From Ophelia DeVore in the 1940's and today's Tyra Banks, Grace Jones, and Naomi Campbell, Black and Beautiful highlights more than sixty years of the Black fashion model's triumphs and struggles. Barbara Summers, a Ford Model for seventeen years, interviewed dozens of models and selected more than 250 photos for this landmark publication. Celebrating the strength and style of these fascinating women and their groundbreaking careers, this book is a gorgeous tribute to the beauty of Black women everywhere.

Black and Beautiful

Arts & Photography

Summers, Barbara

Graphic Design

HarperPB

Sometimes life offers us chances to change our direction. These opportunities can be obvious, but many times they come as a surprise and, if we’re not paying close attention, we can miss the door leading to change. All of the authors in this inspiring collection took advantage of the hand they were dealt—a chance to triumph, make a comeback, or, in some cases, simply survive. Barbara Summers has selected an intriguing collection of autobiographical essays and edited them into a thought-provoking anthology that teaches us how to recognize the right door, open it, and find the strength to walk through it.

Open the Unusual Door: True Life Stories of Challenge, Adventure, and Success by Black Americans

History

Clarion Books

"Nouvelle Soul begins where labels of race, gender, and status end, where lives undress in intimate moments of unexpected challenge," writes Barbara Summers. Chosen to launch Amistad's fiction series introducing talented new African-American writers, Nouvelle Soul is a graceful and sophisticated collection sure to become part of enduring contemporary literature. Its twenty-four stories, as different in style as they are in subject, introduce a diverse range of characters and personalities - real people in settings sensitively drawn to reflect realities we often overlook - and provide new perspectives on scenes we think familiar. Barbara Summers depicts men and women confronted with the varying demands of everyday life, lovers finding and losing each other, pioneers challenging the status quo. She seats us on a park bench next to three young children sharing a fried chicken lunch with Billie Holiday ("A Bite to Eat"). She turns the tables on a narcissistic young Black professional for whom women seem at best a form of entertainment ("Maneuvers"). She takes us on vacation with three young married women reveling in the freedom of one night out by themselves ("Boqueron"). She obliges us to consider the homeless street person we would otherwise prefer not to see ("Me and Superman"). Summers brings us face-to-face with life in all its dimensions - open and secret, conventional and unconventional - and artfully reminds us that such distinctions are rarely as obvious as they at first appear. A twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebrated in Paris can give cause for mourning ("Panach'"). The funeral for a much loved family man can call into question his devotion to family ("A Good Man"). A life of adventure can draw to an altogether prosaic close ("Tony the Tiger"). Writing with a sure, deft touch, Summers addresses the wider human condition chronicling the richness of African-American life and culture. She both prompts us to laughter and brings us to tears. She acknowledges disillusionment and defeat as well as everyday triumphs. She demonstrates the power of love and its limitations. Whether read from beginning to end or sampled one piece at a time like a box of fine chocolates. Nouvelle Soul will engage your heart and challenge your preconceptions. This debut collection is truly a cause for celebration among all readers.

Nouvelle Soul: Short Stories

Literature & Fiction

United States

Amistad Pr

Recounts the history of African Americans as fashion models, describes the difficulties they faced and the ways they have changed the modeling field, and profiles Dorothea Towles, Joey Mills, Beverly Johnson, Iman, and others

Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models

Stories deal with a homeless person, three women out on the town, a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, the funeral of a family man, and a group of children's impromptu lunch with Billie Holiday

When a prestigious cosmetics company in New York City prepares to launch a daring new ad campaign with a Black model, the search involves more than finding the right girl. Once found, she's got to stay alive. So far, of the many called and the few chosen, not one has lived to enjoy her success. And no one seems to know why. The Price You Pay is a stunning first novel that explores the mixed blessings bestowed on women who live off their looks and dreams. Money, power, reputation - and even more - are at stake in this world of off-and-on glitter. But the players are eager and plentiful. Makeup artist extraordinaire, Max loves it all - the fabulous clothes, the lights-camera-action, the fashion wars with all the drama. Confidant to the stars, he's seen the rise, fall, and burn out. He knows where the bodies are buried. And he thinks he knows why. Karine Belfort, the West Indian princess with the beautiful face and the ambitious attitude, arrives from Paris to break out of conventional success in magazines and on runways. Everyone agrees that she is destined for the big time. Almost everyone. Nicky Knight, a California girl new to New York, wants to follow in her model mother's footsteps. As she does, she finds herself in dangerous territory where even her father, a worldly music mogul, cannot protect her. Business tycoon Thomas N. Thompson rose from poverty in Mississippi to become one of the wealthiest men in America. Now his brilliant daughter, Christina, president of his company, is challenging his authority with a vision of her own. As these characters collide with each other and with an extensive, colorful cast, the spotlights move beyond the on-cue smiles of the modeling world to the darker dramas of racism and madness. Fear strikes an international elite of privileged women and men who find that they have everything - and everything to lose. And then they all must confront the price to pay - not only for success but for life itself. The short stories of Nouvelle Soul broke critical ground and introduced Barbara Summers as a new literary voice to be reckoned with. This dazzling debut novel will surely advance her position among today's most talented writers. A former professional model herself, Summers knows the world she writes about firsthand, grounding her fiction in the studios, boardrooms, and bedrooms of present-day image makers. The Price You Pay is part whodunit, part love story, and a wholly satisfying excursion through a world we look at, but rarely into.

The Price You Pay: A Novel

Since launching her professional matchmaking business in 1986, Barbara Summers has engineered the match for hundreds of married couples. In Next! A Matchmaker’s Guide to Finding Mr. Right, Ditching Mr. Wrong, and Everything In Between, Barbara extends her expertise to all women who want to find—and keep—the right guy. In her high-spiritedguide to finding love, Barabara claims there are many “someones” for everyone. In a world of rich possibilities no woman should ever buy into the mentality that she’s unworthy of love, or feel she must settle for less than she wants, or stay in a relationship when the love is gone. Readers are invited to begin their search by creating a “Dream Match List” of Must-Haves, Nice-to-Haves, and Deal Breakers. Whileexploring the do’s and don’ts of dating, Barbara shares stories of her experiences with clients and her own (many) marriages. We learn the red flags of potential disasters and ways to recover from heart-wrenching breakups. And if we suddenly feel ready to make the leap into marriage, she recommends turning to the Marriage Practicality Checklist to help us decide if we’ve really found a good match. From what to expect on a first date to when to call it quits, Barbara delivers thoughtful instruction with humor and generosity. Most of all, she never wants a woman to be “stuck.” This won’t happen if we follow her advice: be fearless and know when to say “Next!”

Next!: A Matchmaker's Guide to Finding Mr. Right, Ditching Mr. Wrong, and Everything In Between

Self-Help

Carey Blakely

Relationships

SelectBooks

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Summers, Barbara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Summers, Barbara

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Summers, Barbara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Black and Beautiful

Open the Unusual Door: True Life Stories of Challenge, Adventure, and Success by Black Americans

Nouvelle Soul: Short Stories

Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models

Nouvelle Soul: Short Stories

The Price You Pay: A Novel

Next!: A Matchmaker's Guide to Finding Mr. Right, Ditching Mr. Wrong, and Everything In Between