Nigger Heaven

2022 Reprint of the 1926 Edition. With an additional note by the Author and a Critical Commentary by George S. Schuyler. Set during the Harlem Renaissance in the United States in the 1920s, Nigger Heaven has been controversial since its publication. The novel is a portrayal of life in the “great black walled city” of Harlem, part of New York City. It describes the interactions of African American intellectuals, political activists, bacchanalian workers, and other Harlem characters. The plot concerns two people, a quiet librarian, and an aspiring writer, who try to keep their love alive as racism denies them every opportunity.

This roman à clef became an instant bestseller and served as an informal guidebook to Harlem. It also split the black literary community, as some, like Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen, appreciated it, while others, like Countee Cullen and W. E. B. Du Bois, regarded it as an “affront to the hospitality of black folks”. The book fueled a period of “Harlemania”, during which the neighborhood became popular among white people, who then frequented its cabarets and bars. This edition from the 1951 reprint by Avon Publishing Company.