Black Bottom saints : a novel

Select an Action

Author:

Randall, Alice, 1959- author.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Biographical fiction.

Abstract:

"From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph 'Ziggy' Johnson has been the pulse of Detroit's famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist for the city's African-American newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle, he is also the emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, where he's rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats. As he lays dying in the black-owned-and-operated Kirkwood Hospital, Ziggy reflects on his life, the community that was the center of his world, and the remarkable people who helped shape it"--Publisher marketing.

Geographic Term:

Black Bottom (Detroit, Mich.) -- Fiction.

Detroit (Mich.) -- Fiction.

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9780062968623

Physical Description:

361 pages ; 24 cm

Subject Term:

African Americans -- Fiction.

Gossip columnists -- Fiction.

African American celebrities -- Fiction.

African American artists -- Fiction.

Nightclubs -- Fiction.

African American neighborhoods -- Fiction.

Personal Author:

Randall, Alice, 1959- author.

Title:

Black Bottom saints : a novel

Available:*

Library	Shelf Number	Material Type	Status
Searching... Hattiesburg Library	FICTION RANDALL	Book	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

An enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit's legendary neighborhood, a mecca for jazz, sports, and politics, Black Bottom Saints is a powerful blend of fact and imagination reminiscent of E.L. Doctorow's classic novel Ragtime and Marlon James' Man Booker Award-winning masterpiece, A Brief History of Seven Killings.

From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph "Ziggy" Johnson, has been the pulse of Detroit's famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist for the city's African-American newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle, he is also the emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, where he's rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats.

As he lays dying in the black-owned-and-operated Kirkwood Hospital, Ziggy reflects on his life, the community that was the center of his world, and the remarkable people who helped shape it.

Inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Books, Ziggy curates his own list of Black Bottom's venerable "52 Saints." Among them are a vulnerable Dinah Washington, a defiant Joe Louis, and a raucous Bricktop. Randall balances the stories of these larger-than-life "Saints" with local heroes who became household names, enthralling men and women whose unstoppable ambition, love of style, and faith in community made this black Midwestern neighborhood the rival of New York City's Harlem.

Accompanying these "tributes" are thoughtfully paired cocktails--special drinks that capture the essence of each of Ziggy's saints--libations as strong and satisfying as Alice Randall's wholly original view of a place and time unlike any other.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Randall returns to adult fiction (after The Diary of B. B. Bright, Possible Princess) with a sprawling and intimate genre-bending chronicle of the adventures and tribulations of the extraordinary real-life Detroit emcee and theater director Joseph "Ziggy" Johnson (1913--1968). Through a narrative shaped as a book of saints's biographies, from poet Robert Hayden to singer Ethel Waters, Ziggy records his encounters with 16 famous and lesser-known characters who made Black Bottom, the commercial and residential heart of Detroit's black community in the early 20th century, into a destination for "breadwinners" fleeing the Jim Crow South in search of a better life. As Ziggy reflects on his life from his deathbed, the reader learns about the family he made from strangers and students--most notably the tennis player Althea Gibson, referred to throughout as "Colored Girl." Randall's portrait of black America sheds light on cultural history through startlingly personal moments, such as Ziggy dropping his Women's Club aunt Sadye Pryor's name for social currency. Whether chronicling famous historical figures or local characters, Randall makes Ziggy's saints worthy of his reflection. This works as a memorable love letter to Detroit, as well as a remarkable tableau. Agent: Marie Dutton Brown, Marie Brown Assoc. (Aug.)

Booklist Review

The heyday of twentieth-century Black culture is usually associated with New York's Harlem and Chicago's Bronzeville. But Detroit's Black Bottom surpassed the larger cities. So declares Ziggy Johnson, renowned dance teacher, club emcee, and entertainment columnist. On his deathbed, Ziggy recalls the splendor of a career spent in the company of entertainment luminaries and the striving Black middle and working classes. Ziggy drops and weaves names, including Dinah Washington, Bobby Short, Count Basie, Joe Louis, Josephine Baker, and Bricktop, with a nod towards a famed bartender, Thomas Bullock. Ziggy closes each entry with the recipe for a Bullock libation. Interwoven with Ziggy's accounts is the story of Colored Girl, one of Ziggy's most promising students. Colored Girl is tending to a dying and embittered mother who holds many secrets to her daughter's cherished memories of Detroit. Randall, author of the acclaimed Wind Done Gone (2001) and Ada's Rules (2012), draws on a real-life Ziggy Johnson, using his charisma and connections to reveal untold stories of Detroit and to celebrate an incredible network of artists and influences and the many ways of building community through church and club work but also through entertainment venues. This is an exuberant celebration of the arts, including the arts of living well and caring for others.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Each of Randall's books is a literary event, and readers will embrace this radiant celebration of African American art and culture.

Library Journal Review

An accomplished songwriter (e.g., "XXX's and OOO's"), NAACP award winner for Soul Food Love, and Phillis Wheatley Award winner for her YA literature, Randall also writes adult fiction, including the myth-challenging The Wind Done Gone. Here, as erstwhile nightclub emcee and gossip columnist Joseph "Ziggy" Johnson lies dying, he decides to compile a book of 52 saints (e.g., Dinah Washington, Joe Louis) he knew from Detroit's Black Bottom during the Great Depression to post-World War II years.