CARL VAN VECHTEN AND THE IRREVERENT DECADES

by Bruce Kellner

In a brilliant evocation of a whole age, from la belle époque through the legendary Twenties and postwar2, Bruce Kellner has traced the fascinating life of Carl Van Vechten, one of America's most distinguished men of letters.

Carl Van Vechten's story sparkles with the names of the century's most celebrated creative artists: Mary Garden, Theodore Dreiser, Isadora Duncan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, Hugh Walpole, George Jean Nathan, Bessie Smith, Talullah Bankhead, Fania Marinoff (who he married), H. L. Mencken, George Gershwin, James Weldon Johnson, Sinclair Lewis, Eugene O'Neill, Gertrude Stein, and many others, famous and infamous.

As friend and mentor, Van Vechten strolled among them through the liveliest periods in recent history. This biography documents that scintillating stroll, the landmarks it passed and those it established.

354 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Sketchbook · Rating 4 out of 5]

CVV was the ultimate culture maven. A literary and music critic, he was also the first dance critic on the NYT. CVV (1880-1964) championed the Ballets Russes, the music of Gershwin, Satie and Stravinsky. He pushed the li'try careers of Gert Stein, Firbank, Langston Hughes, James Purdy. Personal friends w Ethel Waters, Mabel Mercer and James Weldon Johson, he wrote about the Harlem Renaissance. After publishing seven witty novels of 'manners' in the 20s, he then devoted his life to photographing American icons. Independently rich he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

Bruce Kellner presents a recommended bio, which - given its publish date, 1968, while CVVs wife Fania Marinoff was alive - omits, at her demand, refs to his lengthy same-sex affairs and the "convenience" of his marriage (a praised character actress, Fania acted w Tallu when she sank on the Nile as Cleopatra). CVV was friends w everyone, fr Bennett Cerf to Ellen Glasgow (remember, she won a Pulitzer !) to H L Mencken and Scott Fitzgerald.

He knew how to crackle w humor. Djuna Barnes reports ("The Twenties" x Edmund Wilson) that a dazzled bookseller once asked CVV, "May I ask who you are, sir?" He replied: "Oh, I am Edna St Vincent Millay." Dorothy Parker was not amused: "He always has his tongue in someone else's cheek." A new bio in-progress by Clive Fisher (Knopf) may ask, Why not? Meantime, other than omitted sex passages, this is a zesty and fact-filled biography.

A recent CVV bio, "The Tastemaker" by Edward White, is boring. Fisher is sleuthing material that CVV had 2 children from 2 wives, who were placed with friends and family -- and, seemingly, never heard from or of again. In progress for years, I wonder if the Fisher book will ever be finished.

[Larry-bob Roberts]

It's pretty much the only biography of Van Vechten. It's out of print and really glosses over the homosexual aspects of Van Vechten's life, perhaps out of deference to his wife who was still living at the time. There seriously needs to be an update or a new biography. The collections of letters and photos published since this volume are a nice supplement, but no substitute for a truly complete biography.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a lot of names from the first half of the 20th century then Carl provides it. I found his comments on music most rewarding but the book provides only extracts, not much substance. Gertrude Stein and Mabel Dodge Luhan are primary characters.

I would like to read his book: Nigger Heaven, which is discussed.

I knew most of these people involved in his life and the book is basically a connect-the-dots between people, places, and times.