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How I Became Hettie Jones
Greenwich Village in the 1950s was a haven to which young poets, painters, and jazz musicians flocked. Among them was Hettie Cohen, who'd been born into a middle-class Jewish family in Queens and who'd chosen to cross racial barriers to marry the controversial black poet LeRoi Jones. Theirs was a bohemian life in the awakening East Village of underground publishing and jazz lofts, through which drifted such icons of the generation as Allen Ginsberg, Thelonious Monk, Jack Kerouac, Frank O'Hara, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and Franz Kline.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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1024 people want to read
About the author
Hettie Jones
37 books51 followersHettie Jones (born 1934 as Hettie Cohen) is best known as the first wife of Amiri Baraka, known as LeRoi Jones at the time of their marriage, but is also a writer herself.
While known for her poetry, she has received acclaim for her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones (published 1990 by Grove Press).
Jones held various clerical jobs at Partisan Review and started the literary magazine Yugen with her husband. Jones is currently on the faculty in the graduate program in creative writing at The New School in New York City. From 1989-2002 she ran a writing workshop at the New York State Correctional Facility for Women at Bedford Hills, which included inmate Judy Clark as a student, and which published a nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border. Jones is a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee and is currently a member of PEN's Advisory Council.
(from Wikipedia)
While known for her poetry, she has received acclaim for her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones (published 1990 by Grove Press).
Jones held various clerical jobs at Partisan Review and started the literary magazine Yugen with her husband. Jones is currently on the faculty in the graduate program in creative writing at The New School in New York City. From 1989-2002 she ran a writing workshop at the New York State Correctional Facility for Women at Bedford Hills, which included inmate Judy Clark as a student, and which published a nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border. Jones is a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee and is currently a member of PEN's Advisory Council.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
October 26, 2020
Everybody knows of the male poets and authors of the Beat Generation, those such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Joel Oppenheimer, Frank O'Hara and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Well, what about the women of the group?! I wanted to check them out too. Having recently enjoyed the writing of Joyce Johnson, next up to try was this--How I Became Hettie Jones by Hettie Jones. The two were friends.
The autobiographical piece here is about Hettie’s younger years in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, living in Manhattan—Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Cooper Square on the Lower East Side. She rubbed shoulders with many of the Beat Generation living here, those mentioned above and many more. Quite a few I had not heard of before. She writes of her life, on the periphery of their lives. Together, they partied, smoked grass, took drugs and exchanged views and partners. They were into jazz, wrote poetry and strove to get their writings published and known. Through Hettie’s life we view the Beat scene.
Let me backtrack—born Hettie Cohen in 1934, in Brooklyn, New York, Hettie was of Jewish descent. She turned down Vassar and chose instead to study at Mary Washington, an all-girls college in Virginia. Later she continued her studies at Columbia University, with a side job at a foundation to make ends meet. When the funding there dried up, she took on a job at the Record Changer, a magazine published for record collectors. She was the subscription manager. There she met her to-be husband, LeRoi Jones, employed as the magazine’s shipping manager. He is black. She is white. This doesn’t matter; they love each other. She is naïve, he less so. Both are caught up in the poetry, arts and music scene. Both have writing ambitions. In 1957, they together start the literary magazine Yugen. It promoted the authors of the Beat scene. Then in 1958, they got married. Soon after, follow two kids—Kellie born in 1959 and Lisa in 1961. Then, of course, arises the question of who should do what? Who will mind the kids? Their marriage begins to fall apart. Readers are not subjected to screaming battles, but social standards being what they were in the 50s if she wanted a job it was up to her to make it work. A nanny is employed, but when LeRoi fathers a daughter with poet Diane DiPrima, Hettie and LeRoi divorce. This after a little less than seven years of marriage. He moves to Harlem, she stays in place.
The book draws the Beat Generation through the lens of Hettie’s life. Through her, readers are shown what it was really like, in the 1950s, to have an interracial marriage, to be white skinned and have kids of color, how it was to be a single mother, to both love your kids but at the same time yearn for a job that fulfills one’s own interests. Such a job gives a woman a sense of freedom. Social standards being what they were, men and women simply could not view having a job of one’s choice in the same way.
Readers are served up New York City in the 1950s. Having myself lived on the East Side during the 50s, I think the author has captured the tone and the feel of the place extremely well.
All is drawn in a straightforward prose, with an added touch of humor. One example must suffice. Kellie says to her Mom, i.e. Hettie,
“You know, Ma, your lap is fine, but you ought to sit on Grandma!”
Hettie’s relationship with her own mother was not the best. LeRoi’s parents, living in Newark, became much closer to her and the two kids
I do feel that what we are told has some holes. I would have liked to have learned more about Hettie’s relationship with her kids. I didn’t come to know LeRoi very well. We are privy to her thoughts, but not his. Nor does the book cover Hettie’s entire life. Although we get a good feel for the lifestyle of those of the Beat Generation, there are few specifics detailing the lives of the group’s trendsetters.
In reading this book I have gotten a good sense of how Hettie grew into herself, how she came to stand on her own two feet. Hettie is today still alive. She continues to reside in the apartment at Cooper Square 27, where she and LeRoi set up home in 1962. She is now eighty five years old!
Bernadette Dunne narrates the audiobook very well. The prose demands good pacing, and she does this well. Four stars for the audio narration. It is easy to follow; the words are clearly spoken.
*****************
Female authors of the Beat Generation:
*In the Night Cafe 5 stars
*Bad Connections 4 stars
*Come and Join the Dance by Joyce Johnson 4 stars
*How I Became Hettie Jones by Hettie Jones 3 stars
The autobiographical piece here is about Hettie’s younger years in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, living in Manhattan—Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Cooper Square on the Lower East Side. She rubbed shoulders with many of the Beat Generation living here, those mentioned above and many more. Quite a few I had not heard of before. She writes of her life, on the periphery of their lives. Together, they partied, smoked grass, took drugs and exchanged views and partners. They were into jazz, wrote poetry and strove to get their writings published and known. Through Hettie’s life we view the Beat scene.
Let me backtrack—born Hettie Cohen in 1934, in Brooklyn, New York, Hettie was of Jewish descent. She turned down Vassar and chose instead to study at Mary Washington, an all-girls college in Virginia. Later she continued her studies at Columbia University, with a side job at a foundation to make ends meet. When the funding there dried up, she took on a job at the Record Changer, a magazine published for record collectors. She was the subscription manager. There she met her to-be husband, LeRoi Jones, employed as the magazine’s shipping manager. He is black. She is white. This doesn’t matter; they love each other. She is naïve, he less so. Both are caught up in the poetry, arts and music scene. Both have writing ambitions. In 1957, they together start the literary magazine Yugen. It promoted the authors of the Beat scene. Then in 1958, they got married. Soon after, follow two kids—Kellie born in 1959 and Lisa in 1961. Then, of course, arises the question of who should do what? Who will mind the kids? Their marriage begins to fall apart. Readers are not subjected to screaming battles, but social standards being what they were in the 50s if she wanted a job it was up to her to make it work. A nanny is employed, but when LeRoi fathers a daughter with poet Diane DiPrima, Hettie and LeRoi divorce. This after a little less than seven years of marriage. He moves to Harlem, she stays in place.
The book draws the Beat Generation through the lens of Hettie’s life. Through her, readers are shown what it was really like, in the 1950s, to have an interracial marriage, to be white skinned and have kids of color, how it was to be a single mother, to both love your kids but at the same time yearn for a job that fulfills one’s own interests. Such a job gives a woman a sense of freedom. Social standards being what they were, men and women simply could not view having a job of one’s choice in the same way.
Readers are served up New York City in the 1950s. Having myself lived on the East Side during the 50s, I think the author has captured the tone and the feel of the place extremely well.
All is drawn in a straightforward prose, with an added touch of humor. One example must suffice. Kellie says to her Mom, i.e. Hettie,
“You know, Ma, your lap is fine, but you ought to sit on Grandma!”
Hettie’s relationship with her own mother was not the best. LeRoi’s parents, living in Newark, became much closer to her and the two kids
I do feel that what we are told has some holes. I would have liked to have learned more about Hettie’s relationship with her kids. I didn’t come to know LeRoi very well. We are privy to her thoughts, but not his. Nor does the book cover Hettie’s entire life. Although we get a good feel for the lifestyle of those of the Beat Generation, there are few specifics detailing the lives of the group’s trendsetters.
In reading this book I have gotten a good sense of how Hettie grew into herself, how she came to stand on her own two feet. Hettie is today still alive. She continues to reside in the apartment at Cooper Square 27, where she and LeRoi set up home in 1962. She is now eighty five years old!
Bernadette Dunne narrates the audiobook very well. The prose demands good pacing, and she does this well. Four stars for the audio narration. It is easy to follow; the words are clearly spoken.
*****************
Female authors of the Beat Generation:
*In the Night Cafe 5 stars
*Bad Connections 4 stars
*Come and Join the Dance by Joyce Johnson 4 stars
*How I Became Hettie Jones by Hettie Jones 3 stars
November 20, 2014
I really enjoyed reading this book. An old friend recommended it to me many months ago and I ordered a used copy, but it sat in a stack until we reached the unit on the Beats in a MOOC course I am taking for the third time, ModPo (Modern and Contemporary American Poetry, Coursera:Penn). So I started it to get more insight into the Beats and the New York School and I couldn't put it down. We all need motivation, inspiration, and renewal and this memoir contains all and more in spadefuls. It also reveals the seamy side of a time we might tend to over-romanticize, but in a very human and uplifting way. As a librarian, I can say it is a narrative chocked full of meaty and juicy metadata. As a poet, I can attest that it is a wonderful cross-sectional slice of poetry, music and art - live and breathing. I love this book!
January 12, 2014
I started leaving home when I was six and weighed thirty-eight pounds. Lying on a mountainside, where my sister and I were at summer camp, I had my hands in the air pretending to weave the clouds, as I had that morning begun weaving a basket.
Hettie Cohen (1934-) grew up in a middle class home in the largely Jewish neighborhood of Laurelton in Queens, New York. Her parents were distant and formal, but they unconditionally loved their youngest daughter. As she approached adulthood they encouraged her to pursue her desire to be her own person, free of the stifling restraints that trapped most women in early 1950s America:
Men had little use for an outspoken woman, I'd been warned. What I wanted, I was told, was security and upward mobility, which might be mine if I learned to shut my mouth. Myself I simply expected, by force of will, to assume a new shape in the future. Unlike any woman in my family or anyone I'd ever actually known, I was going to become—something, anything, whatever that meant.
After attending Mary Washington College in conservative segregated Virginia and graduate school at Columbia, she settled down in New York. She made friends, had several lovers of various backgrounds, and reveled in the life of a single woman in a city that allowed its youth a degree of space to shed cultural expectations and live freely. She found work as a subscription manager for an magazine about jazz records, and one day at work she was asked to interview a candidate for the job of shipping manager:
The applicant, arrived on a gust of sweet afternoon, turned out to be a young black man, no surprise. It was he who was surprised. "You're reading Kafka!" he said happily.
I sat him down and we started to talk. He was smart, and very direct, and for emphasis stabbed the air with his third—not index—finger, an affectation to notice, of course. But his movements were easy, those of a man at home not only in skin but in muscle and bone. And he led with his head. What had started with Kafka just kept on going.
The man was LeRoi Jones, a former college student and aspiring writer, who had recently received a dishonorable discharge from the US Air Force on suspicion of harboring Communist beliefs. Roi was hired, and he and Hattie began a friendship that grew ever closer, until they became lovers and inseparable companions several months later.
The two moved in together, living a bohemian lifestyle initially in the East Village. As Jones began to gain recognition for his writing, with Hettie's support, the couple was exposed to Beat writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. They frequently attended jazz performances at the Five Spot, a now defunct club that hosted several top modern jazz musicians for prolonged gigs, most notably Thelonious Monk's quintet that featured John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. After the two founded Totem Press, which published the work of several Black Mountain poets, and created the literary magazine Yugen, their apartment was frequently filled with writers and avant-garde artists, which provided endless hours of entertainment but left them at the edge of poverty.
After Hettie became pregnant for a second time with Roi the two decided to marry, with the support of their friends and his family, but against the wishes of her parents and the conventions of 1950s America, including many residents of the city of New York. Hettie gave birth to a daughter, Kellie, who was soon followed by another daughter, Lisa. She and Roi shielded them from overt racial prejudice for the most part, but the loss of Hettie's income combined with Roi's inadequate earnings, unwillingness to help Hattie with family responsibilities, and increasing time away from home to spend time with fellow writers and lovers, including the poet Diane di Prima, began to erode the deep love the two once shared. As Jones became more active in the Black nationalist movement and in supporting its leaders, writers and artists, he began to distance himself from his white friends, and from Hettie, who still loved and supported him despite his changing beliefs and numerous infidelities. The assassination of Malcolm X in 1965 was the final straw, as Roi left Hettie and his girls and moved to Harlem to participate more fully in the Black Power and the associated Black Arts Movement, which he founded and participated in for the remainder of his working days. He later changed his name to Amiri Baraka, and he continued to have a very successful career until his death earlier this week.
Hettie, to her credit, dusted herself off and became an award winning poet and author of nearly two dozen children's books, chaired the PEN Prison Writers Committee, and supported feminist and minority artists and their causes. She continues to teach Creative Writing at The New School in NYC, and she raised two successful daughters: Dr. Kellie Jones is an associate professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia, and her sister Lisa Jones is a poet, playwright, former columnist for the Village Voice and collaborator with noted filmmaker Spike Lee. (I was very familiar with and loved Lisa Jones' articles in the Village Voice in the 1980s and 1990s and her work with Spike Lee, but I didn't know until this week that she was LeRoi Jones' daughter.)
How I Became Hettie Jones is one of the most moving and unforgettable memoirs I've ever read. The fierce love that Hettie and Roi shared was richly portrayed, their life together in the East Village in the late 1950s and early 1960s deeply resonated within my Bohemian soul, and the slow dissolution of their relationship nearly brought tears to my eyes. I cannot say enough good things about this book, and I cannot recommend it any more highly.
October 6, 2020
It's good to get a woman's perspective on the Beat era. I've read Carolyn Cassady (Neal's wife) and Jan Keroauc(Jack's daughter) and Diane DiPrima's memoirs. They really changed my opinion of many of the men of that era. Basically everyone but Allen Ginsberg sucked. This is also confirmed in Billy Burrough's (William's son) memoir. Allen was more of a father to him than his biological father.
I'm so thankful that child raising has gotten easier over the years. No wrangling an enormous baby carriage when you can wear your baby. Lots of baby chairs so the baby can comfortably sit by you. No more hiding in the toilet to nurse. Lots of baby books and pregnancy classes so you aren't going into labor totally blind.
I wish she had written more about what happened to her in the 70's and 80's but I guess she got a book deal because of her famous ex and that had to be the focus. She honestly tries to portray LeRoi as a good guy but to me he came across as an asshole. All those men back then acted like him, so it's not like he was extra horrible. The cheating and the dismissal of women in general was a given.
I kept thinking of Everything But The Girl's song Me and Bobby D when reading.
Me and Bobby D don't get along that easily
You told the world, "Be free, love life"
Tell me, is it true you beat your wife?
You see, me and Bobby D don't get along that easily
You told the world, "Skip rules have fun"
Then knocked her from here to kingdom come
How many girls have you had today?
And how many bottles have you downed today?
And while you're on the skids, who's minding the kids?
Me and Saint Jack K never had too much to say
It's easy driving with your feet
With some good ol' girl in the passenger seat
Watching the road all day
"Oh honey, what funny things you do say"
But while you're out of your head
Who's making the bed?
Me and Bobby D don't get along that famously
A savior and a seer? Maybe
But he never meant that much to me
Sure, I'd love a wild life
But every wild man needs a mother or wife
The seven seas you roam
But who's waiting at home?
I'm so thankful that child raising has gotten easier over the years. No wrangling an enormous baby carriage when you can wear your baby. Lots of baby chairs so the baby can comfortably sit by you. No more hiding in the toilet to nurse. Lots of baby books and pregnancy classes so you aren't going into labor totally blind.
I wish she had written more about what happened to her in the 70's and 80's but I guess she got a book deal because of her famous ex and that had to be the focus. She honestly tries to portray LeRoi as a good guy but to me he came across as an asshole. All those men back then acted like him, so it's not like he was extra horrible. The cheating and the dismissal of women in general was a given.
I kept thinking of Everything But The Girl's song Me and Bobby D when reading.
Me and Bobby D don't get along that easily
You told the world, "Be free, love life"
Tell me, is it true you beat your wife?
You see, me and Bobby D don't get along that easily
You told the world, "Skip rules have fun"
Then knocked her from here to kingdom come
How many girls have you had today?
And how many bottles have you downed today?
And while you're on the skids, who's minding the kids?
Me and Saint Jack K never had too much to say
It's easy driving with your feet
With some good ol' girl in the passenger seat
Watching the road all day
"Oh honey, what funny things you do say"
But while you're out of your head
Who's making the bed?
Me and Bobby D don't get along that famously
A savior and a seer? Maybe
But he never meant that much to me
Sure, I'd love a wild life
But every wild man needs a mother or wife
The seven seas you roam
But who's waiting at home?
February 29, 2016
Interesting to re-read this shortly after Dianne Di Prima's memoir of much the same period. The obvious connection between them is both women's connection with LeRoi Jones (Hettie Jones as his wife and mother of two children; Di Prima as mistress and mother of children). But that's superficial; the real value of both books is their fiercely honest and intelligent portrayal of the difficulties, and ultimately possibilities, facing women in the artistic and political milieu of late 50s and early 60s New York. Di Prima's commitment to independence is more immediately striking, but Jones managed to forge a path that, while quieter, is every bit as significant. If you're just reading one, go with Di Prima, but they work beautifully together (and should be complemented by Joyce Johnson's Minor Characters).
June 28, 2015
Obviously, you can see the length of time it took for me to get through it. And, for me it was a waste of time. Again, I don't like reading memoirs because I'm not in a position to evaluate someone else's life. However, I did not find this book interesting in the least - it presupposes a lot of knowledge about a particular time and place. I only read it because it was lent to me by a dear friend who really really likes it.
February 6, 2016
A young girl in toreador pants and mules with her nose in a book and her ears in a jazz club. Hettie Cohen met LeRoi Jones at the jazz magazine where she worked, launching an energetic team of Beat poets. They founded Yugen magazine, one of the many little magazines that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s Village. Philip Whalen, Diane diPrima, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso were friends and contributors. Jones and Cohen, a happy couple sauntered from their Morton St. apartment over to Cafe San Remo to split a salad and lots of free bread and butter. They hit the Five Spot Cafe to hear Thelonius Monk, and the other hep cats playing jazz. This wonderful little memoir traces the daily life of the Beat generation through the eyes of its forgotten women: like Joyce Johnston and Diane diPrima, Hettie Jones slipped through the cracks of our collective memory. This volume fills in some of the texture of that moment in history when Village bohemians claimed downtown as a free creative zone.
January 10, 2014
This is an eye opening look at the men and women who were at the cutting edge of the Beats in NYC. I was fascinated by the evolution of their lives and consequently the world around them. After finishing the book, I immediately googled Hettie and of course LeRoi (whose name is changed now) Hettie became a survivor going on to lead writing workshops for women in prisons. She also still lives in the building that she and LeRoi lived in just before they divorced and fought a large hotel wanting to evict her and tear down the historic building. They built around her! Hettie is a writer and poet in her own right after coming into her own after the divorce.
February 26, 2013
One of the best books, let alone memoirs, that I've read in a LONG time. Her prose is rife with poetry and the imagery and flow of the story from scene to scene is absolutely flawless. It presents an ideal cross-section of the beat era with non of Kerouac's rambling, overwhelming intensity, and is one of the only feminine perspectives on the movement. A must read!
June 30, 2022
La generación beat, esa generación que rompió con el conservadurismo estadounidense de los años 50. Le plantó cara, supo cómo hacerlo y fue predecesora y base de muchos más movimientos libres como el hippie.
Dentro de esta época transformadora estaba Hettie. Fue editora de la revista Yugen, poeta y artista de dicha generación. Podría decirse que la frase que mejor describe esta historia es esa que conocemos todas “no es oro todo lo que reluce” y es que Hettie narra luces y sombras. No es solo como se inició la era Beat sino como ella, mujer, judía, casada con un hombre negro, vivió todo aquello. Era la hora de que ella narrara todo lo que vivió. La historia siempre ha hablado de hombres dónde las mujeres quedaban en un segundo plano. Así que es importante que libros así tengan cada vez más relevancia.
Aquí se habla de maternidad, cuidados, sacrificios, a la sombra de un hombre. Un hombre al que admira, que aportó mucho a la generación beat. Leroi Jones (Posteriormente Amiri Baraka). Pero debo sacar otra lectura: Hettie vivió en la sombra, con la llegada de la maternidad, todas las infidelidades (una de ellas con Diane di Prima) y el poco apoyo que recibía laboralmente de él. Se seguían produciendo los mismos roles patriarcales y machistas aunque estuviesen viviendo una época transformadora de apertura y libertad.
Este libro también habla del racismo, del rechazo a las parejas interraciales, de como la familia de Hettie rechazó su relación con Leroi (sin embargo la familia de él fue cercana) y lo que supuso tener dos hijas afrodescendientes. La precariedad de los artistas, el jazz en Nueva York en los años 50 y como la generación Beat se iba fraguando y creciendo con su melodía como hilo musical. Destaco la generosidad que tenían los unos con los otros, sus casas abiertas para quién necesitase cobijo temporalmente.
He descubierto que existe un libro que se llama “Love, H” (no encuentro su traducción 😔) que recoge la correspondencia entre Hettie y su amiga Helene Dorn. Algunas de ellas aparecen aquí. En este libro Helene tiene mucha importancia para la escritora.
Como apunte final: leyendo este libro me recordó mucho a Patt Smith y su “éramos unos niños”. Creo que guardan muchas semejanzas.
Dentro de esta época transformadora estaba Hettie. Fue editora de la revista Yugen, poeta y artista de dicha generación. Podría decirse que la frase que mejor describe esta historia es esa que conocemos todas “no es oro todo lo que reluce” y es que Hettie narra luces y sombras. No es solo como se inició la era Beat sino como ella, mujer, judía, casada con un hombre negro, vivió todo aquello. Era la hora de que ella narrara todo lo que vivió. La historia siempre ha hablado de hombres dónde las mujeres quedaban en un segundo plano. Así que es importante que libros así tengan cada vez más relevancia.
Aquí se habla de maternidad, cuidados, sacrificios, a la sombra de un hombre. Un hombre al que admira, que aportó mucho a la generación beat. Leroi Jones (Posteriormente Amiri Baraka). Pero debo sacar otra lectura: Hettie vivió en la sombra, con la llegada de la maternidad, todas las infidelidades (una de ellas con Diane di Prima) y el poco apoyo que recibía laboralmente de él. Se seguían produciendo los mismos roles patriarcales y machistas aunque estuviesen viviendo una época transformadora de apertura y libertad.
Este libro también habla del racismo, del rechazo a las parejas interraciales, de como la familia de Hettie rechazó su relación con Leroi (sin embargo la familia de él fue cercana) y lo que supuso tener dos hijas afrodescendientes. La precariedad de los artistas, el jazz en Nueva York en los años 50 y como la generación Beat se iba fraguando y creciendo con su melodía como hilo musical. Destaco la generosidad que tenían los unos con los otros, sus casas abiertas para quién necesitase cobijo temporalmente.
He descubierto que existe un libro que se llama “Love, H” (no encuentro su traducción 😔) que recoge la correspondencia entre Hettie y su amiga Helene Dorn. Algunas de ellas aparecen aquí. En este libro Helene tiene mucha importancia para la escritora.
Como apunte final: leyendo este libro me recordó mucho a Patt Smith y su “éramos unos niños”. Creo que guardan muchas semejanzas.
March 27, 2020
More than essential!
November 24, 2022
Not a page turner, very dense and opaque, full of non sequiturs and name dropping. In those two ways, similar to having a conversation with my mother.
I had hoped, I suppose, for more of what it was like to live in society as this interracial couple, but they lived so outside of society.
But glad I finally read this after it went on my to-read list nearly two decades ago. Joyce Johnson, whose books I much prefer, made some appearances, as did my ex's father, which made the name dropping seem uncanny.
I had hoped, I suppose, for more of what it was like to live in society as this interracial couple, but they lived so outside of society.
But glad I finally read this after it went on my to-read list nearly two decades ago. Joyce Johnson, whose books I much prefer, made some appearances, as did my ex's father, which made the name dropping seem uncanny.
July 15, 2011
Hettie Jones is an amazing woman. I didn't know about her first...I knew the name Diane di Prima first, knew she had an affair with LeRoi Jones, who was married to Hettie. At first, I championed di Prima because some of her beat poems were raw and real to me...but then I realized she turned her creative partnership with LeRoi into a sexual one, without any regard to Hettie, a fellow female sister in the same scene.
Thus, I was turned off by Diane (also because I read her later poems, they kinda sucked), and turned off by LeRoi (this woman gave up her whole heritage for LeRoi, and he cheats on her, has a baby with di Prima, and later divorces her because he wants to be a part of the Africanism/Black movement...because she's a Jew?).
I started to wonder: what must it had been like to be the wife with two kids, your husband cheating on you, working on poems and hiding them away because you didn't think they were as good as others'? What must it had been like to survive a divorce because you're not the right skin color AFTER GIVING UP YOUR OWN HERITAGE for him?
So I picked up this book. This is the story of a survivor. I only gave it 3 stars because even though I liked it, it's kind of a sad story. Although she makes light of every situation, it tugged at my heartstrings. I cried in some parts. I don't like it when books make me cry!
Thus, I was turned off by Diane (also because I read her later poems, they kinda sucked), and turned off by LeRoi (this woman gave up her whole heritage for LeRoi, and he cheats on her, has a baby with di Prima, and later divorces her because he wants to be a part of the Africanism/Black movement...because she's a Jew?).
I started to wonder: what must it had been like to be the wife with two kids, your husband cheating on you, working on poems and hiding them away because you didn't think they were as good as others'? What must it had been like to survive a divorce because you're not the right skin color AFTER GIVING UP YOUR OWN HERITAGE for him?
So I picked up this book. This is the story of a survivor. I only gave it 3 stars because even though I liked it, it's kind of a sad story. Although she makes light of every situation, it tugged at my heartstrings. I cried in some parts. I don't like it when books make me cry!
January 4, 2008
"But then I feel a chill on my arm, and now we've come to the reading of sins. I look down at the machzor for ones that apply to me. Here's one for arrogant mien, one for haughty eyes, for obdurate brow, I beg forgiveness. For the sin of breaking off the yoke, v'al kulom eloha slichos - yes, that's the one - for being someone these people could not influence, or hold, forgive me, but this is America... sometimes you have to go on the road."
In the end, though, Hettie made quite a lot of sacrifices trying to lead a "free" life... Having read Joyce Johnson's memoir, I tackled the words of her best friend Hettie - fellow traveler of the Beat scene in NYC. She details the love of poetry, jazz, and each other that brought her and husband LeRoi Jones/ Amiri Baraka together, as well as the forces that pulled them apart. The irony that these two rebels could feel so much societal pressure! But for the most part, Hettie focuses on the day-to-day details, whether making spaghetti for 100 Beat artists or raising two daughters in a world hostile to interracial marriage. A fast read.
In the end, though, Hettie made quite a lot of sacrifices trying to lead a "free" life... Having read Joyce Johnson's memoir, I tackled the words of her best friend Hettie - fellow traveler of the Beat scene in NYC. She details the love of poetry, jazz, and each other that brought her and husband LeRoi Jones/ Amiri Baraka together, as well as the forces that pulled them apart. The irony that these two rebels could feel so much societal pressure! But for the most part, Hettie focuses on the day-to-day details, whether making spaghetti for 100 Beat artists or raising two daughters in a world hostile to interracial marriage. A fast read.
September 30, 2007
Well, this is a must read for memoir lovers such as myself. Also for anyone who grew up in the 1950's-1960's and still remembers it. This book takes the reader back to the heydey of downtown New York City. The beats, the hippies, the radicals, the intellectuals and all others searching for America in post WWII era are represented in this beautiful little book. It has a highly personal voice (it IS a memoir) but at the same time seems almost like an historical narrative. A fabulous tapestry of life in peripatetic times in a peripatetic city!
May 6, 2008
This memoir has great poise and beautiful style. Wife of LeRoi Jones during the Beat Generation, Hettie was obviously able to hold her own and create a niche for herself among the turbulence of the times. It's interesting to note the parallel struggle occurring...a Jewish, white girl (dealing with her own religious persecution), married to a black man subject to racism at its apex...all the while hanging out with folk like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, as well as witnessing jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk. Great stuff.
February 27, 2008
This is the great memoir of Hettie Jones (obviously), who was the wife of famous beat poet Roi Jones, who is now known as Amiri Baraka. She tells the story of her life as an unconventional woman during the 50s and 60s, struggling to find her place and role in the world in New York City during the Beat era - a white woman married to a black man, hanging with Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, famous Harlem jazz musicians, and the like. Really great book!
June 11, 2008
Jones writes as if she is speaking to an intimate friend -- one of the best memoirs I have read. She speaks not only of her struggle to 'become' amid personal obstacles, but that of a woman's in an age where women were not supposed to socially and/or politically 'become' or have free will. Though much has changed, her words still demand that the reader be aware of any and all obstacles preventing one's own 'becoming.'
April 15, 2018
I just reread On the Road and How I Became Hettie Jones, and Hettie Jones has aged way better than Kerouac. This book expresses more truth and wisdom about the Beats and living in Bohemian NYC during the 50s and early 60s than any other I've read. The story about Sonny Rollins being the first in the village to sport a mohawk (right after releasing Way Out West) is priceless. Hettie Jones has really lived.
October 7, 2017
Although I enjoyed this book, tore right through it, and will pass it on and recommend to others, four stars seems a bit high praise. At times, I found the writing a bit thin or glib, but other times, mostly in the latter part of the book, quite profound. As a colorful memoir of the beat years of New York, it is on any must read list.
June 19, 2024
De lo mejor que he leído últimamente. Un retrato complicado y minucioso de una época. Un retrato emocional intricado y emotivo. La prosa de Hettie Jones es brillante y, mientras leo sus palabras, me resulta doloroso su relato de cómo pasó tantos años sin considerarse escritora. Una edición buenísima.
«[...] y atravesando salvajemente el aire marino de las mágicas noches neoyorkinas - ¡Wow! -. Siento no haber encontrado entonces voz para contarlo.»
«Fue en la segunda quincena de julio - tiempo de sandías - cuando nos juntamos.»
«No soy obediente por naturaleza.»
«Las certezas aparecen siempre cuando no las busco.»
«Pero sí sé que no quisiera lanzarme a la carretera, no mientras Nueva York sea el mejor sitio del mundo.»
«Los beats me parecían bien, y aplaudía sus esfuerzos más o menos afortunados, de abrir en canal [...] la noción de lo que podía ser (legítimamente) dicho.»
«El niño me lanzó la pelota, yo se la devolví, y el problema rodó hasta desaparecer en el oleaje.»
«Aquella fiesta del viernes por la tarde nunca concluyó.»
«[...] te seducían, como la TV te captura solo por el hecho de estar encendida.»
«Desde entonces mi única obsesión era el futuro, como si el arte no fuese un trabajo, sino un simple acto de fe y solo viéndome inmersa en él podía lograr que aconteciese.»
«Inevitablemente todos escribimos para nuestros hijos o acabamos hablando solos [...].»
«[...] puedes también desprenderte de lo que te pertenece.»
«¿Pero adónde ir después de todo eso? Ciertamente, no a la escritura, pues exige sentimiento, lo cual requiere a su vez energía y tiempo.»
«Nos creíamos libres porque habíamos corrido riesgos, pero no lo éramos en absoluto. En todo caso, ¿qué tenía que ver la emancipación con la capacidad de aguante?»
«[...] luchando por encontrar a la persona que yo había sido dentro de aquella en la que me había convertido.»
«Alguien, gato o persona, ha cagado en esta habitación y juro que ni voy a limpiarlo.»
«Sin embargo, mientras me quisieron vieron a veces en mí más de lo que yo misma veía, y estoy en deuda con ellos por aquellos tiempos.»
«La idea era suya y suya sería también la culpa.»
«Yo creo que nada lo devolverá, excepto un milagro o un terrible desastre en sus planes.»
«Escribía todo el rato, pero nunca me consideré escritora.»
«cuyos ojos atraviesan las estaciones.»
«[...] no es el pasado, sino lo próximo lo que yo persigo. »
«[...] y atravesando salvajemente el aire marino de las mágicas noches neoyorkinas - ¡Wow! -. Siento no haber encontrado entonces voz para contarlo.»
«Fue en la segunda quincena de julio - tiempo de sandías - cuando nos juntamos.»
«No soy obediente por naturaleza.»
«Las certezas aparecen siempre cuando no las busco.»
«Pero sí sé que no quisiera lanzarme a la carretera, no mientras Nueva York sea el mejor sitio del mundo.»
«Los beats me parecían bien, y aplaudía sus esfuerzos más o menos afortunados, de abrir en canal [...] la noción de lo que podía ser (legítimamente) dicho.»
«El niño me lanzó la pelota, yo se la devolví, y el problema rodó hasta desaparecer en el oleaje.»
«Aquella fiesta del viernes por la tarde nunca concluyó.»
«[...] te seducían, como la TV te captura solo por el hecho de estar encendida.»
«Desde entonces mi única obsesión era el futuro, como si el arte no fuese un trabajo, sino un simple acto de fe y solo viéndome inmersa en él podía lograr que aconteciese.»
«Inevitablemente todos escribimos para nuestros hijos o acabamos hablando solos [...].»
«[...] puedes también desprenderte de lo que te pertenece.»
«¿Pero adónde ir después de todo eso? Ciertamente, no a la escritura, pues exige sentimiento, lo cual requiere a su vez energía y tiempo.»
«Nos creíamos libres porque habíamos corrido riesgos, pero no lo éramos en absoluto. En todo caso, ¿qué tenía que ver la emancipación con la capacidad de aguante?»
«[...] luchando por encontrar a la persona que yo había sido dentro de aquella en la que me había convertido.»
«Alguien, gato o persona, ha cagado en esta habitación y juro que ni voy a limpiarlo.»
«Sin embargo, mientras me quisieron vieron a veces en mí más de lo que yo misma veía, y estoy en deuda con ellos por aquellos tiempos.»
«La idea era suya y suya sería también la culpa.»
«Yo creo que nada lo devolverá, excepto un milagro o un terrible desastre en sus planes.»
«Escribía todo el rato, pero nunca me consideré escritora.»
«cuyos ojos atraviesan las estaciones.»
«[...] no es el pasado, sino lo próximo lo que yo persigo. »
October 27, 2019
I loved this book. However, despite thinking I knew something about the Beat Generation, before I began, I really didn't. It was the central story of Hettie I loved, the life she lived, her principles, her outlook especially as her origins were in a white middle-class Jewish family. Her relationship and marriage to LeRoi Jones, before the Civil Rights Movement went big, is the thread around which this memoir is based, finishing when LeRoi leaves her as it is not the right time for a black man to be with a white woman. He subsequently changed his name as he became involved with the Black Panther movement.
Having read about these two prolific writers of whom I had never heard, I then felt almost apologetic for recognising so few of the contemporary literati and artists who were in and out of their house in Greenwich Village. They were all the original bohemians of jazz, poetry, left politics and underground publishing from the late 1950s.
I found the last third of the book most challenging because of the endless namedropping I had to keep looking up. Turbulent times, activism 24/7, daily personal challenges and emotional upheaval are dealt with fairly clinically. I felt that the author had chosen a record of the times over emotion and I missed that.
Having read about these two prolific writers of whom I had never heard, I then felt almost apologetic for recognising so few of the contemporary literati and artists who were in and out of their house in Greenwich Village. They were all the original bohemians of jazz, poetry, left politics and underground publishing from the late 1950s.
I found the last third of the book most challenging because of the endless namedropping I had to keep looking up. Turbulent times, activism 24/7, daily personal challenges and emotional upheaval are dealt with fairly clinically. I felt that the author had chosen a record of the times over emotion and I missed that.
May 23, 2021
Hettie Jones is a beat writer who married Le Roi Jones, an African-American man in the 50s. They have two children..she struggles to.find her poetic voice. She does an excellent job capturing the scene and the art. She went to MWC and some of her experiences were similar and some different..they also move around NYC. I wish there were pictures. I read Joyce Johnston's memoir which I did get at City Lights.
I think I found out about this through interest in the beat movement. And I think Nancy Pearl referenced in one of her books. Too many times, the beat movement becomes a boy’s network, so it’s good to read some of the women who were around then. Her stuff is very timely. Some of which she is struggling, race relations, work/life balance, raising kids and productivity we're still dealing with. I liked it a lot. I love how she moves from NYC location throughout the city in like 20 years. I have probably read some of her poems. She and LeRoi Jones do not stay together. He divorces when he gets involved in African-American activism. She also frames a lot of big events and she deals with many issues. We also get a sense of the scene and the people around there. I enjoyed it a lot. 4 stars.
I think I found out about this through interest in the beat movement. And I think Nancy Pearl referenced in one of her books. Too many times, the beat movement becomes a boy’s network, so it’s good to read some of the women who were around then. Her stuff is very timely. Some of which she is struggling, race relations, work/life balance, raising kids and productivity we're still dealing with. I liked it a lot. I love how she moves from NYC location throughout the city in like 20 years. I have probably read some of her poems. She and LeRoi Jones do not stay together. He divorces when he gets involved in African-American activism. She also frames a lot of big events and she deals with many issues. We also get a sense of the scene and the people around there. I enjoyed it a lot. 4 stars.
October 22, 2024
in “How I Became Hettie Jones,” Hettie Jones shines a light on the often overlooked women of the Beat movement, while simultaneously retelling her interracial marriage with LeRoi Jones. her memoir is a portrait of a generational movement, but also one of individual people, as she compassionately and honestly reflects on the seen and unseen faces of the Beat Generation.
“How I Became Hettie Jones” is also a surprisingly tender reflection on motherhood and womanhood. The most striking moments are those with her daughters, with her fellow mothers at the playground, with LeRoi Jones’ mother. These instances of love and shared understanding as women highlight the women who often went overlooked in the Beat Generation, and, I think, are the true heart of this memoir.
“How I Became Hettie Jones” is also a surprisingly tender reflection on motherhood and womanhood. The most striking moments are those with her daughters, with her fellow mothers at the playground, with LeRoi Jones’ mother. These instances of love and shared understanding as women highlight the women who often went overlooked in the Beat Generation, and, I think, are the true heart of this memoir.
October 22, 2024
Oh, I enjoyed this book so much! As a (former) drama student, I was of course aware of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, and dimly aware that he had a first wife---white----whose existence he seemed to conveniently forget. It was when I noted Ms. Jones's recent obituary that I was compelled to read her memoir.
It is a capsule of a time that we gloss over as being bland and homogenous, but what rage and passion was roiling beneath the surface. I loved the photo-like descriptions of downtown New York, and the razor sharp character sketches.
Hettie Jones was a courageous and fiercely independent woman, in a time when neither quality was particularly celebrated. She is a unique and uncompromising voice. This wonderful memoir by a remarkable woman puts me in mind of Thoreau's adage, “Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.”
It is a capsule of a time that we gloss over as being bland and homogenous, but what rage and passion was roiling beneath the surface. I loved the photo-like descriptions of downtown New York, and the razor sharp character sketches.
Hettie Jones was a courageous and fiercely independent woman, in a time when neither quality was particularly celebrated. She is a unique and uncompromising voice. This wonderful memoir by a remarkable woman puts me in mind of Thoreau's adage, “Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.”
September 9, 2025
The first chapter of this book blew me away - I thought I would love reading the entire thing. The second chapter was interesting because it was about Mary Washington. Then, it turned into a play-by-play of every place she lived and person she met (with no development of each person), which made the second half of the book feel like a bit of a slog. It was an interesting perspective from that era, especially her interracial marriage to LeRoi Jones. But overall, I was glad to be done with it.
August 28, 2018
INTERESTING BOOK. she let me know alot of jazz muscians were around her iand other things n her early years. she worked to take care like i wanted to do. yhey had their own ups and downs. she had to part with her color husband too cecause of the community. She talked about alot of stuff that happened in NYC.
August 11, 2020
It was a history lesson, love story, identity revelation, race relations all in one story. I was not expecting it to end the way it did.
I was thinking of a happy love ending. The question that I ask does race in a relationship really matters? I learned a lot from this book I had on my shelf for 2 years I am glad I waited to read this I felt I got so much out of it the timing was perfect!
I was thinking of a happy love ending. The question that I ask does race in a relationship really matters? I learned a lot from this book I had on my shelf for 2 years I am glad I waited to read this I felt I got so much out of it the timing was perfect!
October 22, 2017
This is a memoir about mixed marriage, both race & religious, the jazz world & the dynamics of marriage in the 50s. I can't say I loved all of the book but I did enjoy the more personal story, particuarly her marriage, that Jones shared; that's when it really came alive for me.
May 18, 2018
Life journey unknown
You never know where life can take you and sometimes you try to make it happen but it’s not only in your hands. At the core we stay ourself a as we were born .great book describing an era that should. It be forgotten
You never know where life can take you and sometimes you try to make it happen but it’s not only in your hands. At the core we stay ourself a as we were born .great book describing an era that should. It be forgotten
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