Zora Neale Hurston - A Biography of the Spirit (Hardcover)

The author of such great works as Their Eyes Were Watching God, Moses, Man of the Mountain, Jonah's Gourd Vine, and Mules and Men, as well as essays, folklore, short stories, poetry, and more, Zora Neale Hurston is regarded as an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most important and influential African American writers of the past century. Through numerous biographies, many have come to know and love Hurston, and her work has found its way into high school and college curriculums. "Lost years" have been found, birth dates discovered, and the intricacies of relationships with friends, spouses, and family members have been uncovered. Yet, there is still a part of Hurston's life that is not accounted for. Aware of the challenges she faced in terms of constant ill health, personal and professional disappointments, struggles to fund her projects, even the inability sometimes to buy groceries, one wonders: How did she do it? What did it take for Hurston to accomplish all that she did? What did it take for her to live through the struggles she experienced? What allowed her to live--not just survive, but live? This new biography takes into account the whole woman, the writer, the philosopher, and the spiritual soul, examining each as it is reflected in her career, fiction and nonfiction publications, social and political activity, and, ultimately, her death. When we ask what it is that animated the woman who achieved all that she did, we must necessarily probe further. Not one of the other existing biographies discusses or analyzes Hurston's spirituality in any sustained sense, even though this spirituality played a significant role in her life and works. As Plant shows, Zora Neale Hurston's ability to achieve and to endure all she did came from the courage of her convictions. She believed strongly in her self and knew her self-worth. The source of her thought, philosophy, and politics was a belief in self that was profoundly centered and anchored in spirituality.