'Bert Williams is the funniest man I ever saw, and the saddest man I ever knew.' W. C. Fields Born in the Bahamas in 1874 and brought up there and in Los Angeles Bert Williams was disappointed early in life when his attempt to enter Stanford University was thwarted by his family's poverty. His early forays into the West Coast entertainment business saw him fare no better. After a time playing African 'savages' in white companies with his friend and theatrical partner-to-be George Walker, they made the agonising decision to ...
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'Bert Williams is the funniest man I ever saw, and the saddest man I ever knew.' W. C. Fields Born in the Bahamas in 1874 and brought up there and in Los Angeles Bert Williams was disappointed early in life when his attempt to enter Stanford University was thwarted by his family's poverty. His early forays into the West Coast entertainment business saw him fare no better. After a time playing African 'savages' in white companies with his friend and theatrical partner-to-be George Walker, they made the agonising decision to 'play the coon'. Off-stage, Williams was a tall, light-skinned man with marked poise and dignity but on-stage he now became a shuffling, inept 'nigger' who pulled a wig of kinky hair over his head, wore blackface make-up, and concealed his hands in gloves. They were an immediate hit with Walker playing the dapper, straight man, and Williams the bumbling fool. As the new century dawned they were headlining on Broadway and amongst the highest-paid entertainers in the country. But the mask was beginning to overwhelm Williams who felt increasingly degraded by his situation and began to sink into bouts of melancholia and heavy drinking. After his more flamboyant partner died in 1911 the continued personal humiliations that accompanied his professional success became difficult to bear. In 1921, after a lifetime of being denied top-billing because of his colour, his name was in lights as he headlined in the musical comedy 'Under The Bamboo Tree'. He was leading an entirely white company but he was still trapped in blackface. Dancing in the Dark is an outstanding novel as much about the tragedy of race and identity, and the perils of reinvention, as it is about the life of one remarkable man.
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Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $1.33, good condition, Sold by BookHolders rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gambrills, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $2.67, good condition, Sold by BooksRun rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Philadelphia, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf.
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It's a preowned item in good condition and includes all the pages. It may have some general signs of wear and tear, such as markings, highlighting, slight damage to the cover, minimal wear to the binding, etc., but they will not affect the overall reading experience.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $4.00, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf.
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Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $4.03, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $4.84, very good condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Secker & Warburg.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $4.98, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $6.00, very good condition, Sold by Pomfret Street Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Carlisle, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $7.00, like new condition, Sold by Powell's Books Chicago rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $7.00, very good condition, Sold by Book Alley rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pasadena, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Dancing in the Dark to cart. $8.50, very good condition, Sold by Powell's Books Chicago rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Vintage.
