Product Description
The first collection of selected poetry from perhaps the preeminent African American literary figure of our time. Baraka almost single-handedly changed both the nature and the form of post-World War II African-American literature, and this volume is an important contribution to Modernist literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

word beat
Baraka's "Best Of..." collection is quite simply a must-read for any person with an interest in 20th century poetry. The words almost leap out against you when you open the book, and the language is mind-bending. Try to read these poems aloud to yourself, and you might just get the word-kick of a lifetime.Oop Bop Sh'Bam...

The Life of a Revolutionary Poet
This book is not for those sensitive to raw material. But if you're a fan of Mr. Baraka, this book is a 40-year collection, and a definite must for your bookshelf. In the words of Mr. Baraka, "Can you stand such beauty? So violent and transforming." This line from his poem"Return of the Native" encompasses all that is Transbluency. Thisbook is for the true fan of protest poetry. Mr. Baraka uses blues and jazzrhythms as well as the natural essence of words to express himself inamazing ways. I enjoy this book not only because I am a fan, but because itis rare to find a poet who has mastered the art of poetic language andimagery. ... Read more

Product Description
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 This updated edition contains over 50 pages of previously unpublished work, as well as a chronology and full bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

An Awesome Artist and Philosopher
I would not take anyone's word uncritically or unexamined about anything really important.Amiri Baraka is a flawed man. At times he has sounded anti-semitic and other times in his life he has sounded homophobic.

There is plenty in his life to contradict those seemingly mean spirited expressions. However, he was friends to the end with both Allen Ginsberg and James Baldwin among others and had children with Hattie (Cohen?)Jones. And I still don't get the "20 Volume Suicide Note"...musings of somebody not really ready to go quietly into that night?

All that being said, I also find Baraka to be vigorous, rigorous, intellectually and spiritually adventuresome and brave of heart.I have learned MUCH from him.If you don't get it, maybe he isn't talking you or you are not willing to listen...

He has written some beautiful, brilliant poetry that functions through many channels of communication.His essays about African based music are seminal, required, necessary.

Baraka deserves criticism.None of the criticism here so far expresses anything of substance that I can discern.

Personally, I experienced one of my rebirths though the Black Arts Movement.Baraka was one of the leading "midwives".I am VERY thankful for his presence in this crazy, cruel, wonderous world.If you really want to know the truth of what we call "America", the stench and the free-for-all wildflowers, you need to pass by his way.

Reviewing THE BOOK, Not The Controversy Surrounding Its Author
As a native of Newark, N.J., I grew up taking Amiri Baraka for granted. It wasn't until I moved to Maryland and finally read this book that I understood who I had met all those times.

This is an EXTRAORDINARY work that details the growth and development of a significant American artist. Its editor takes much care in selecting samples that allow us to see divergent aspects of Baraka.

Especially significant among the many gems within is the text of his eulogy for James Baldwin and his essay on Jesse Jackson. Those works are required reading for those needing to understand the 20th century African-American experience, particularly those who wish to do so as writers.

This book has guided my view of the (African-)American writer's role.

A worthless book
I read this book and all I know is that Leroi Jones changed his name to Amiri Baraka.

But all he is... is a frustrated angry man.Full of hate and spite.

not deserving much attention
I think this book took me five minutes to read--a lot of talking, no ideas.Original ones, anyway.

An amazing man!
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. ... Read more

Product Description
Here, for the first time under one cover, is the collected fiction of one of America's greatest writers. LeRoi Jones, later known as Amiri Baraka, may be most famous for his plays, poetry, and music writings; nut his one published novel, The System of Dante's Hell (1965), his book of short stories, Tales (1967), and his previously unpublished novel 6 Persons (1973-74) give ample evidence that his fiction may even exceed his other work in complexity, invention, confessional recklessness, and contribution to issues of black identity. This volume includes all three of these masterpieces, and supplements them with four previously uncollected stories. Jones's fiction, which shares the acute self-consciousness, autobiographical tendencies, and restlessness of Beat writing, also maintains an uncompromising attitude towards sex and violence: The System of Dante's Hell was banned when first published because of its graphic depiction of homosexual acts. Poetic, provocative, witty, bitter, and aggressive, this book contains some of the most astonishing writing to emerge from a convulsive periods in African American history ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The System of Dante's Hell
I cannot speak for this entire book, but it seems to be the only way to obtain The System of Dante's Hell these days, and this is a truly great book and a must read.

The System of Dante's Hell is a short novel in which a black soldier travels through the American south. Like Dante in hell, Jones/Baraka's tour shows you this hell from the outside, but not really from the outside. Anyway, the book is brilliant. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of interviews with Amiri Baraka, the former LeRoi Jones and a key figure in the worldwide black liberation movement, provides an extraordinary insight not only into African American literature but also into the turmoil and passions of the "black experience" during the second half of the twentieth century.

As they offer an understanding of the political turbulence of his times, these interviews provide special insights into Baraka's works, his anger, and his career. Not only does Baraka criticize and explain his most celebrated works, but also his comments supply a rich context for understanding the African American experience.

Throughout these candid conversations Baraka maintains his belief in the firm alliance of art and social criticism. "To me, social commentary and art cannot be divorced. Art and life are the same: art comes out of life, art is a reflection of life, art is life."

Here is a collection that contains nearly all of the major interviews this poet, playwright, fiction writer, essayist, and social activist has given in his long and controversial career. Four of them have not been previously published. Included here are interviews conducted by Maya Angelou, Austen Clarke, and David Frost, as well as a new interview Baraka granted the editor of this volume. ... Read more

Product Description
A study of the works of Imamu Amiri Baraka written between 1960 and 1970. Baraka is represented as an example of black America searching for identity, purpose and direction. This search, examined by Lacey, is embodied by Baraka's achievements. ... Read more