In this captivating new memoir, award-winning writer Jessica B. Harris recalls a lost erathe vibrant New York City of her youth, where her social circle included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and other members of the Black intelligentsia. In the Technicolor glow of the early seventies, Jessica B. Harris debated, celebrated, and danced her way from the jazz clubs of the Manhattan's West Side to the restaurants of the Village, living out her buoyant youth alongside the great minds of the dayluminaries like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison. My Soul Looks Back is her paean to that fascinating social circle and the depth of their shared commitment to activism, intellectual engagement, and each other. Harris paints evocative portraits of her illustrious friends: Baldwin as he read aloud an early draft of If Beale Street Could Talk, Angelou cooking in her California kitchen, and Morrison relaxing at Baldwins house in Provence. Harris describes her role as theater critic for the New York Amsterdam News and editor at then burgeoning Essence magazine; star-studded parties in the South of France; drinks at Mikells, a hip West Side club; and the simple joy these extraordinary people took in each others company. The book is framed by Harriss relationship with Sam Floyd, a fellow professor at Queens College, who introduced her to Baldwin. More than a memoir of friendship and first love My Soul Looks Back is a carefully crafted, intimately understood homage to a bygone era and the people that made it so remarkable.

Club 81-Sammy and Jimmy -- And the baby made three -- Bantam Sam was the man -- Oh, the people you'll meet! -- Oh, the places you'll go! West side rambles -- Wanderlust: Sonoma, Haiti, and Paris -- Titine and Tabasco -- Soul-full -- Aftermath -- It ain't over 'til it's over.