The Autobiography of Leroi Jones

by Amiri Baraka

Book Overview

Poet, dramatist, novelist, critic, teacher, and political activist Amiri Baraka, born LeRoi Jones, vividly recounts his crusading role in African American literature. A driving force behind the Black... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0881910228
• ISBN13: 9780881910223
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Lawrence Hill & Co
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Dutchman

I've read the script and seen the video. Fascinating, well-written examination of behavior, race, and social standards. Should be more well recognized as a great black writer.

frankness, humor, self-examination ....

Autobiographies, even by poets, rarely reach the depths of honest self-examination one finds in their poems. One has only to think of Kenneth Rexroth's tall stories or William Carlos Williams' evasions. But Mr. Baraka's is different. His has been a journey from a middle class background in Newark (keeping in mind that it was not a white middle class), through Howard University's elitist social structure, the racism of the Air Force; his beginnings as a poet & his drift into Charles Olson's powerful gravity. Many of America's best white poets were among his friends & he did much to promote their careers along with his own. Then his turn toward leadership of the great Black Awakening of the Sixties, his move "uptown," his embrace of socialism & subsequent return to Newark where he continues to influence young writers & activists of all colors & ethnic backgrounds. There are also his controversial plays, his feuds, marriages & arrests. Also his witnessing of the Newark Rebellion (the full deadly story never accurately reported in the press), his deep understanding of American culture & respect for authentic expression. That's a lot to cover, but Baraka does so with frankness, humor, self-examination & an occasional willingness to admit error without loading up on pointless regrets. A fine account of a fallible man who, even in his most angry moments, gives the world beautiful things. & that anger is usually over our failure to see the beauty of justice. Bob Rixon, WFMU-FM