Dancing in the Dark

by Caryl Phillips

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In this searing novel, Caryl Phillips reimagines the life of the first black entertainer in the U.S. to reach the highest levels of fame and fortune.After years of struggling for success on the stage, Bert Williams (1874--1922), the child of recent immigrants from the Bahamas, made the radical decision to don blackface makeup and play the "coon." Behind this mask he became a Broadway headliner-as influential a comedian as Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and W. C. Fields, who called him "the show more funniest man I ever saw, and the saddest man I ever knew." It is this dichotomy at Williams' core that Phillips explores in this richly nuanced, brilliantly written novel, unblinking in its attention to the sinister compromises that make up an identity. show less

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31+ Works 2,398 Members
Caryl Phillips, 1958 - Author Caryl Phillips was born in St. Kitts on March 13, 1958. He received a B.A. with honors from Oxford University and soon after began his writing career. He is now professor at Yale University and a visiting professor at Barnard College of Columbia University. Phillips has received many awards and fellowships and was show more appointed to the post of chief editor of the Faber and Faber Caribbean writers' series. Phillips' writing explores the challenges of dealing with such divisions as race and heritage, and investigates how they were created in the first place. In "Cambridge," he presents his characters confused identities and frequently compares their personal histories and questions the process of how stories become known as history. He draws links between groups, like the Jews during the Holocaust or Victorian women, to make analogies for the West Indian situation. (Bowker Author Biography) Caryl Phillips is the author of seven previous books. He divides his time between New York City and London. (Publisher Provided) show less

Some Editions

Dorsman, Robert (Translator)
Graham, Dion (Narrator)

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Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
DDC/MDS
823.914Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-1901-19991945-1999
LCC
PR9275 .S263 .P47285Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish LiteratureEnglish literature: Provincial, local, etc.
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277,068
Rating
½ (3.64)
Languages
Dutch, English, Portuguese, Swedish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
14
ASINs
3