{"product_id":"a-matter-of-complexion-the-life-and-fictions-of-charles-w-chesnutt-hardcover","title":"A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eTess Chakkalakal\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA biography of Charles Chesnutt, one of the first American authors to write for both Black and white readers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eA Matter of Complexion, \u003c\/i\u003eTess Chakkalakal gives readers the first comprehensive biography of Charles W. Chesnutt. A complex and talented man, Chesnutt was born in 1858 in Cleveland to parents who were considered \"mixed race.\" He spent his early life in North Carolina after the Civil War. Though light-skinned, Chesnutt remained a member of the black community throughout his life. He studied among students at the State Colored Normal School who were formerly enslaved. He became a teacher in rural North Carolina during Reconstruction. His life in the South of those years, the issue of race, and how he himself identified as Black informed much of his later writing. He went on to become the first Black writer whose stories appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eAtlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e and whose books were published by Houghton Mifflin. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough his literary work, as a writer, critic, and speaker, Chesnutt transformed the publishing world by crossing racial barriers that divided black writers from white and seamlessly including both Black and white characters in his writing. In \u003ci\u003eA Matter of Complexion \u003c\/i\u003eChakkalakal pens the biography of a poor teacher raised in rural North Carolina during Reconstruction who became the first professional African American writer to break into the all-white literary establishment and win admirers as diverse as William Dean Howells, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, and Lorraine Hansberry.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 384\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 x 9.5 x 6.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 04, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42700834635839,"sku":"9781250287632","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/6c238d07fcf6505d8fae96885241beab.webp?v=1765018333","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/a-matter-of-complexion-the-life-and-fictions-of-charles-w-chesnutt-hardcover","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}