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American Cocktail: A “Colored Girl” in the World
This is the rollicking, never-before-published memoir of a fascinating African American woman with an uncanny knack for being in the right place in the most interesting times. Actress, dancer, model, literary critic, psychologist, and free-spirited provocateur, Anita Reynolds was, as her Parisian friends nicknamed her, an American Cocktail.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 11, 2014
American Cocktail: A "Colored Girl" in the World is a difficult book to assess. It is an historical document rather than a fully realized memoir. The forewords and introductions add context, but I recommend reading them afterwards, because they contain spoilers. Reynolds must have been a fascinating person and the book is fun to read. What is most interesting is how she seeks a stable identity as a light-skinned "colored girl." While never denying her identity, she wants to live in a world where skin color does not matter. Fifty years later Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would deliver one of the most important speeches ever written with the same moving plea, and fifty years after that the U .S. still fails to deliver on its promise.
Anita Reynolds sought sexual freedom, but was not licentious. Fleeing the U.S. she fit in perfectly with the Bohemian Paris of the 1920s and 1930s. However, as the. Germans invade France, she finds herself with crowds of Americans fleeing Europe. Her memoir ends there, although she went on to many other accomplishments in later life.
Her memoir is light and not terribly reflective, but what shines through is someone determined not to be politically correct and let others define her. She was one of the "talented tenth," well educated and well-to-do, but she wanted to be a chorus girl, not a teacher, and managed to get hired to dance. Her father sent her money to go to Wellesley College, but she used it to go to Paris. By and large she lived on her own terms, laughing and dancing and making friends everywhere. She represents an unusual window on the Jazz Age. She was happier and more successful than the tragic Zelda Fitzgerald. Not all the flappers ended their lives badly, even those who faced the challenges of being women of color in a changing, modern world.
It is a fascinating story, well worth reading.
Anita Reynolds sought sexual freedom, but was not licentious. Fleeing the U.S. she fit in perfectly with the Bohemian Paris of the 1920s and 1930s. However, as the. Germans invade France, she finds herself with crowds of Americans fleeing Europe. Her memoir ends there, although she went on to many other accomplishments in later life.
Her memoir is light and not terribly reflective, but what shines through is someone determined not to be politically correct and let others define her. She was one of the "talented tenth," well educated and well-to-do, but she wanted to be a chorus girl, not a teacher, and managed to get hired to dance. Her father sent her money to go to Wellesley College, but she used it to go to Paris. By and large she lived on her own terms, laughing and dancing and making friends everywhere. She represents an unusual window on the Jazz Age. She was happier and more successful than the tragic Zelda Fitzgerald. Not all the flappers ended their lives badly, even those who faced the challenges of being women of color in a changing, modern world.
It is a fascinating story, well worth reading.
March 31, 2021
An absolutely different kind of memoir and book, by a woman who challenged racial barriers with the help of her unique and varied DNA. She didn't intentionally pass, she just answered "I'm an American Cocktail" whenever anyone asked (and few rarely did) "what" or "who" she was, a weak try at racial determination.
Boundaries and barriers of all sorts found their permanence thwarted by Anita Reynolds' indifference, her charm, and willingness to join arms with those who found easy access through limited access doorways and gates. She didn't hesitate to climb into bedroom windows, either.
Here is a woman uniquely poised to have a memoir that could share the most amazing insights - her position throughout her life, along with the opportunities at the end of her life to get it down on paper were profound. And yet, this book, for all its interesting tidbits, are the self-centered memories of someone in the very middle of their own life, with very little vision to the larger picture. Although sometimes it is so close, a reader is looking up anything historical or in the public database that might tie what is being read, when she is a fly on the wall to astonishing moments, personalities and places in history to something documented. A few you find. A few are elusive, undocumented moments in her own life and maybe, if you are lucky, in the documented lives of those with whom she was interacting.
Despite the lack of ambition or purpose in writing beyond a kind of travel diary, this read still fascinates - a woman ahead of her time, impatient for everyone to catch up (but who doesn't really care if you don't). As a whole it reads more like a chronological report of events, relationships, many preferences, offenses, opportunities taken and refused, rather than a book with personal wisdom gained and shared from same. Generous name dropping. Focus is on checking boxes of the who, what, where and when of her days, and no elaboration on any of it.
This memoir provides a window, but it is one that will challenge readers when 'take aways' from the read are attempted - they are elusive. However, Anita Reynolds is clear on what being American is for her - she is a red, white and black American, and ever will be.
Boundaries and barriers of all sorts found their permanence thwarted by Anita Reynolds' indifference, her charm, and willingness to join arms with those who found easy access through limited access doorways and gates. She didn't hesitate to climb into bedroom windows, either.
Here is a woman uniquely poised to have a memoir that could share the most amazing insights - her position throughout her life, along with the opportunities at the end of her life to get it down on paper were profound. And yet, this book, for all its interesting tidbits, are the self-centered memories of someone in the very middle of their own life, with very little vision to the larger picture. Although sometimes it is so close, a reader is looking up anything historical or in the public database that might tie what is being read, when she is a fly on the wall to astonishing moments, personalities and places in history to something documented. A few you find. A few are elusive, undocumented moments in her own life and maybe, if you are lucky, in the documented lives of those with whom she was interacting.
Despite the lack of ambition or purpose in writing beyond a kind of travel diary, this read still fascinates - a woman ahead of her time, impatient for everyone to catch up (but who doesn't really care if you don't). As a whole it reads more like a chronological report of events, relationships, many preferences, offenses, opportunities taken and refused, rather than a book with personal wisdom gained and shared from same. Generous name dropping. Focus is on checking boxes of the who, what, where and when of her days, and no elaboration on any of it.
This memoir provides a window, but it is one that will challenge readers when 'take aways' from the read are attempted - they are elusive. However, Anita Reynolds is clear on what being American is for her - she is a red, white and black American, and ever will be.
January 19, 2015
This lady was some cookie and what makes her so fascinating also makes her memoir so frustrating. She lived in the middle of the most exciting times of the twentieth century - the birth of the movie industry in la, the New York of the Fitzgerald's, the Paris of Hemingway , Biarritz during the French surrender in 1939, and she did so as a mixed race independent woman. the events she describes are mind boggling - being offered a slave in Morocco, speaking to Man Ray before the fall of Paris, saving refugees from the Nazis, and all she seems to have to say about any of this was 'and then we had cocktails on the terrace, which was nice'. She seems like a very 'nice' person but one who had little ability to analyse what was going around her. She has a unique viewpoint and the opportunity to really say something interesting but she stops at describing slightly dull love affairs and the social standing of the hotels where she stayed. I was ultimately disappointed with her to the point of wishing to shake her by the shoulders and scream 'yes, but what was it actually like?????'.
December 25, 2014
With an excellent forward by Patricia Williams, and hard research work by Howard Miller and George Hutchinson (both professors in upstate NY), Anita Reynolds' story (recorded over years and then transcribed) is brought to light.
Reared in an upper-middle class African-American family in various parts of the United States, she headed young to Harlem and Greenwich Village for dancing and dating and schooling and then headed off to Paris to do the same. She talks her way on tape through Paris, Spain, Tunisia, Italy, Portugal, England - all over - and had the chance to meet, sometimes bed or wed, but certainly to inhale a cocktail of artists, politicos and poseurs. She followed her heart, sometimes her head, into a melange of adventure. Focused on 1920-1960 and a bit beyond in the end, she tripped the light fantastic with the likes of Picasso, Tonny, Man Ray, Valentino, Louise Bryant - the list is nearly endless.
Of "mixed blood" (as we all are), she recognized race and racism and anti-Semitism and all kinds of other "antis," but she didn't seem much taken by that beyond her own pleasure and desire.
In one sense, that's admirable. In another, it's unbelievable.
But what a life she lived as party girl, psychologist, professor, traveler-extraordinaire.
Reared in an upper-middle class African-American family in various parts of the United States, she headed young to Harlem and Greenwich Village for dancing and dating and schooling and then headed off to Paris to do the same. She talks her way on tape through Paris, Spain, Tunisia, Italy, Portugal, England - all over - and had the chance to meet, sometimes bed or wed, but certainly to inhale a cocktail of artists, politicos and poseurs. She followed her heart, sometimes her head, into a melange of adventure. Focused on 1920-1960 and a bit beyond in the end, she tripped the light fantastic with the likes of Picasso, Tonny, Man Ray, Valentino, Louise Bryant - the list is nearly endless.
Of "mixed blood" (as we all are), she recognized race and racism and anti-Semitism and all kinds of other "antis," but she didn't seem much taken by that beyond her own pleasure and desire.
In one sense, that's admirable. In another, it's unbelievable.
But what a life she lived as party girl, psychologist, professor, traveler-extraordinaire.
April 9, 2016
I have often wondered what I would do as a "American cocktail" during the interwar years myself... stay in racist America or head off to Europe to live as a "noble savage" among the cultural elite of France. Well, this little autobiography from Anita Thompson lets me know what that side of life was like for a strong-willed woman who left behind the color trappings of America and went off to live among the heroes of the age of Dada and the world of Surrealism, with a stopover in Morocco and England. Hers is an engaging story of someone who didn't care much about fascists or socialists or Hitler... but she did care about culture, art, fashion, and living a cultured life. It's a nice glimpse of life in the early 20th century, and while it's not the best of written books (she leaves a lot of facts out that need to be filled in with footnotes), she certainly captures the voice of the Roaring 20s and all those characters that you've ever read about during the Interwar years that you wish you could have hung out with at the local bistro.
April 15, 2014
Best description: Anita "was a strong woman---though not in a muscular sense...she was manipulative, arch, calculating, and rather reminiscent of Scarlett O'Farrell in full curtains - into - evening - gown mode." That says it all.
June 8, 2014
A really interesting biography. Anita grew up in a well-to-do family with some relatives including a brother that could "pass". She didn't but it didn't seem to matter. She did leave the US and went to France where she could thrive and live the life that she wanted. She associated with artists and writers -- people like Man Ray, Gertrude STein, Hemingway, James Joyce. Coco Chanel gave her "castoffs." She worked as a nurse in WW2 but left Lisbon for the US in 1940. Another thing I took out of this book is that leaving where one grew up for a place where people have no pre-conceived ideas about you, can give acceptance and allow growth to one's potential. So true!
November 18, 2021
"How long did it take you to get that wonderful tan?'
'I [Anita] gave out the slightest sigh and answered by rote: 'About four generations.'" (Foreword, 57)
AMERICAN COCKTAIL is an effervescent, gossipy memoir about a fascinating artsy young Black socialite. It's cosmopolitan and glamourous but lacks a whole lot of depth, her focus is on parties and the famous people she's met throughout her life. Anita is a bon vivant who was drawn to the arts and artists, posing for pictures and secondary roles as an actress in some early 1920s films. Honestly the forward was the best part, it contained so many great one liners;"However, I bit my tongue and said nothing; they were, after all, guests at my husband’s hotel. But it did enter my mind to tell them of the fate of the last white man who called my father “Nigger.” He was killed by a blow from a shoe." But it does give a breezy glimpse into the life of a member of the 'talented tenth' who led a charmed life, primarily due to her very light skin color and wealth. At the same time she shunned respectability politics while still relishing the privilege her family life provided her. I'd love to read a biography of Anita with some of her memories mixed in, she focuses often on the superficial and that left me wondering about some of the bigger moments she lived through, moments that a biography might spend more time excavating. Still it was an utterly delightful romp and is a great read for those who want something light, quippy and set in the Jazz Age.
“I feel a little guilty saying how much fun I had being a colored girl in the 20th century.”
'I [Anita] gave out the slightest sigh and answered by rote: 'About four generations.'" (Foreword, 57)
AMERICAN COCKTAIL is an effervescent, gossipy memoir about a fascinating artsy young Black socialite. It's cosmopolitan and glamourous but lacks a whole lot of depth, her focus is on parties and the famous people she's met throughout her life. Anita is a bon vivant who was drawn to the arts and artists, posing for pictures and secondary roles as an actress in some early 1920s films. Honestly the forward was the best part, it contained so many great one liners;"However, I bit my tongue and said nothing; they were, after all, guests at my husband’s hotel. But it did enter my mind to tell them of the fate of the last white man who called my father “Nigger.” He was killed by a blow from a shoe." But it does give a breezy glimpse into the life of a member of the 'talented tenth' who led a charmed life, primarily due to her very light skin color and wealth. At the same time she shunned respectability politics while still relishing the privilege her family life provided her. I'd love to read a biography of Anita with some of her memories mixed in, she focuses often on the superficial and that left me wondering about some of the bigger moments she lived through, moments that a biography might spend more time excavating. Still it was an utterly delightful romp and is a great read for those who want something light, quippy and set in the Jazz Age.
“I feel a little guilty saying how much fun I had being a colored girl in the 20th century.”
July 10, 2022
Academic aspirations, sloppily excecuted.
One should not argue with memoirs. Mrs. Reynolds was who she was and wrote about her life (or, rather, dictated her reminisces to a tape machine) as she did. She comes across as silly and vapid, shallow as a puddle. Many times she stresses that she preferred enjoying life's amenities (lovers, food, drink, the company of the well-known and, above all, dancing) to intellectual engagement with politics and social issues. Or racism. Her simple and simplistic panacea is that everyone should just get along and the world will be fixed. For someone who claims to have been deflowered by none other than W.E.B. Du Bois, she very casually recounts her time in North Africa, where she had more than one female slave, Fatimas. These Fatimas were apparently happy to be owned. Considering Mrs. Reynolds' own heritage, this attitude defies belief.
My main objection to this volume is the sloppy editorial work. The memoirs themselves are preceded by no less than 52 pages of academic blurb (a foreword, an introduction and notes on the text, all of which have a whiff of self-congratulation) and followed by more or less copious note. These notes leave very much to be desired. Often they are not really enlightening, some are repetitive and others fail to deliver context to the point of being inaccurate.
Mr. Hutchinson writes that "[… he has] corrected occasional misspellings …'
That is simply not true. Take the case of a recurring charachter, Mirod Guiness, as Mrs. Reynolds spells her. The person she refers to is Miraud Guinness and not worth a note to Mr. Hutchinson. The same is true for 'Mirette Oppenheimer', actually Meret Oppenheim.
One should not argue with memoirs. Mrs. Reynolds was who she was and wrote about her life (or, rather, dictated her reminisces to a tape machine) as she did. She comes across as silly and vapid, shallow as a puddle. Many times she stresses that she preferred enjoying life's amenities (lovers, food, drink, the company of the well-known and, above all, dancing) to intellectual engagement with politics and social issues. Or racism. Her simple and simplistic panacea is that everyone should just get along and the world will be fixed. For someone who claims to have been deflowered by none other than W.E.B. Du Bois, she very casually recounts her time in North Africa, where she had more than one female slave, Fatimas. These Fatimas were apparently happy to be owned. Considering Mrs. Reynolds' own heritage, this attitude defies belief.
My main objection to this volume is the sloppy editorial work. The memoirs themselves are preceded by no less than 52 pages of academic blurb (a foreword, an introduction and notes on the text, all of which have a whiff of self-congratulation) and followed by more or less copious note. These notes leave very much to be desired. Often they are not really enlightening, some are repetitive and others fail to deliver context to the point of being inaccurate.
Mr. Hutchinson writes that "[… he has] corrected occasional misspellings …'
That is simply not true. Take the case of a recurring charachter, Mirod Guiness, as Mrs. Reynolds spells her. The person she refers to is Miraud Guinness and not worth a note to Mr. Hutchinson. The same is true for 'Mirette Oppenheimer', actually Meret Oppenheim.
June 8, 2022
I really enjoyed seeing the world of the 1920s and 1930s through the eyes of Anita Thompson Reynolds. She experienced early Hollywood, the Left Bank of Paris, northern Africa, Spain at the beginning of civil war, and so much more, as a fairly affluent black woman whose racial identity was ambiguous. She presents the people and events frankly and with an eye honed to identify the absurd. Reynolds wrote this memoir decades after the events but apparently with the aid of detailed diaries. Thus, she is specific but also introspective. What a shame it was not published when she was alive but I am so glad it has surfaced now.
January 15, 2023
Met this avant garde artist (check notes to read who they are.) Partied and met this artist (check notes to read who they are.) Then went here and met this artist (check notes to read who they...)
Very redundant. Fleeting moments of insight about being an American of mixed heritage/Black and denigrated to your face without the offender knowing they're denigrating you.
The most jaw-dropping passage is when husband # ?? Charles throws a glass at her head, the first time he ever did anything violent to Anita, and he felt so badly after he went in the complete opposite direction politically and became anticolonialist/anti-imperialist, much to her chagrin.
Very redundant. Fleeting moments of insight about being an American of mixed heritage/Black and denigrated to your face without the offender knowing they're denigrating you.
The most jaw-dropping passage is when husband # ?? Charles throws a glass at her head, the first time he ever did anything violent to Anita, and he felt so badly after he went in the complete opposite direction politically and became anticolonialist/anti-imperialist, much to her chagrin.
June 30, 2024
She lived too fascinating a life for this to have taken me nearly 3 months to read. The writing DRONES ON in such a boring way. How does one take some of the most interesting experiences and make them impossible to get through? Her life is worth learning about, but unfortunately, find the Cliffs Notes version.
August 21, 2025
She knew the famous people of the Harlem Renaissance and Paris between the wars. She was in silent movies and she was a chorus girl in NY--and she went to college at the same time. She loved to dance and she hated fascism. I wish she had not stopped writing as soon as she escaped from France after the German invasion. How did she become a psychologist?
February 26, 2014
This book is about pre-WWII Anita Thompson's life. While it is extraordinary in the number of famous people she knew and associated with, and for an African-American woman it is amazing, it is simply a name dropping book. She used the Wellesley money her dad sent to hop off to France to attend Universite du Louvre. And from there, she was off to the races. So it's an adventure book as well. Did she add anything to our lives? No. Do I recommend this? Not really. There are lots better books with more to offer out there in the real world.
April 2, 2014
High-spirited, enterprising woman.
Notes
165...When she was living with a retired captain in England she learned "Esq." was reserved for "educated men", those who had gone to a "public school", what we would call a private school.
166.."elevenses" ...late breakfast of kippers & bacon & toast & tea & fruit
250...Deep Purple
notes 320...a silly, superficial, supercilious, sentimental, sad-sack song
258..I drummed up a conversation.
Notes
165...When she was living with a retired captain in England she learned "Esq." was reserved for "educated men", those who had gone to a "public school", what we would call a private school.
166.."elevenses" ...late breakfast of kippers & bacon & toast & tea & fruit
250...Deep Purple
notes 320...a silly, superficial, supercilious, sentimental, sad-sack song
258..I drummed up a conversation.
September 9, 2014
First of all, I didn't think it was well written. After reading or slogging thru this my conclusion is that she is a whore. Seems like she had more lovers than Cassonova ? She certainly had the knack of associating or mingling with the rich and had dollar signs in her eyes in terms of associating with people and lovers. She always seem to play the "race card" and keeps professing about the inequalities of the negro. Shallow woman and story ...
September 9, 2014
The fly-on-the-wall vibe would have made for a decent essay. It really didn't need to be a book.
February 10, 2016
Interesting memoir of a fascinating lady I'd never heard of before. Quick read of an incredible life!
December 29, 2016
Fun and fascinating memoir.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews