Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition, 1892-1976 Book

For die-hards only.
As a coffee table book to thumb through, it is lovely. To read this one cover to cover is a project.
Every angle of this author's life is covered and then some...from the academic to the touristy to the fan to the family. There are recipes, travel itineraries, addresses, look-alikes...we talk about her beaus, her cats, her cars, her gardens...
It will feel somewhat dated, especially in the second half when there's a lot about email listservs and addresses of places to write. Like any fandom, how you connect to this one changes and a 20 year old book isn't really going to help. It also will feel like insider baseball with biographies of biographers.
All that said, for the fans among us, and there are many, this is one you must take a look at. It will bring you closer to one of the most iconic writers of her time and place.