Frantz Fanon: A Spiritual Biography (Lives & Legacies) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This brief, informative biography of the West Indian philosopher, psychiatrist, writer and Third World revolutionary explores Fanon's widespread influence on human and civil rights leaders on both sides of the Atlantic during the 1950s and `60s. Using Fanon's own writings, interviews granted by his family, and secondary sources, psychologist and poet Ehlen, a professor at the New School, paints a complete portrait of a thinker and activist driven by a deep political and philosophical commitment to freedom from colonial oppression and fascism, who was profoundly shaped by his cloistered middle-class upbringing in the French colony of Martinique and his service in WWII, for which he was awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre. As a psychiatrist, Fanon (1925-1961) became intensely interested in Marxist thought and the political plight of the oppressed in Africa and America, ultimately writing three seminal guides for those seeking social change (Black Skins, White Masks [1952], A Dying Colonialism [1959] and The Wretched of the Earth [1968]), which won him prominent friends and supporters like Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir and Richard Wright. Writing with sincerity, intelligence and restraint, Ehlen is careful not to depict Fanon as a sainted figure, revealing a complex man, alternately generous and charming or arrogant, exacting, volatile and brilliant to the point of annoyance. His descriptions of Fanon's courageous determination to work and write in the final days of his battle with cancer are especially poignant. Ehlen's book is a credible complement to two other well-known commentaries on the man's life: David Caute's 1970 biography, Fanon, and Irene Gendzier's 1973 work, Frantz Fanon: A Critical Study, both of which are out of print.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

To some Frantz Fanon was a great psychiatrist, to some he was a brilliant social philosopher, and to many he was a bold revolutionary who fought colonialism in Africa and helped to spur a worldwide struggle for equal rights among all races and classes. Though Fanon's major books have been widely studied -- most notably his scathing critique of colonialism in, The Wretched of the Earth-- his life has remained shrouded in mystery for the forty years following his death. This latest member to our Lives & Legacies series of spiritual biographies offers a Frantz Fanon of exceptional depth and dimension, revealing the man behind the myth of Frantz Fanon.

Written in a fresh and engaging narrative style, Ehlen resurrects the tremendous personality of Fanon and presents his remarkable life with the skill of a fine novelist. The book opens on the small French Caribbean colony of Martinique at the turn of the century, and recounts the trials of an ordinary family in extraordinary times, subtly fusing the social, economic, and psychological elements that fed young Frantz Fanon's intellect and passion. While scant details of Fanon's childhood have never been published, extensive research and interviews with family members help to provide this book with a rich and unprecedented account of the development of Fanon's powerful personality. This presentation of Fanon's early years illuminates the uncommon life that follows, revealing how a single man matures into a decorated hero in war, a revolutionary pioneer in psychiatry, a radical theorist in philosophy, and a passionate revolutionary in one of the bloodiest anti-colonial struggles of modern times, the Algerian war of independence.

The reader is escorted through Fanon's education in France, and through the demon of racism Fanon must face that spawns his first book, Black Skin, White Masks. As Fanon makes his way in the world, his contempt for injustice draws him farther from his middle-class aspirations and deeper into a dark abyss of war, madness and disease. Supported and understood by few save his family, some life-long friends, and Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, Fanon aims for the impossible and achieves the improbable. It is little surprising that his work would so profoundly influence those who continued his cry after his death, including Eldridge Cleaver, LeRoi Jones, and Stokely Carmichael, to name only a few.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Crossroad 8th Avenue; First Edition edition (February 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824523547
• ISBN-13: 978-0824523541
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,668,424 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, January 14, 2001

By	davion9 (university park, fl. USA) - See all my reviews

A wonderful read all the way through. I knew little of Fanon's work outside the seminal "Wretched of The Earth" and even less of Ehlen with the exception of the compelling short prose of "Aunties". But after a friend reccomended this provocative, exceptionally well written biography I plan to investigate both Ehlen and Fanon thoroughly. An excellent piece of writing--I reccomend it to all.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart and passionate writing from a man who understands., February 6, 2002

By	Paul f Yates "oniongod" (stamford, ct United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was written with a depth of understanding of the human psyche that only a poet/psychologist could produce. When one reads an average biography one normaly can only gleen snippets of the reasoning in the subject's actions-Pat Ehlen has let me in on the reasoning of a man who's influence can be felt in all of modern black history. A terrific read.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent; thought provoking, January 30, 2001

By	Michael O'Shea (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

Though I was unfamiliar with Fanon before reading this book; I found this biography to be fascinating. Well written and very interesting.