ROUGH AMUSEMENTS The True Story of A'Lelia Walker, Patroness of the Harlem Renaissance's Down-Low Culture by [Harlem Renaissance]: Neihart, Ben - 2003

[New York and London]: Bloomsbury, 2003. First edition. Small octavo. Black boards decorated in white in wrap-around design. 210,[10] pp. Author's signature to Bloomsbury label affixed to the half-title. Notes and bibliography. Designated "An Urban Historical" in a series.  A fine copy in a near fine, translucent printed dust wrapper with three minute tear-drop shaped spots on lower panel.  

First US edition. "When A'Lelia Walker died in 1931 after a midnight snack o lobster and chocolate cake washed down with champagne, it marked the end of one of the most striking social careers in New York's history. The daughter of rags-to-riches multi-millionaire and philanthropist Madame C. J. Walker, A'Lelia was America's first black poor little rich girl, using her inheritance to throw elaborate, celebrity-packed parties in her Westchester mansion and 136th Street salon." -- from the dust jacket front flap.