{"product_id":"harlem-shadows-9781513299341","title":"Harlem Shadows","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHarlem Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e (1922) is a poetry collection by Claude McKay. Published at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, \u003ci\u003eHarlem Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e earned praise from legendary poet and political activist Max Eastman for its depictions of urban life and the technical mastery of its author. As a committed leftist, McKay-who grew up in Jamaica-captures the life of Harlem from a realist's point of view, lamenting the poverty of its African American community while celebrating their resilience and cultural achievement. In \"The White City,\" McKay observes New York, its \"poles and spires and towers vapor-kissed\" and \"fortressed port through which the great ships pass.\" Filled him with a hatred of the inhuman scene of industry and power, forced to \"muse [his] life-long hate,\" he observes the transformative quality of focused anger: \"My being would be a skeleton, a shell, \/ If this dark Passion that fills my every mood, \/ And makes my heaven in the white world's hell, \/ Did not forever feed me vital blood.\" Rather than fall into despair, he channels his hatred into a revolutionary spirit, allowing him to stand tall within \"the mighty city.\" In \"The Tropics in New York,\" he walks past a window filled with \"Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root, \/ Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,\" a feast of fresh tropical fruit that brings him back, however briefly, to his island home of Jamaica. Recording his nostalgic response, McKay captures his personal experience as an immigrant in America: \"My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze; \/ A wave of longing through my body swept, \/ And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, \/ I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.\" With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Claude McKay's \u003ci\u003eHarlem Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMcKay, Claude:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eClaude McKay\u003c\/b\u003e (1889-1948) was a Jamaican poet and novelist. Born in Sunny Ville, Jamaica, McKay was raised in a strict Baptist family alongside seven siblings. Sent to live with his brother Theo, a journalist, at the age of nine, McKay excelled in school while reading poetry in his free time. In 1912, he published his debut collection \u003ci\u003eSongs of Jamaica\u003c\/i\u003e, the first poems written in Jamaican Patois to appear in print. That same year, he moved to the United States to attend the Tuskegee Institute, though he eventually transferred to Kansas State University. Upon his arrival in the South, he was shocked by the racism and segregation experienced by Black Americans, which--combined with his reading of W. E. B. Du Bois' work--inspired him to write political poems and to explore the principles of socialism. He moved to New York in 1914 without completing his degree, turning his efforts to publishing poems in \u003ci\u003eThe Seven Arts\u003c\/i\u003e and later \u003ci\u003eThe Liberator\u003c\/i\u003e, where he would serve as co-executive editor from 1919 to 1922. Over the next decade, he would devote himself to communism and black radicalism, joining the Industrial Workers of the World, opposing the efforts of Marcus Garvey and the NAACP, and travelling to Britain and Russia to meet with communists and write articles for various leftist publications. McKay, a bisexual man, was also a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, penning \u003ci\u003eHarlem Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e (1922), a successful collection of poems, and \u003ci\u003eHome to Harlem\u003c\/i\u003e (1928), an award-winning novel exploring Harlem's legendary nightlife.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mint Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50382417789202,"sku":"9781513299341","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9544494f-ad92-4d66-8d7f-9915f382247c.jpg?v=1728711544","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/harlem-shadows-9781513299341","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}