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
