Lorraine Hansberry, Charles J. Shields
Lorraine Hansberry, Charles J. Shields
1 Rating(s)
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
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Lorraine Hansberry
The Life behind A Raisin in the Sun

Author: Charles J. Shields

Narrator: Donald Corren

Unabridged: 12 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/22/2022


Synopsis

The moving story of the life of the woman behind A Raisin in the Sun, the most widely anthologized, read, and performed play of the American stage, by the New York Times bestselling author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper LeeWritten when she was just twenty-eight, Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark A Raisin in the Sun is listed by the National Theatre as one of the hundred most significant works of the twentieth century. Hansberry was the first Black woman to have a play performed on Broadway, and the first Black and youngest American playwright to win a New York Critics’ Circle Award.Charles J. Shields’s authoritative biography of one of the twentieth century’s most admired playwrights examines the parts of Lorraine Hansberry’s life that have escaped public knowledge: the influence of her upper-class background, her fight for peace and nuclear disarmament, the reason why she embraced Communism during the Cold War, and her dependence on her white husband―her best friend, critic, and promoter. Many of the identity issues about class, sexuality, and race that she struggled with are relevant and urgent today.This dramatic telling of a passionate life―a very American life through self-reinvention―uses previously unpublished interviews with close friends in politics and theater, privately held correspondence, and deep research to reconcile old mysteries and raise new questions about a life not fully described until now.

About Charles J. Shields

Charles J. Shields is the author of Harper Lee’s New York Times bestselling biography Mockingbird, the Kurt Vonnegut biography And So It Goes, and the biography of John Edward Williams, The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel. Shields has spoken to hundreds of large audiences in schools, libraries, museums, and historic theaters and appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide, including the Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Huffington Post, and New York Times.

About Donald Corren

Donald Corren is a stage, television, and voice actor whose work has been featured on and off Broadway, in regional theaters, and behind animated characters. He was trained in the theater division of the Juilliard School.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nancy on March 01, 2022

Before reading this biography I watched the movie A Raisin in the Sun. It’s a powerful movie, with fantastic performances. Little wonder that it is one of the 20th c most beloved plays that has moved people from all walks of life. I had images from the movie in mind as I went into the book, the kitch......more

Goodreads review by J Earl on September 22, 2021

Lorraine Hansberry: The Life Behind A Raisin in the Sun by Charles J Shields is an engrossing biography of a very interesting woman. Excellent as both a biography and a page-turner narrative. My initial interest in this book was simply wanting to know something about the writer of such an important w......more

Goodreads review by Vicky on September 21, 2022

Embracing Her Stars, Choosing Her Own Dreams We know Lorraine's pivitol work as A Raisin in the Sun, which premiered March 11, 1959 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on West Forty-Seventh Street (I've only personally seen the movie format.) But the play is merely the pinnacle of her larger life role as......more

Goodreads review by Bookreporter.com on January 23, 2022

Bestselling author Charles J. Shields takes a sage and scholarly look at the life of playwright, activist and feminist Lorraine Hansberry. Her powerful intellect and innate sensitivities enabled her to overcome many of the barriers confronting her because of her race and gender. Born to upwardly mobi......more

Goodreads review by Wanda on September 24, 2023

This isn’t just a biography of Lorraine Hansberry, the author of A Raisin in the Sun, it’s also an in-depth look into the social and political climate that influenced her work. It covers the emerging civil rights movement, the arms race, the rigid lifestyle mores of the era, as well as her family’s......more


Quotes

“All who admire or are curious about Hansberry will cherish this bracing and fascinating analysis of a life cut short.” Booklist (starred review)

“An illuminating portrait of Lorraine Hansberry and her tragically brief but formidable career…A revealing and rewarding biography documenting the life, work, and historical relevance of a great American author.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A fine introduction to Hansberry’s world.” Publishers Weekly

“Amid a welcome resurgence of interest in Lorraine Hansberry, Charles J. Shields’s biography is distinguished by its narrative verve, its sweeping research, and its deep dive into the playwright’s several families, given and chosen. The joint history of A Raisin in the Sun and its ever-young author has never been richer.” William J. Maxwell, author of F.B. Eyes