Callus on My Soul : A Memoir [Hardcover]

Dick Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2000

Comedian and human rights activist Dick Gregory reflects on his life and modern American history in a conversational memoir.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Sheila Moses, a Rich Square, North Carolina playwright, poet, and biographer, is the author of One More River to Cross and So They Burned the Black Churches.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing (September 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563525542
• ISBN-13: 978-1563525544
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,192,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Claxton Gregory, December 15, 2000

By 

talkytina "talkytina" (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Callus on My Soul : A Memoir (Hardcover)

Dick Gregory is a truly incredible yet somewhat obscure talent who sacrificed fame and fortune only to become quite wealthy anyway! I have read all of Mr. Gregory's books, listened to most of his CD's, and attended several of his lectures at universities throughout the country. Unfortunately, and somewhat amazingly, most of his books are out of print! This is possibly due to his refusal to become "mainstream" at any cost. Nevertheless, "Callus On My Soul" is a great way to catch up and see a lot of what you've missed . . . And chances are, you've missed a lot! Whatever you may think about Dick Gregory, this is irrefutable: He has always been (and remains) funny, controversial, angry, obsessed, and a true Holy Man (in the tradition of Jesus Christ himself) . . . AND "Brother Greg" has never lied to you! His previous books include "No More Lies" (History), "Dick Gregory's Political Primer" (Political Science), "The Shadow That Scares Me" (Sociology), "Nigger" (his autobiography), "Up From Nigger", "Code Name Zorro", "From the Back of the Bus", "Write Me In" (he collected 1.5 million write in votes for President of the United States in 1968), "Dick Gregory's Bible Tales", and "Dick Gregory's Natural Diet For Folks Who Eat" (look for them at used book stores or perhaps at amazon.com, but . . . This book is arguably his best! The easiest to find is "Nigger", and remember, if ever you hear that word . . . They are advertising one of his books . . . And contributing to his income!

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We've Been Best Friends for 35 Years, December 31, 2000

By 

SSJ "SSJ" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Callus on My Soul : A Memoir (Hardcover)

To those who might consider this a biased review, I want to first say that reading this book will transform your life and your beliefs about about everything. From the truth about racism to facts about love and humor.

I want to say that I have have had the honor, the pleasure and the God-given reward to have been the friend of Dick Gregory for 36 years. So if you were to judge my words on a prejudice you would be right. But that just makes me a more informed reporter regarding whether or not you should read this book.

Over the past 5 decades we have benefitted from what he has done. Dick Gregory has spent, going to jail for us to break the bonds of prejudice? We are certainly grateful that someone so courageous as Dick Gregory has used his fame, the notoriety he earned from his wit and wisdom to communicate -- though he made it a point to forever stop performing in nightclubs, though it cost him millions of dollars, because he knew it was a travesty to sell liquor or cigarettes to people because these were deadly substances. So he gave up the wealth that so many stars, entertainers, celebrities, etc. had access to. Why? Because he was a man of truth. He remains a man of truth.

While he had married the woman of his dreams, the woman of his life, Lil Gregory (forgive me for using the familiar first name but after knowing them for 35 years it's second nature to me now), he also sought to communicate the tragic, and heinous ills of society's prejudice and racism, through a method of communication that he learned in school. In 'Nigger' the first Dick Gregory autobiography, and in "Callus On My Soul," the second autogiogaphy by Dick Gregory and Shelia Moses, he told of his dilemma for survival.

He was small and not able to prevail on the street corner or in the schoolyard without something extra. Had he been a giant, strong and awesome physically, it would have been easy. But Gregory was smart, he was gifted intellectullay and most of all he was funny, comical, and had a talent for humor. If you can make people laugh, you can lower their defenses. So Greg began a lifetime of making people laugh. It started with a need to survive but it continued to flood a nation which had never seen the wit and wisdom of such a person.

At the same time, Gregory was in command of his physical self. This would be something that would define his life many years later. While in his school years, he became a champion long distance, cross-country runner, and eventually he became the champion of the State of Missouri.

Humor was his entry into history and his commitment was his entry into a life of dedication to the civil rights movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others. The experiences he relates in his book are enough to give you chivers because of his creativity, born of his talent for humor in some cases, but also his courage, such as to call for and be granted a face-to-face meeting with the Ayatollah Khomeni during he incarceration of the Americans who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.

Gregory is loved wherever he goes. He's the most sought after lecturer at all U.S. colleges and has been for more than two decades. But he's not only an extraordinary example of a father of ten grown kids who are all people for society to acknowledge as the kind of people we all would like to have as our children, ttheir achievements being so admirable that it might look as if Iwere fabricating them to make this look good for Gregory. But he's a man who we can all learn from, he knows no boundries, between men or women, racial divides, religious differences, or any other type of bigotry. You must at least read about Dick Gregory, because he is a man of humor, which is the greatest stress reliever of all pursuits, but because he will give you some very clear insight into what you can do to improve our world. And you will be better for it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Thinking, January 24, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Callus on My Soul : A Memoir (Hardcover)

Brother Greg believes O.J. is innocent. That is hard to believe, and there is some paranoia with his thinking. Conspiracy theories make for good fiction, but some of it is enlightening and believable. Mr. Gregory is a great man, and has a lot of knowledge. He is very smart. He is very funny, but he is also obsessed. If he calms down, he would do better. I love him. He is trying so hard to stop world hunger, and wants people to be slim and trim, and not fat as a pig. He wants justice. If people were more like Mr. Gregory, the world would be a much better place.