Page:Nigger Heaven (1926).pdf/237

 But you must have some life of your own. Do you live in Harlem?

Yes.

I wouldn't have believed it! Ever been to a cabaret?

Many times.

Well, that I can't believe! Jean Cocteau could have done a cabaret better without ever having heard of such a dive. Your scene reads like a description of a Baptist sociable for the new minister. You'll have to learn to be more observing. This story obviously is not autobiographical. Why don't you write about some experience of your own?

I don't think anything very interesting ever happens to me.

All the better! Nothing like a dull life as the inspiration for fine fiction. Huysmans constructed a whole novel around the birth of a calf and the death of a cat. But, good God, man, if you object to dulness in literature, look around you. Harlem life isn't dull. It has more aspects than a diamond has facets. Do you know anything about Marcus Garvey?

Not very much, I'm afraid.

That's a pity. . . Durwood sighed. . . I'd like to find a good character study of him. Well, it doesn't matter. There's plenty of other copy. There's the servant-girl, for instance. Nobody has ever done the Negro servant-girl, who refuses to