The LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader [Paperback]

Amiri Baraka (Author), William J. Harris (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 1999

Amiri Baraka - dramatist, poet, essayist, orator, and fiction writer - is one of the preeminent African-American literary figures of our time. The Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader provides the most comprehensive selection of Baraka's work to date, spanning almost 40 years of a brilliant, prolific, and controversial career, in which he has produced more than 12 books of poetry, 26 plays, eight collections of essays and speeches, and two books of fiction. This updated edition contains over 50 pages of previously unpublished work, as well as a chronology and full bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his eulogy of James Baldwin--one of this anthology's previously unpublished works--Baraka writes that Baldwin was "turned all the way up, receiving and broadcasting . . . ." The same can be said of Baraka. For more than 30 years he has been one of our most self-revising, self-assertive writers. Culling representative samples of his oeuvre, this expertly edited volume reflects Baraka's bold ventures and about-faces. The poems of 1964's The Dead Lecturer tick like small explosives. Selections from 1963's Blues People and 1968's Black Music reveal Baraka as a superb, learned critic. With remarkable candor, an excerpt from Baraka's 1984 autobiography scrutinizes his Black Arts period. Notable among the new pieces is "Why's / wise," a long poem that unfolds the story of how African-Americans' appropriation of English led to the rich oral languages of blues and jazz, from which so much of Baraka's own work proceeds. The story of Baraka's metamorphoses is itself part of the story of contemporary literature's development. Anyone seeking to understand either will find this volume indispensable. Harris wrote The Poetry and Poetics of Amiri Baraka.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Baraka is a writer who readily embraces change, and this collection reflects a life full of changes beginning with something as fundamental as a change in name. The selections included are arranged chronologically in four distinct periods: The Beat Period (1957-62), The Transitional Period (1963-65), The Black Nationalist Period (1965-74), and The Third World Marxist Period (1974-present). Editor Harris, in collaboration with Baraka, has chosen representative examples of Baraka's poems, plays, jazz writings, and social criticism. Among several new works are a eulogy for James Baldwin and an emotional analysis of Jesse Jackson's role in Democratic politics. Essential for all literature collections.
- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 2nd edition (November 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560252383
• ISBN-13: 978-1560252382
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing man!, April 23, 2003

By 

Shawn Taylor (Bay Area, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader (Paperback)

Buy this book. It's that simple. This book provides the reader with a developmental history of one of the greatest LIVING revolutionary minds this country has ever produced. He hits you in the heart without bashing you over the head. You may not agree with everything he says, or how he may have lived portions of his life, but you will be affected (in some capacity) by his wit, intelligence and the fierceness of his conventions. A must for anyone who thinks that they are " a radical" or "an activist."

This book is rated UR and may not be suitable for un-realistic audiences.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful words, and rasie race, September 30, 2000

By 

Laura Lea May "Beauty sleeps deep within the ... (Salisbury, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka reader (Paperback)

I thought that this followed in Amiri baraka footsetps, as a more provacative and honest edition than the others. Very powerful and eye-opening!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Warrior Poet, June 21, 2000

By 

Erren Geraud Kelly - See all my reviews

This review is from: The LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader (Paperback)

this man is the reason why i became a writer. to know leroi jones is to see the struggle etched into his face; to know him is to hear his voice, sometimes reeling with jazz and blues, others, like a hanna-barbera cartoon. he is the struggle continuing, showing you the america, mtv, cnn,and bet refuses to show. he was a beatnik, then a black nationalist and now a maoist, but always a poet. i have met him twice, and was amazed by his brillance each meeting. his words are about freedom. any of his books will tell you that. read all of them.