Back on May 15, we announced that as a way to engage the online VSB community with the in-person monthly book club meeting, we’d post an open thread on the day of the actual book club meeting for those who aren’t in D.C. or who would rather have a convo about the book online. Well, today is the day of the book club meeting, so here we are.
Zora and Langston chronicles the friendship and then eventual falling out of the friendship between literary luminaries Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Set amidst the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance, their relationships with other prominent figures—Wallace Thurman is particularly fascinating to me, as both a writer and a figurehead—and the benefactors who propped them up, the book chronicles the rise and fall of their relationship.
It’s an interesting read for many reason, namely for seeing how the groups of writers take aim at one another. I’m fairly certain I’ll write an entirely separate article about this book and their relationship, but today, it’s about the community.
So if you read the book and have thoughts and opinions (or hot takes; I have hot takes aplenty), share them below and fire away. This is the first one we’ve done on the site, so I’m sure as we get our legs under us, this will become even more expansive and robust. Welcome to the VSB x Mahogany Books Monthly Book Club!