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Looking for Jazz: A Memoir about the Black College and Southern Town That Changed My Life Paperback – July 31, 2023

by Anna R. Holloway (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 27 ratings
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Looking for Jazz tells the story of Anna, a young white midwestern woman who takes a job teaching at a black college in a small Georgia town in 1968 as her husband begins his advanced Army training at Fort Benning. The Vietnam War, voter registration of blacks, and forced public school integration provide the political context. Anna enjoys teaching her students as she learns the culture of the region and the college. After four years, her first marriage ends. She begins life with a black Vietnam veteran from the town and they go away to school in Ohio. Anna returns to her job at the college three years later, and the couple remains in the South where they will raise their two sons.
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  1. Print length
    258 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 31, 2023
  4. Reading age
    15 - 18 years
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.59 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-13
    979-8988514800
  7. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Memoirs are tricky. If you are not famous or important, why should anyone give a damn about what you did with your life? Ah, because just sometimes one has a totally unique experience that is worth describing morally and politically or is entertaining and warmly engaging. Anna Holloway's memoir is all four of these things. By describing simple interactions, conversations (reconstructed, obviously), lovely people, less lovely people, neighborhoods, and novel encounters, she is able to create a narrative of feelings and experiences that are at the very heart and essence of everyday American society in the late 60ies and early 70ies. She keeps the focus on about four critical years, ones those of us of a certain age know so well as the era of Vietnam, civil rights, the draft, riots, protests, assassinations. Social and political turmoil is not addressed directly but condensed into one gutsy young woman's experience. We all know the history itself, but the day-to-day moments of truthfulness, of living and loving, need to be recorded. There are lots of seemingly irrelevant details-someone's husband's name and hairstyle and the street they lived on-but they are never boring or redundant. I confess I often have difficulty finishing a book that doesn't capture my interest right away, but this one I literally could not put down. And when I finished it, I had memories of my own and things I wanted to ask the author more about. These are my criteria for a good book. - by Ian Evans, author of The First Village, Forgive Me My Trespasses, and others.

About the Author

Anna R. Holloway, PhD, is a retired Professor of English, writer, and editor. During her forty-six years at Fort Valley State University, she taught writing, literature, journalism, technical writing, and editing, and served as advisor to the Creative Writing Club. She cares about family, friends, and cats and wants to bring about understanding among people of different backgrounds and opinions.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CDFQ8DDX
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anna R. Holloway (July 31, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 258 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8988514800
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 15 - 18 years
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.59 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
27 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Hazel
5.0 out of 5 stars A Memoir from the 1960s
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
As someone who myself graduated from high school in the 1960s and finished college in the 1970s, Anna Holloway's memoir resonated with me and my own experiences over the past decades. A first marriage to one's first real love, a second marriage that is perfect for who you are at that time in your life--how many of us know how traumatic and healing both of those relationships can be? Anna begins her story as a University of Wisconsin English major graduate specializing in British literature who accepts her first teaching position at an historically black college in Georgia so she can be close to where her new husband is reporting for military service. What was initially a "first job" became her forever job, and a new experience for a midwestern white girl stepping into a segregated African American community with an open mind became her lifetime. Dr. Holloway shares the events and reflections that were to shape her future in a manner respectful of the privacy of those around her as well as being honest and authentic. This was a great read. If you too lived these times, you'll recognize and remember the history that were the Civil Rights and the anti-(Vietnam) war movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Like me, you'll wonder how we could have wandered so far from those hard-fought battles with our conscience to be confronting racism still to this day. But even readers too young to have known those years will celebrate Anna's academic, interpersonal, and emotional journey as a university professor who began by teaching her students about Beowulf and Shakespeare and progressed to becoming part of the work of introducing the wealth of African American literature into the English curriculum of an historically black college. Not many of us could paint so realistic and human a picture of how it felt to step into a whole new community. One of the miracles of the African American experience in America is how this Deep South segregated black community welcomed this young white woman from the North with open arms. We can be so grateful!
3 people found this helpful
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Ann L. Coker
5.0 out of 5 stars Meeting Goals
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2023
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Author Anna R. Holloway meets the goal of her book’s subtitle: to inform readers about how a black college in the South changed her life. In 1968, as a white female graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Anna accepted the position of instructor in the English department of Fort Valley State College in Georgia. Her husband would soon head to Vietnam after completing his training at Fort Benning. Living in the South was new to both of them.
Looking for Jazz relates the first four years of Anna’s teaching career and is replete with delightful details of how she gained confidence with her teaching and related to faculty and students. Campus life also combined with insights into the community and enhanced her knowledge of black and white relationships. Readers are introduced to people as well as to the changing times of 1968–1972 in the South. Anna’s life also changed, but Bertrand Russell could sum it up: “This has been my life; I have found it worth living.”
My enjoyment of Anna’s story may be due to personal connections. I am from the deep South. My husband pastored churches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Indiana. For several years he was a professor in a Christian college, so I related to Anna’s campus life. Faculty meetings, student activities, and college accreditation are not new to me. These, however, will interest other readers because of Anna’s personal twists as a professor and wife, along with visits to family members in the North. You will enjoy Looking for Jazz, and you’ll find out if that goal is also met.
One person found this helpful
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P. G. Wallace
5.0 out of 5 stars A Reminder of Our Not-so Distant Past
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2023
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Holloway tells her story of life in a small Georgia town with a blend of pointed observations and understanding. As a white professor in a black college her recollections are poignant and instructive for us all.
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Ann Bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing. Such a wonderful memoir.
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2023
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The late 60s and early 70s were a time of change. Anna Holloway desribes a portion of her life as a midwestern young woman moving to Georgia to teach at a historically black college. I ordered the story on Kindle and read the entire story today. It was a great read.
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@PWG@
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read !
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023
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Very much enjoyed this book..fascinating!
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PLBlake
5.0 out of 5 stars A Riveting Journey Through History and Human Connection
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2024
"Looking for Jazz" by Anna R. Holloway is an insightful and unflinching account that transports readers to a turbulent period in American history with remarkable detail and sensitivity. Holloway masterfully captures the essence of the late 1960s, a time marked by the Vietnam War, civil rights struggles, and significant societal change.

The protagonist, Anna, a young white woman from the Midwest, takes a teaching job at a black college in Georgia, immersing herself in a culture vastly different from her own. The book vividly portrays the challenges and triumphs Anna faces as she navigates her new environment, learns from her students, and adapts to the political and social upheaval around her. Holloway's rich descriptions and keen observations make this journey deeply engaging and thought-provoking.

One of the book's strengths is its character development. Anna's growth, both personal and professional, is depicted with great authenticity. Her relationships, particularly with her students and her eventual partner, a black Vietnam veteran, are portrayed with nuance and depth, reflecting the complexities of race, love, and identity during this era.

"Looking for Jazz" also excels in its depiction of the South's cultural landscape and the intricate dynamics of its communities. Holloway's storytelling is both poignant and powerful, offering readers a window into a world where the personal and political are inextricably linked.

Overall, "Looking for Jazz" is a compelling read that offers a rich, detailed, and unvarnished look at a pivotal time in history. Holloway's ability to weave historical events with personal narratives creates a book that is both enlightening and emotionally resonant. This is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, social justice, and the enduring power of human connection.
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Top reviews from other countries

Danie Botha
5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for Jazz and finding a calling and love in the Deep South
Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2024
Verified Purchase
With crisp prose, Holloway paints the adventures of a young white English instructor at a black college in the South during the late 1960s and early 70s. Looking for Jazz takes an unapologetic look at the racial tensions and political upheaval in the aftermath of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Unafraid of a challenge, Holloway pursues her love for teaching English literature and breaking barriers, challenging the status quo, earning her painfully slow acceptance in the black community. With her uncanny ability, she reconstructs detailed conversations and interactions with numerous individuals across the color line, which had impacted her early years. In the end, she found love, and a home, as she framed it so well, “I didn’t feel like an outsider at that moment, I felt like a member of this large family.”
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