who is white, is perhaps best known for her relationships with intellectual black activists and writers Richard Wright and C.L.R. James. She befriended Wright in her 20s and, much later, became his biographer. She began corresponding with James at 19, after hearing him speak about racial politics. While her interest was initially romantic, the two corresponded for nearly a decade before marrying briefly (and having a son together). Clearly, Webb took risks, yet she describes how, as a young woman, she also conformed to norms. Indeed, she obeyed the teenage Socialist boys growing up in Fresno, Calif., who suggested she lose her virginity to her boyfriend because "neither you nor he will be able to concentrate on the most important aspect of your lives-the creation of a Leninist-Trotskyist Party-if either of you is sexually deprived." Webb is a good storyteller, but better editing could have yielded a more powerful social history. She uses little primary source material and doesn't cite interviews with comrades or family members. Webb's memoir ends in the late 1950s when, approaching 40, she questions and separates from the leftist political group she'd long identified with. She struggles with the separation, writing, "there is emotional safety in agreement with others and I was unused to thinking for myself except when dreaming." Readers are left to wonder what happens when Webb does start to think and act for herself. Photos. (Nov. 7) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Art & Photography
Book Info
