This is the first encyclopedic treatment of the Harlem Renaissance and the one you'll find listed in more WorldCat Library catalogs than any other. That's because the A-Z entries are not presentations of formatted dry information. They are real stories about the people and places that made the Harlem Renaissance happen in such a powerful way that it continues to influence lives in the 21st century through the books, music, social philosophies, and leadership strategies it produced.

It's laid out in a way that makes it accessible for different reading styles and includes a comprehensive index plus photos throughout and an appendix of maps in the back. The fact that it won the Choice Academic Title Award and the New Jersey Notable Book Award plus other honors tell us something about how exceptional it is.

The American Poet Who Went Home Again is a very modern book but has drawn comparison to playwright Lillian Hellman’s classic memoir, Pentimento, and like that book it contains both illuminated self portraits and striking objective subject works. Internet book product pages point out that readers who enjoyed this have also liked title such as Ron Hall’s “Same Kind of Different as Me,” Immaculee Ilibagiza’s “Left to Tell,” and Tony Dungee’s “Quiet Strength.” All of these portray individuals coming to terms with challenging environments and circumstances, sometimes finding themselves greatly humbled in the process, and sometimes discovering reserves of grace and strength they never knew they had.

The book’s subtitle is “A mosaic of my soul at work,” and that just might be the best overall description of the book. One of the most unique features is poems describing the author but written by others. The book overall is extraordinary.