The System of Dante's Hell

by Amiri Baraka and LeRoi Jones

Book Overview

"Much of the novel is an expression of the intellectual and moral lost motion of the age . . . the special agony of the American Negro." --New York Times Book Review

"A fevered and impressionistic riff on the struggles of blacks in the urban North and rural South, as told through the prism of The Inferno. . . . Other writers addressed race more directly, but for all its linguistic slipperiness, Baraka's language conveys the feelings of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1617753963
• ISBN13: 9781617753961
• Release Date: February 2016
• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.9" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Before He was a Homophobe, He was Gay

This is an excellent autobiographical novel about the coming of age of a young, Black, male homosexual. He grapples with issues of insecurity and shame. Anyone familiar with the work of Amiri Baraka (formerly known as Leroy Jones, and then LeRoi Jones) knows that he is extremely homophobic and heterosexist. He is vicious and searing in his hatred of gays. And yet he himself is gay. Of course he covers that up now and will not admit to it. The physical discription of the character matches up with his own appearance. The locations and dates in the novel match up with the wheres and whens of his own life. So do other details, such as the main character being in the military and traveling to specific military stations. Despite of the terrible things he says about gays, I can't help but feel sorry for him after reading this novel.