Customer Reviews

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Penguin Modern Classics)

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A compelling and often riveting look into one of the country's most controversial figures. We follow the story of Malcolm Little, whose family was endlessly persecuted in Nebraska before moving to small town Michigan where he manages to lead a relatively normal childhood though is disquieted when a well-intentioned teacher negates his dream of being a successful lawyer, on the basis of race. A visit to his half-sister in Boston exposes young Malcolm to an exhilarating lifestyle that proves irresistable.

I found his immersion in black 1950s urban culture to be one of the high points of the book. Malcolm manages to convey a strong sense of all that the city had to offer to a tall sociable black man. His sociability and pan-race interaction through his early legal jobs and onto hustling made the virulence of his anti-white racism that much more surprising. Here was a man who had a healthy acceptance of racial diversity even while living a degenerate lifestyle. The storytelling as Malcolm found himself trapped more and more by forces of law and dangerous hustlers was at a peak.

Unfortunately at this point the book's plot begins its precipitous decline in action-oriented prose. His revelations and stories from prison are still full of life though this is the point at which Haley begins to sacrifice plot by occasionally interspersing Malcolm's tedious diatribes, which become more and more lengthy as the book wears on. By the end, the reader is filtering through pages of how the white man's corrupting society causes ill to both races, how the liberal white man is only superficially sympathetic, just to wait for something new to happen.

I imagine this lends a sense of authenticity to the book. As mentioned in the book's forward, Haley apparently had to listen to hours of these repetitive acerbic discourses before he could even get any family history to write down. At one point, he was worried he would have to cancel the project.

There is another aspect explored by the book that the casual reader might not appreciate - the interplay between a public figure and the press. On account of the interviews I've done and what the writers have done with them afterward, I identified deeply with the relationship Malcolm seemed to have with an ever sensationalist media.

Overall, when TAOMX is telling a story, it succeeds brilliantly; when it isn't, it founders equally as spectacularly.

I must say I feel rather humble in my attempt to review this autobiography, hence the brevity of my Review. However I cannot sufficiently stress how the account of Malcolm X's life has given me as a native African (and gives the reader regardless of ethnic background) a crucially important Sociological, Philosophical, Political, Islamic and Pan African insight into African American culture and its' shaping in historical context.

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.

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.

While I took issue with X's incessant characterization of Caucasians as "devils", I correctly anticipated while reading that as his autobiography progressed he would mature past the blinders of racism. I also found Malcolm X *refreshing* because what he said he meant. And 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 because he spoke truth to power. 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.

Reading this book reminded me that film adaptations never achieve the wholeness of the written story. There are many facts in this book that the movie never touches. Malcom X shares a lot about himself in this book, but I was wanting more. Perhaps I should read some of his speeches.

Excellent book. Very well written. An incredible journey to the mind of Malcolm X. It is amazing to read this book and find out how many vital experiences Malcolm X lived through out his life. He was a man that experienced what many men would need ten lives or more to experience. I couldn't stop reading. It is not only a journey through his mind but also through the society of his time, the virtues and the miseries. My admiration goes to Malcolm X, a man that self educated himself, that touched the bottom and was able to overcome his weaknesses, that preached hate and was able to accept his mistakes and die for his beliefs. A proud man that fought to bring pride to his people. It is a pity this book is so hard to find translated to Spanish.

Brother Malcolm's life was one of struggle and learning and inspiration. His memory and the life he has lived since his death has been varied - Malcolm X is as much as vague idea as he was a man. He is too often forgotten or misremembered or manipulated. This is as true in death as it was in his life.

It was this life that he chooses to document here, in his own terms and without the mediation of a media on either side that wants to appropriate or demonize him depending on the agenda. He was a marvel and cut down too soon and an inspiration for all who want to work for a better world. His methods and ideas were sometimes imperfect but his goals were just.

The reader can see how his ideas evolved as he worked through and with the Nation of Islam and then as he struck out for a larger brotherhood. I want to leave this with word from Malcolm that inspired me: "I've had enough of someone else's propaganda; I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole." I feel that we should all work with such guidance, no matter what you call divine.

I just finished this book and in my head I know this is going to take me a while to process. What I really liked about this book was how blunt Malcolm X was and how he didn't sugarcoat anything. His knowledge of history and his perspectives of why the US race problem is the way it is very eye-opening. He touches on a lot of topics in this book including women, drugs, hustling, religion, history, social welfare... basically stuff that can pertain to anyone. Malcolm X's faith led him to overcome many obstacles in his life and this I believe will inspire many readers in their own lives to hold on to faith when the going gets rough.

I got a little annoyed when Malcolm X kept defending himself and getting repetitive near the end, but overall I know the book will challenge readers to think and act.

Malcolm X is absolutely one of the most honorable political figures of the twentieth century, and a hero. His life was one of honor and courage. He walked the walk, and he talked the talk. Having faced many trials and tribulations as a young man, he overcame many obstacles and fought for that which he identified as his convictions and beliefs. He was murdered for reasons which were due to his ideas, and he met his death as he lived his life, with courage and fortitude.