Overview

Gentleman Jigger stands as a landmark novel, celebrated for its candid exploration of Black sexuality set against the dynamic backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance. The story follows Stuartt, a defiantly queer artist, who navigates the complexities of racial and sexual identity in a period of profound cultural upheaval. Originating from a distinguished light-skinned Black family in Washington D.C., Stuartt immerses himself into the burgeoning arts scene of Harlem, where he aligns with the ""Niggeratti,"" a group of young, rebellious artists and writers. This collective boldly challenges their elders’ conviction that their creative endeavors should be dedicated solely to the advancement of racial equality. When their rebellion fizzles and they go their separate ways, Stuartt moves downtown to Greenwich Village where, where he fully indulges in his desires, intertwines with underworld figures, and achieves unexpected fame and fortune. It is also a world that, until his Hollywood debut, assumes that he is white. Part fictionalized autobiography, part social satire, Gentleman Jigger opens up a whole new dimension not only of the Harlem Renaissance but also of the racial and sexual politics of the Jazz Age.

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9781531508241

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Reviews

"Harlem Renaissance figure Nugent, who died in 1987, was a member of the self-proclaimed Niggerati that included Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and others. His never before published roman � clef, written between 1928 and 1933, is a mess of a novel that's still a useful first-hand account of Jazz Age identity politics. Book I features the exhilarating atmosphere of Harlem as the arts and intellectual movement catches fire. Unfortunately, the action is filtered through the eyes of Nugent's alter ego, Stuartt, who despite an intriguing mix of characteristics--he's a gay black man light-skinned enough to pass as white--is an insufferable narcissist. Shoehorned into the aimless scenes of gin-soaked parties--where Stuartt is always the star--are self-conscious but thought-provoking soliloquies about the age-old conundrum: race shouldn't matter, but it does. Decidedly more provocative is Book II, in which a more vulnerable Stuartt moves to Greenwich Village and sleeps his way to the top of the Italian underworld. It's shocking in the manner of pre-Code Hollywood, but the book, with its diffuse narrative and self-aggrandizing protagonist, suffers from its posthumous assembly.-- ""Publishers Weekly"""

Features the exhilarating atmosphere of Harlem as the arts and intellectual movement catches fire. . . . It's shocking in the manner of pre- Code Hollywood.-- ""Publishers Weekly"" One of the period's few significant lost novels and best satires.---Darryl Dickson-Carr, Studies in the Novel

Author Information

Robert J. Corber (Afterword By) Robert J. Corber is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor in American Institutions and Values at Trinity College. He is the author and editor of several books including, most recently, Cold War Femme: Lesbianism, National Identity, and Hollywood Cinema. Richard Bruce Nugent (Author) Richard Bruce Nugent (1906-1987) was an influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Co-founder of the avant-garde magazine FIRE!!, he was a pioneering African American writer, artist, and actor. His work, celebrated for its candid exploration of racial and sexual identity, continues to challenge the conventions of American literature and culture. Thomas H. Wirth (Edited By) Thomas H. Wirth was an independent scholar and the editor of works by Richard Bruce Nugent, Countee Cullen, and other figures in the Harlem Renaissance. Arnold Rampersad (Foreword By) Arnold Rampersad is Professor of English and the Sara Hart Kimball Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University. He has published numerous books, including biographies of Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, and Jackie Robinson.

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