From hustling, drug addiction and armed violence in America's black ghettos Malcolm X turned, in a dramatic prison conversion, to the puritanical fervour of the Black Muslims. As their spokesman he became identified in the white press as a terrifying teacher of race hatred; but to his direct audience, the oppressed American blacks, he brought hope and self-respect. This autobiography (written with Alex Haley) reveals his quick-witted integrity, usually obscured by batteries of frenzied headlines, and the fierce idealism which led him to reject both liberal hypocrisies and black racialism.
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Extraordinary ... a brilliant, painful, important book New York Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was shocked when I looked up this book on Amazon and found it not in print, and with only three reviews posted. Then I clicked on the paperback version and found 117 reviews...that's more like it. The book made Malcolm X nationally famous, but not in time to save him from assassination by fellow "Black Muslims" who resented Malcolm's disenchantment with Elijah Muhammad, founder of the movement. It also made Alex Haley, the "as told to" writer, renown. What it did for me was to make me much less of a racist than I was before I read it...This book, along with "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and "Stride Toward Freedom" by MLK, were vital steps in my move away from mindless racism. I also credit the singing of Paul Robeson and Harry Belafonte, and the tv news accounts of the civil rights protests in Alabama and Mississippi from 1962-64. But this book is special. I've read it three times. Spike Lee did a good job on the movie, but it doesn't replace the book. If you care about the history of the civil rights struggle, you must read it. Even if you don't, Malcolm's life journey is fascinating and inspiring. He made sense, and his presence scared us whiteys into giving Martin the victories he needed. Without Malcolm X, the "non-violent" wing of the movement would have had a much harder time.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When Malcolm X was a boy, he endured his father's murder by, and his mother losing her sanity from, racist sanctimonious Southern whites. Unsurprisingly, he spent his later life in a quest to resolve the psychological tension of those horrific events. One might say that, by the end of his quest, he had found the Grail.
Malcolm X was largely overshadowed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - at least as I remember it - during the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s. Unsurprisingly, Malcolm X began veering more toward the universality of King as he matured. For indeed universality is the central Christian message - (Jesus having spent his entire ministry as "an unclean rabbi walking through social taboos like they were cobwebs") - and the central message of Islam, also.
Malcolm X's diagnosis of what's wrong with US culture seems to run thus:
1. The Founding Fathers declared "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". But the reality was that to create the nation the Fathers were forced to permit slavery to survive. Noble ideals notwithstanding, the nation was launched amid institutional hypocrisy.
2. Despite his oath to support and defend the Constitution (and despite President Washington's encouragement to bring native Americans into American society as equals with whites), President Andrew Jackson refused to comply with Chief Justice John Marshall's majority decision in Worcester v. Georgia (1832) that native Americans be treated as equals with European Americans. Noble ideals notwithstanding, the nation was confirmed in institutional hypocrisy.
I found it odd that never once does Malcolm X mention the Islamic slave trade in Africa, a black diaspora that began roughly seven centuries before the European-Atlantic slave trade, (see Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora). Slavery was not made illegal on the Arabian Peninsula until 1962 - shortly before Malcolm X's arrival there. I also found it odd Malcolm's ignoring the fact that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments were passed by 100% *Caucasian* US congressmen, and that the abolitionist movement was funded and forwarded almost entirely by Caucasians. To this degree, much of Malcolm's sentiments were bootless jeremiads against the inevitable vagaries of human nature: How can you declaim against racism when you are racist yourself?
While I took strong issue with X's incessant blanket characterization of Caucasians as "devils", I correctly anticipated while reading that as his autobiography progressed he would mature past the blinders of racism. As an Irish American friend of mine remarked, if he had been born black in this country he would've been a lot angrier than Malcolm X, "the angriest black man in America".
Frankly, I liked Malcolm X reading this book. I liked him not because his judgment was always sound (it wasn't) nor because his heart was always full of love (it wasn't) but simply because he spoke truth to power and because he was *trying* to do the right thing. Thomas Carlyle's definition of the hero is that "the hero is sincere". By this definition, Malcolm X was heroic, and heroic stories are inspiring.
It is curious to read the printed fire of Malcolm X's words and contrast them with the cool spoken presentations he was quite capable of delivering.
I consider this book essential reading for any American who wants better to understand himself and his culture.
Malcolm X was largely overshadowed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - at least as I remember it - during the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s. Unsurprisingly, Malcolm X began veering more toward the universality of King as he matured. For indeed universality is the central Christian message - (Jesus having spent his entire ministry as "an unclean rabbi walking through social taboos like they were cobwebs") - and the central message of Islam, also.
Malcolm X's diagnosis of what's wrong with US culture seems to run thus:
1. The Founding Fathers declared "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". But the reality was that to create the nation the Fathers were forced to permit slavery to survive. Noble ideals notwithstanding, the nation was launched amid institutional hypocrisy.
2. Despite his oath to support and defend the Constitution (and despite President Washington's encouragement to bring native Americans into American society as equals with whites), President Andrew Jackson refused to comply with Chief Justice John Marshall's majority decision in Worcester v. Georgia (1832) that native Americans be treated as equals with European Americans. Noble ideals notwithstanding, the nation was confirmed in institutional hypocrisy.
I found it odd that never once does Malcolm X mention the Islamic slave trade in Africa, a black diaspora that began roughly seven centuries before the European-Atlantic slave trade, (see Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora). Slavery was not made illegal on the Arabian Peninsula until 1962 - shortly before Malcolm X's arrival there. I also found it odd Malcolm's ignoring the fact that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments were passed by 100% *Caucasian* US congressmen, and that the abolitionist movement was funded and forwarded almost entirely by Caucasians. To this degree, much of Malcolm's sentiments were bootless jeremiads against the inevitable vagaries of human nature: How can you declaim against racism when you are racist yourself?
While I took strong issue with X's incessant blanket characterization of Caucasians as "devils", I correctly anticipated while reading that as his autobiography progressed he would mature past the blinders of racism. As an Irish American friend of mine remarked, if he had been born black in this country he would've been a lot angrier than Malcolm X, "the angriest black man in America".
Frankly, I liked Malcolm X reading this book. I liked him not because his judgment was always sound (it wasn't) nor because his heart was always full of love (it wasn't) but simply because he spoke truth to power and because he was *trying* to do the right thing. Thomas Carlyle's definition of the hero is that "the hero is sincere". By this definition, Malcolm X was heroic, and heroic stories are inspiring.
It is curious to read the printed fire of Malcolm X's words and contrast them with the cool spoken presentations he was quite capable of delivering.
I consider this book essential reading for any American who wants better to understand himself and his culture.
13 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Levine
Format:Paperback
Like many in my generation I was deeply affected by this book and by Malcolm's words, oral and written. But decades of continued related reading heve left me wondering just which of those in this "Autobiography" are, indeed, Malcolm's. Amazon's way of listing editors reinforces the irony that this book really has two authors, one of whom (Alex Haley) had a less-than-militant history and a less-than-sterling reputation for accuracy. This book has, since its publication, been regarded as the "real" Malcolm, which has been perpetuated in film and in the conventional wisdom, scholarly and street. I am not saying it is inaccurate, only that it might be time for a serious scholar to examine with greater scrutiny the man's life and particularly its final months. There has not been a definitive biography for a man who unquestionably deserves one.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Essential Read
This book challenged an changed ideas i had about the issue of race in America. It opened me to see Malcolm X as a person capable of change who held multiple ideas throughout his... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tarsis
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life Changing...
This book is probably the favorite that I own. I've read it over and over and it still inspires me. I would recommend this as a MUST for any library collection
Published 2 months ago by LaBellaSoul
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, Outstanding, Incredible
I always wanted to read it -- so I bought it -- waaaaaaaaaaay back in 2002. (It says so on the stocking label from Borders, still affixed. Read more
Published 2 months ago by First Things First
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Came in on time. The packaging was exceptional. And there was a receipt . Overall I would recommend it to anyone.
Published 3 months ago by Alejandra Styles
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent read!
I read "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" years ago and enjoyed it. I recently bought this book as a gift, and it was highly appreciated. The size of the book was perfect.
Published 3 months ago by Ms. Nicholson
5.0 out of 5 stars
On my list
I don't read much but non-fiction and recently a friend asked me to compile a list of my top ten favorite non-fiction books. Autobiography of Malcolm X was in the top five. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kathleen S. Dufault
3.0 out of 5 stars
Irritated
Good quality product,but I was told that I would recieve it by a certain date and it did not comes till days after that. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kelsey M James
5.0 out of 5 stars
ahh !
wonderful , beautiful human being ! . This guy should be the face of all minorities. He motivates me to do good in life. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Pen Name
5.0 out of 5 stars
A man's courageous journey in search of a new and meaningful life
With the help of renowned writer Alex Haley, Malcolm X lays out the story of his life. Once a street hustler known as "Detroit Red," the protagonist finds a more meaningful life... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ulfilas
1.0 out of 5 stars
A cheap paperback with cardboard covers
The great Autobiography of MalcolmX is a literary and cultural classic. But if you are hoping for a lasting addition to add to your collection, do not purchase this product. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Zen Finderhorn
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