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Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 2,952 ratings · 346 reviews

Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year

Years in the making-the definitive biography of the legendary black activist.

Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before...more

Hardcover, 608 pages

Published April 5th 2011 by Viking Adult (first published January 1st 2011)

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Apr 16, 2012 Zach rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, race, the-sixties, the-left

This book marks the end of the late great Dr. Marable's work while (hopefully?) simultaneously ushering in a fruitful re-examining of Malcolm X's life and place in the historical record. This means, of course, that it isn't quite the definitive work some people are holding it up to be, but would it really have been possible to capture something so complex and important in a single volume? Probably not, and especially not when so much remains unclear and so many sources remain unavailable (and, I...more This book marks the end of the late great Dr. Marable's work while (hopefully?) simultaneously ushering in a fruitful re-examining of Malcolm X's life and place in the historical record. This means, of course, that it isn't quite the definitive work some people are holding it up to be, but would it really have been possible to capture something so complex and important in a single volume? Probably not, and especially not when so much remains unclear and so many sources remain unavailable (and, I have to say, Marable is entirely explicit about this - there is an enormous amount of conjecture in this book, but it is always presented as such, and he is always clear that as new sources become available, the story will continue to evolve).

I, personally, could have used more of a theoretical/structural analysis: there was one brief discussion of Gramsci's prison experiences and the growth of organic intellectuals, but I would have loved further elaborations along that line. I also hated the lack of footnotes.* On the other hand, this book can be (and is being and will continue to be, I'm sure) consumed by a pretty diverse audience, so again, hopefully this will start a wider conversation that involves a variety of voices.

Some of this open-endedness, of course, also stems from the fact that Malcolm's life was cut short so early and in the midst of such a profound transformation. This leaves the field pretty wide open for his legacy to be kind of a floating signifier, which is a problem that I think Marable himself wrestles with here - was Malcolm headed towards liberal reformism, pan-African socialism, or Black nationalism, or some combination of all or none of the above? I don't know, neither does Marable, and nor does anyone else, although theories are pouring out of the woodwork (it's that conversation at work!). It's pretty telling, though, that much of the furor centers on Marable's allegations of paid homosexual encounters and marital infidelity (a "furor" currently led most publicly, of course, by a review that misreads much of this work, plays fast and loose with some factual errors of its own, and is full of venomous and, frankly, patently ridiculous personal attacks on a man who is no longer around to defend himself), neither of which makes much of a difference in the long run except for, I guess, calling Malcolm's "masculinity" into question (as if that was a bad thing).

The fact that this isn't a hagiography seems to have convinced ~~many~~ a few very vocal readers that this must be at attempt at some sort of character assassination, but it isn't, and the actual text of this book makes that very clear.

* This is actually the one area where I'm afraid some of the criticism is deserved: there are definitely some assertions that really should have been sourced that are not, and even a few places where direct quotes are not attributed at all.(less)

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Apr 24, 2011 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Marable weaves a compelling narrative, fills in a lot of chronological gaps in Alex Haley's "Autobiography," and offers perhaps the most detailed account to date of Malcolm's evolving political thought (owing to new research on Malcolm's trips to the Middle East and Africa). His greatest achievement is taking Malcolm's intellectual legacy seriously and situating it within the Third World struggle for liberation. But some questions remain about the "new" revelations regarding Malcolm's life and a...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Jason Walker rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book requires imagination. You cannot make assumptions that you think might be true. Everywhere you turn there is the opportunity for both failure and excess. This book does great justice in restoring Malcolm X's reputation. His previous biographers were aggressive in their prose and put their own thoughts into the issues raised. Mannining Marable has written a very readable book. You do not have to be inspired to read this book. At the same time you will be inspired. Malcolm X should be on...more

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Apr 26, 2011 m.bryan.welton rated it 3 of 5 stars

though the marable book didn’t feel as powerful or inspiring as the haley narrative or as urgently necessary as i thought a “corrective” might be, i thought it was instructive in demonstrating how malcolm was shaped just as much if not more by the unfolding and contending forces of global anticolonial struggles and the black freedom movement writ large as he was a charismatic catalyst himself.

to some degree, i can kind of understand why people are so desperate to defend the mythology of a singu...more

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May 12, 2013 Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Years in the making--the definitive biography of the legendary black activist.

...more

Years in the making--the definitive biography of the legendary black activist.

Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age thirty-nine. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man. In death he became a broad symbol of both resistance and reconciliation for millions around the world.

Manning Marable's new biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement. Filled with new information and shocking revelations that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of race and class in America, from the rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Reaching into Malcolm's troubled youth, it traces a path from his parents' activism through his own engagement with the Nation of Islam, charting his astronomical rise in the world of Black Nationalism and culminating in the never-before-told true story of his assassination. Malcolm X will stand as the definitive work on one of the most singular forces for social change, capturing with revelatory clarity a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew.

Review

[A] groundbreaking piece of work. ...The result is not just a biography, but also a history of Muslims in America and a sweeping account of one man's transformation... It will be difficult for anyone to better this book. ... a work of art, a feast that combines genres skillfully: biography, true-crime, political commentary. It gives us Malcolm X in full gallop. -- Wil Haygood Washington Post [L]ucid, hugely researched and surely definitive...an extraordinary story. Sunday Times [A]n incredibly detailed account of Malcolm's life (and an investigation of his murder) and it is, of course, completely riveting...it is inevitably much more than a biography of one man... Marable is intensely and intimately sympathetic. -- Geoff Dyer New Yorker In the pantheon of black American protest figures only Martin Luther King occupies a more exalted position, but it is Malcolm X whose legend has the greater street credibility and aura of cool...Now, almost a half century [after his assassination], Malcolm has finally received the biography that his unique role in black culture demands...A meticulous, comprehensive, and fair-minded portrait. -- Andrew Anthony Observer Professor Manning Marable's Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention is encyclopaedic in its approach. The endnotes and bibliography indicate the staggering breadth and depth of scholarship underpinning this volume...Undoubtedly it will stand as a last lecture on the subject by one of America's most distinguished historians. -- Wilbert Rideau Financial Times [A] wealth of detail, some of it new, some of it old stories confirmed...At the end of it all, Malcolm X remains Malcolm X, for good or ill, one of the most fascinating historical figures of the 20th Century...a labour of love...a courageous endeavour. -- Hugh Muir Guardian Malcolm's short life (he was slain at 39) makes a fascinating story...Mr Marable has scoured contemporary press clippings in America, Europe and Africa...and benefitted...from the recent release to the public of hundreds of Malcolm's letters, photographs and texts of speeches. The Economist Marable gives us all the raw material for a harshly critical appraisal... Marable's is very far from the first biography of Malcolm, but it is undoubtedly the most penetrating and thoroughly researched. It clearly surpasses the best previous effort, Bruce Perry's 1991 study -- Stephen Howe The Independent By the end of the 1960s, Malcolm's disciples had elevated him to what Manning Marable, in this weighty biography, calls 'secular sainthood'; in death, his image was quickly refashioned to 'embody the very ideal of blackness for an entire generation'... But Marable... resists the temptation of hagiography and fills in the gaps left by previous books. Where the autobiography, carefully organised by the NOI-sceptic Haley, presents an idealised vision of a man's growth as a thinker, Marable gives us Malcolm in all his self-contradiction and self-doubt... By refusing to pin him down, he offers glimpses of the human being behind the legend. -- Yo Zushi New Statesman Striking... Marable is intensely sympathetic but always conscious of the contradictions of his subject...the fulfilment of a life's work -- Geoff Dyer, Books Of The Year Prospect From petty criminal to drug user to prisoner to minister to separatist to humanist to martyr. Marable, who worked for more than a decade on the book and died earlier this year, offers a more complete and unvarnished portrait of Malcolm X than the one found in his autobiography. The story remains inspiring -- 10 Best Books Of 2011 New York Times Selected by the New York Times as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2011 New York Times

About the Author

Manning Marable, Professor of History and director of the Institute for African-American Studies at Columbia University, has written features in the New York Times and the Nation. His books include Race, Reform, and Rebellion; Beyond Black and White; and Speaking Truth to Power. His public affairs commentary series, "Along the Color Line," is featured in more than 275 newspapers and is broadcast by eighty radio stations in the U.S. and internationally.

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Apr 05, 2013 Esmeralda rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, Manning Marable set out to honestly portray a man and to humanize an icon. Marable intended on filling in holes left by truth-bending and necessary lack-of-future-knowledge in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Since I am not an expert on the subject, I have to say that Marable's book seemed very thorough and well-researched. It was also an engrossing narrative. I feel it well-deserves its Pulitzer Prize. My only complaint was towards the beginning of the novel,...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Erik Simon rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've always had it bad for this cat. I'm not sure if that's because of those incredible tenor cadences of his speaking voice, the charisma and magnetism of his person, or the appeal of his words to anyone from the lower and poorer classes, regardless of race. I didn't grow up uneducated, but I did grow up financially poor, and Marable lucidly points out that Malcolm was the Civil Rights leader who spoke most appealingly to blacks not from the middle class. I wonder if he touched something in all...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Denis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow, was reading this book every an education! This book is a monumental work that gets to the very heart of who Malcolm X was. All of the contradictions that made up Malcolm from the sublime and genuinely spiritual leader he evolved into to the street wise and hardened sociopath lingering in his past are fully explored in this biography.

Marable reveals the man behind the myth with all of his flaws bared, yet so full of promise. What the reader learns from reading is that in his last days Malcol...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Samuel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, counter-culture, racism

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down for the most part. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this time period, regardless of your personal feelings about the subject. I would also highly recommend it to anyone who already feels that they are operating with a basic understanding of who Malcolm X was, I guarantee that there will be multiple points within this book where certain assumptions would be challenged.

This book really went in depth in covering his evolving r...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Socraticgadfly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, history

First, I've not read either Haley's or Dyson's bios, nor seen Lee's movie.

So, coming at this fresh, I find this a powerful autobiography of a powerful figure. Especially after Malcolm's break with National of Islam, Marable shows a man liberated from past constraints while trying to find a new way of political, social and theological thought. In general, Marable does a very good job here; that said, per one other reviewer, he does bog down in trivia at times.

Marable also "rescues" Malcolm from t...more

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Sep 30, 2012 CD rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, civil-rights, history, pulitzer-prize, e-read

I sat up way too late the past two evenings reading this cover to cover. Then I needed to return it to its owner. Now I have an e-version loaded and am pouring through it again.

The first impression that I have of this book beyond it is an extremely well written work, is that the author may have made a major historical contribution in correcting much of the mythic and legendary stories surrounding Malcolm X and his role in the Civil Rights era.

Two general areas jump out in my marathon reading, Ma...more

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Greg Allen I would strongly urge you to read an opposing view of Marables work on Malcolm X. Title is A Lie Of Reinvention Correcting Manning Marables Malcolm X....more
Feb 14, 2013 05:39am

CD Greg wrote: "I would strongly urge you to read an opposing view of Marables work on Malcolm X. Title is A Lie Of Reinvention Correcting Manning Marabl...more
Feb 14, 2013 10:56am

Sep 26, 2012 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: african-americans, us-politics, us-history, biography, natl-book-award-nominee, natl-book-critics-circle-nomine, pulitzer-prize-winning-author

This is an information-packed book fully covering this short but influential life. I believe this will stand as the definitive work on Malcolm X for a long time to come. For a book that documents as well as tells the story, Manning Marable does an excellent job of holding the reader's interest throughout.

Malcolm's family, the Little's, lost its house in a likely arson (for which his father was accused of starting for insurance money, when he had no insurance), lost its husband/father in a likely...more This is an information-packed book fully covering this short but influential life. I believe this will stand as the definitive work on Malcolm X for a long time to come. For a book that documents as well as tells the story, Manning Marable does an excellent job of holding the reader's interest throughout.

Malcolm's family, the Little's, lost its house in a likely arson (for which his father was accused of starting for insurance money, when he had no insurance), lost its husband/father in a likely murder and then its mother to a mental institution. These were only a few of many setbacks before Malcolm's teenage years. With this background it is not surprising that he turned to crime. Manning takes the reader through this stressful childhood, to prison where he studied and converted to Islam as interpreted by the Nation of Islam, through the religious and political activities that followed his release, his travels and break from NOI, and eventually his assassination.

So many things were striking about this life. First was the role of the father. Malcolm, essentially, followed his father's footsteps in his religious devotion (if not the same faith) and activism (if not the same advocacy). His later relationship to Elijah Mohammed was similar to that of a son, a bond very hard to break. Next, was the amount of violence within the NOI organization and its cult like characteristics. Also notable was the amount of undercover work at the federal and local level that was devoted to Malcolm. (I doubt that J. Edgar Hoover knew or cared how much he'd be assisting historians.)

Marable does an excellent job in laying out the doctrinal differences in the Nation of Islam and Islam as practiced elsewhere in the world and Malcolm's growing awareness of them and his painful separation from NOI. Marable has good descriptions of Malcolm's tours and the recognition Malcolm received in the highest levels of Islamic countries. I would presume the hardest chapters to write were those on assassination and its aftermath. Undoubtedly a lot of sifting and thought went into bringing together the many different impressions of how it happened, who did what and which of the many unanswered questions to pursue.

This is an excellent work and clearly shows the years of careful research that went into it. (less)

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Sep 04, 2012 Louise Silk rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

Before this book, I only knew of Malcolm X through "Autobiography Of Malcolm X." Marable does a monumental job of giving a complete and honest picture of his life including what I didn't understand that "Autobiography" was written by Alex Haley and not Malcolm.

Marable deconstructs Haley's work and tells the complete story of Malcolm X's life and assassination including his conversion to "traditional" Islam and his rejection of the teachings of the Nation Of Islam which is what lead to his assas...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Randy Auxier rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophical-non-fiction

Until recently, it hasn’t been possible for any biographer to attempt what the late Manning Marable has done. The brawl for control of the legacy of Malcolm X has been intense and costly. The forces seeking to vilify Malcolm have certainly lost the field, but among the victors a lively contest has unfolded over the issue of what kind of hero he shall have been. Personally, I have been waiting for a book like this one that genuinely strives to help everyone understand just how complex the story i...more Until recently, it hasn’t been possible for any biographer to attempt what the late Manning Marable has done. The brawl for control of the legacy of Malcolm X has been intense and costly. The forces seeking to vilify Malcolm have certainly lost the field, but among the victors a lively contest has unfolded over the issue of what kind of hero he shall have been. Personally, I have been waiting for a book like this one that genuinely strives to help everyone understand just how complex the story is. I should confess that I have been an ardent admirer of Malcolm X, to the extent I understood him, for over 20 years. During that time, I read a lot, but I never was able to put all those words and deeds into a single coherent narrative. For people like me, this book is the one we wanted.

Marable’s thesis is that we ought to understand the life journey of Malcolm X as a series of reinventions of himself. Before Malcolm Little’s conversion to the Nation of Islam, Marable’s list of identities goes like this: “Malcolm, Detroit Red, Satan, hustler, one-time pimp, drug addict and drug dealer, homosexual lover, ladies man, numbers racketeer, burglar, Jack Carlton [nightclub singer], and convicted thief….” I know what you’re thinking. One of these identities is not like the others; one of these identities just doesn’t belong. I wonder whether Marable’s willingness to combine his “strong circumstantial” evidence to reach the conclusion that Malcolm was the paid homosexual lover of a wealthy older Jewish man, Paul Lennon, might have gotten him some death threats, if he had lived to see the book published. After all, Ossie Davis’s funeral oration identifies Malcolm as the manhood of the African American race. The image of the shining black prince as any man’s boy toy must be unwelcome, to put it mildly. But Marable wasn’t a bashful biographer. I have no idea what the truth is, but I certainly wouldn’t have been willing to include that little biographical morsel in my book, even if I knew it was true. I’m just not that brave, or that dead.

After his conversion, Malcolm assumed another series of identities: evangelist, minister, administrator, Harlem community organizer, National Minister to the Nation of Islam, Black Nationalist, public intellectual, orthodox Muslim, international human rights advocate. By the end of his life, Malcolm’s views were evolving so rapidly that there is no point in attempting to designate what his final position really was. There was no “real” Malcolm X beneath the masks, at least so far as we’ll ever know. Given another five years, he might have settled into a mature outlook that synthesized and preserved all of the basic principles that guided his very public education. Marable believed that a few threads can be traced through all of Malcolm’s reinventions of himself, especially the idea of black self-determination.

Marable’s book does not contain many startling new factual revelations, but it brings together all the scattered discoveries that trickled out in the 45 years since Malcolm’s death. The dizzying inner workings of the Nation of Islam are here available in digestible form, but I am not competent to judge the accuracy of this account. It certainly will be disputed. The same goes for the stories covering Muslim Mosque, Incorporated and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Particularly galling for many is the frank examination of the embarrassing ties between George Lincoln Rockwell’s American Nazi Party and the Nation of Islam. Marable is very plain in his characterization of Malcolm as a conservative, at least until his break with the NOI, and possibly even afterwards.

As for the persistent rumors of government involvement in Malcolm’s assassination, Marable does nothing to squelch them and a fair amount of argumentation tends to bolster those ideas. The ineptitude and incomprehension of the FBI and NYPD in surveilling Malcolm and grasping what he advocated is exactly what you would expect: stunning. Hard to believe we won the cold war.

The book ends with the inevitable compare and contrast with Martin Luther King, Jr. In the push and pull with the Reverend Dr. Chicken Wing (as Malcolm once called him), Mr. X does get the longer piece of the wishbone. But then again, it is his biography, not King’s. Marable’s academic credentials were about as impressive as they come, by the standards of the white-dominated academy. His final position, holding an endowed chair in African-American Studies at Columbia, placed him at the top of the acceptable heap – meaning progressive apologists to the white world of the black liberation cause. Suffice to say that Afro-American Unity as Malcolm X sought to create remains a deferred dream.
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Jul 29, 2012 Hans rated it 4 of 5 stars

A wealth of information on Malcolm X and the civil rights movement. The sheer informational value is staggering, and I heavily relied on this book while teaching a high school course on the civil rights movement. A few issues, though: first off (and most importantly), I find that this book is curiously shy when it comes to clearly condemning X's virulent anti-semitism. In other cases (e.g. X's mysognistic leanings, flirtations with white supremacists), Marable is quick to point out the inaccepta...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Don rated it 5 of 5 stars

A must read for anyone seeking to understand the life of Malcolm X. I came to the book with many preconceived notions of the man, many of which were confirmed by this book. Yes, he advocated for a long time for violence in response to repression. He was an anti-Semite. He grew up as 'Red,' a troubled teenage hood.

The book also enriched and enhanced my understanding of the complexity of Malcolm X. If one is to appreciate him, one needs to believe in redemption, reinvention, and the concept that...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Sheri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Many people have read Haley's ghost-written "Autobiography Of Malcolm X." In this new biography, which was one of the 5 finalists for the nonfiction National Book Award this year, Marable deconstructs Haley's work, identifies the fictitious & erroneous content that for various reasons Malcolm X and/or Haley chose to include, and tells the real story of Malcolm X's life and assassination. Missing from the Haley account is the real story of Malcolm X's conversion to "traditional" Islam and his...more Many people have read Haley's ghost-written "Autobiography Of Malcolm X." In this new biography, which was one of the 5 finalists for the nonfiction National Book Award this year, Marable deconstructs Haley's work, identifies the fictitious & erroneous content that for various reasons Malcolm X and/or Haley chose to include, and tells the real story of Malcolm X's life and assassination. Missing from the Haley account is the real story of Malcolm X's conversion to "traditional" Islam and his rejection of the teachings of the Nation Of Islam, of which he was the 2nd ranking minister in the US. Malcolm X rejected important NOI teachings, including that Louis Fard, an African-American who died shortly before the founding of the NOI, was in fact God; and that NOI founder Elijah Muhammed was the final prophet of God (contradicting Islamic teaching that the "original Mohammed" was the final prophet). The NOI then "expelled" Malcolm X, and he was replaced by Louis Farrakhan. By rejecting NOI doctrine, it appears Malcolm X signed his own death warrant, and the assassination attempts began.

Having lived for many years in Chicago just a couple blocks from Louis Farrakhan -- who preached to NOI followers just a couple days before the assassination that Malcolm X deserved to die -- it was pretty creepy reading at some points. Especially realizing that those nicely dressed skinny young men in black suits, white shirts & dark bow ties who hung around on the sidewalk in front of Farrakhan's house whom we saw all the time were the "Fruit Of Islam" in Marable's' book. The FOI were essentially the Nation Of Islam's enforcers, the "lead pipe" guys who ensured compliance with the behavioral rules of the NOI and the teachings of Elijah Muhammed (the NOI founder & nationwide leader prior to Farrakhan). According to Marable, it was FOI enforcers from Newark who showed up in Harlem & gunned down Malcolm X, even though the actual killers aren't the ones who went to jail for the assassination.

Interesting reading. It took Marable more than 20 years to write this book, and he died about a week before it was published. It's unfortunate he didn't live to see its publication, or the favorable reviews it's gotten, or learn of the awards it's been nominated for.(less)

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Oct 10, 2011 Ernestine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book will probably be known as the definitive work on Malcolm X in that it is the product of extensive research into the life and times of Malcolm. It is well written but also in need of an editor. It is a scholarly work that does not give insight into the brilliance and charisma of the man. It tells about some of the more well known people who's lives he impacted. But it does not speak on the countless people who listened to his speeches and had their own lives reinvented. I enjoyed the in...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Rayme rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a scholarly biography--not light reading--that re-creates Malcolm's life, especially his last months, based all current available information (many FBI documents still under seal).

I was curious to read this because I had found Alex Haley's "Autobiography" so interesting back in my college days, had seen Spike Lee's X and wanted to compare. It did take a bit of slogging but was ultimately rewarding as I know so much more about The Nation of Islam, Malcolm's intellectual growth, the relati...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Walter rated it 5 of 5 stars

The late Manning Marable was a lion of the contemporary African-American history community and deservedly so. It's a bit ironic and sad, then, that this work, the crowning achievement of his decades-long career, was published posthumously and that he didn't live to receive the full extent of the accolades that his work, especially in this latest incarnation, deserves. This book is masterful: piercingly insightful, thoroughly researched and unflinchingly candid about its subject. In all, it is a...more The late Manning Marable was a lion of the contemporary African-American history community and deservedly so. It's a bit ironic and sad, then, that this work, the crowning achievement of his decades-long career, was published posthumously and that he didn't live to receive the full extent of the accolades that his work, especially in this latest incarnation, deserves. This book is masterful: piercingly insightful, thoroughly researched and unflinchingly candid about its subject. In all, it is a worthy and satisfying experience....

But it's a tough read, at least for the first quarter or so. Frankly, Marable's style is less consistent than I remember it from previous works in the first part of the book, so, frankly, it takes a while to get into it. Once drawn in, though, the treasure trove of revelation, analysis and insight is deep. For a world that largely takes Malcolm X's autobiography as definitive, this is a shock to the system as it definitely expands upon and replaces that initial seminal work.

What Marable does so effectively in this work is to de-mystify and humanize the icon that his subject has become, especially by differentiating between the public record to this point (including as recorded in the Autobiography) and the reality behind it. Here we see Malcolm in all of his raw glory: a young boy looking for love and family stability; a young hustler whose actual malfeasance is less than he makes it out to be; a young Minister in the Nation of Islam struggling to build its franchise while navigating its politics; a troublingly detached husband and father; an early and racist zealot evolving into a more mature and inclusive prophet; a doomed man intent upon pursuing his new path despite the prohibitive risks; and a very human, flawed person struggling to live up to the acclaim that he had earned in his own lifetime. Thanks to Marable, readers will come to appreciate and admire Malcolm more but may not actually like him as much. As with every icon, the reality is far more complex and typically less inspiring. So, too, with the enigmatic Malcolm Little cum Malik el-Shabazz.

There is much new ground here: we learn of some homoerotic (if not homosexual) episodes in Malcolm's Boston-based hustler phase, and of his seeming indifference to and ambivalence about his marriage while continuing to pine for an early love who joins the NOI to her ruin, and of his inconsistent views on race after his split from the NOI and his revelatory Mecca trip, and of the unfortunate series of poor decisions by Malcolm and others prior to and after his assassination, etc. Unfortunately, we also are treated to assertions that seem like speculation fairly often, notable in a contrasting way because they are most often shared without context. My suspicion is that the author covered so much ground that, occasionally, he omitted such source information in the interest of 'brevity' (if one can associate this concept with a book of almost 500 pages of content and 100 pages of notes and other corroborating information). There are also some aspects or periods of his subject's life that the author covers in less detail than others have, which seems an unusual choice for a book that clearly strives to be comprehensive and encyclopedic.

This being said, this is a grand work, a big, ambling, trove of insight and information about one of the most fascinating and compelling personages of the last century and one whose legacy seems to continue to grow almost a half-century after his death. As such, then, Marable has done us an incredible service, as we come to understand and appreciate Malcolm X in all of his vexing and inspiring complexity in a much greater way because of this worthy effort. Too bad we can no longer thank the author personally....(less)

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May 29, 2011 Steven Salaita rated it 2 of 5 stars

I didn't hate this book or even dislike it, but I'm a bit disappointed by it. I suppose that very few books could live up to the hype and intrigue surrounding this one, but the gap between potential and reality here is enormous.

Marable worked hard, no doubt, but I'm having trouble seeing how with twelve years and a battalion of research assistants this is the result. It reads mostly like a dry biography to me, and the contrast between the power of Malcolm's discourse and the tone and vocabulary...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Arnoldo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Notes for a mini-review: "We are all Malcolm X"
The subtitle of Manning Marable's Malcolm X biography, A life of reinvention: Malcolm X, fits all our communities. Like Malcolm and because Malcolm is part of our communities, our communities have had to self-transform in the face of crushing exploitation and dispersions. We have had to re-invent ourselves to survive and thrive; yet, we cannot and will not forget who we are, where we came from, how we got here and where we need to go.

Malcolm X was f...more Notes for a mini-review: "We are all Malcolm X"
The subtitle of Manning Marable's Malcolm X biography, A life of reinvention: Malcolm X, fits all our communities. Like Malcolm and because Malcolm is part of our communities, our communities have had to self-transform in the face of crushing exploitation and dispersions. We have had to re-invent ourselves to survive and thrive; yet, we cannot and will not forget who we are, where we came from, how we got here and where we need to go.

Malcolm X was first Malcolm Little, petty criminal, drug pusher and user, who didn't take kindly to work and women. By the time he becomes an adult he is imprisoned. Their he undergoes a spiritual transformation and becomes a member of the Nation of Islam, who eventually becomes the leading voice and messenger of the Honorable Elijah Mohammed -- a phrase he coined for showing respect and follow-ship for Mr. Mohammed -- to someone who is outcast again by the NOI and eventually pays the price with his life. This sounds easy enough, but once you read A life of reinvention: Malcolm X , this was never a foregone conclusion. Malcolm X lived and developed a new way of being principled, austere, ascetic, dedicated to the emancipation of his people. Every community and people has many examples of Malcolm X's in their midst: Emiliano Zapata, Indigenous revolutionary leader of Mexico, who through their vision and work foresaw a different outcome, a different people coming together, to make deep changes and a new history. Zapata like Malcolm X were killed in their prime.

Malcolm X changed because the people, his people, he saw as his base, his leadership, his force change. If Malcolm X had lived to old-age, we would have seen his people include African Americans and all the outcasts, the working class, the under-class, the undocumented, the Indigenous people robbed of their lands, women, LGBTQ. But this is just my speculation, my envisioning of the land he opened up for those who followed to cultivate and till.

Manning presents Malcolm X's chronology as one where in successive periods and turning points, forks in the road, Malcolm X made choices with a self-determined, iron will that makes him stand out. Malcolm became a new man, a new human, as a result of unforeseen ordeals. People of African descent in the U.S. have had to re-invent themselves from slavery to freedom, from racial segregation to racial integration, from underground spiritual struggles to overt organizing from the pulpit, for racial justice and communal liberation to self-determination. The struggle for freedom is also a struggle for identity. All politics -- whether it's Democrats, Republicans, Committees of Correspondence, Tea partiers, Indigenous, Hispanic, Xicano, Black, LGTBQ -- have identity

Malcom X's life and words model the best way to become the change you want to be. I have just begun reading, about 100 pages into the tome (4-12-11) and what comes through is that he was human, specifically a Black man in the U.S. growing up under harsh conditions created by racial segregation and a nascent movements for civil rights and Black self-determination.

Malcom X's story isn't over and keeps getting retold everyday: 60% of all prisoners in the U.S. are African American and Latinos. If Malcolm Little overcame the criminalization and branding and became Malcolm X then all our brothers and sisters can transform themselves too, re-invent themselves and our country, by bringing about new relationships between peoples, genders and classes based on mutuality, justice and human rights."(less)

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Sep 06, 2012 Chris added it

Shelves: other-biographies, nonfiction

Eye opening, extensively researched tome on a mostly misunderstood man. Most people who are aware of Malcolm X either see him as a paragon of virtue for his civil rights battles or the devil reincarnate for his racist Nation of Islam utterances. These views were formed mostly as a result either of having read the Autobiography of Malcolm X or reading contemporaneous popular press accounts.

I found this book very interesting because while you can sense that while Marable comes more on the Malcolm...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Valerie rated it 4 of 5 stars

"But the biographer has an additional burden: to explain events and the perspectives and actions of others that the subject could not possibly know, that nevertheless had a direct bearing on the individual’s life." Marable does this well, and overall I liked this book quite a bit, felt I learned a lot from it. However, I could have done without some of the totally unsupported wild speculation about Malcolm X's motives sprinkled (sparingly) throughout, such as when Marable claims he relaxed secur...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Catherine Woodman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Malcom X, an emigma, an emblem, and a legend. When you look at the cult heroes of the civil rights movement only Martin Luther King occupies a more exalted position, but it is Malcolm X whose legend has the greater street credibility and aura of cool.
Yet Malcolm Little, as he was born, was a petty thief and a pimp who found salvation in the Nation of Islam (NOI), a bizarre cult led by a mountebank and sexual predator named Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad preached that white people were a race of devi...more Malcom X, an emigma, an emblem, and a legend. When you look at the cult heroes of the civil rights movement only Martin Luther King occupies a more exalted position, but it is Malcolm X whose legend has the greater street credibility and aura of cool.
Yet Malcolm Little, as he was born, was a petty thief and a pimp who found salvation in the Nation of Islam (NOI), a bizarre cult led by a mountebank and sexual predator named Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad preached that white people were a race of devils created 6,000 years ago by an evil scientist named Yakub. Crazy talk. And Muhammad's leading minister was Malcolm X. At least until Malcolm ceased protecting Muhammad's dirty secret that not only did he sleep with his pretty, hand-picked secretarys, contrary to the religion he preached, he also had children by them, a dozen or two, and he did not take care of them. That was Malcolm's fatal sin.

How and why has death treated him so well? One reason is the Autobiography of Malcolm X, a memoir ghosted by Alex Haley, who later wrote the Afro-American blockbuster Roots. The autobiography sold more than 6 million copies in the 10 years following Malcolm's murder by NOI hitmen in 1965, and continues to be a key revolutionary text. A gripping mixture of urban confessional and political manifesto, it not only inspired a generation of black activists, but drove home the bitter realities of racism to a mainstream white liberal audience.

But if the book's success established Malcolm's legacy, it also created a myth that deterred a more stringent analysis of his life and work. Now, almost a half century on, Malcolm has finally received the book that his unique role in black and global resistance culture deserves.

Long before multiculturalism entered the language of political discourse, Malcolm was busy exploring its logical endpoint of ethnic and cultural separation. He ardently beleived in separation of the races up until almost the end of his life, believing that blacks could never be treated equally by whites, so he said different things to different people. He was adept at tailoring his message to different audiences, often blatantly contradicting on a Thursday what he had clearly and emotively stated on a Monday--he wouldn't have fared nearly as well in the age of Youtube and 24/7 news. The Daily Show would have shredded him.

Yet despite, the man who emerges from this book is in many respects admirable: brave, loyal, self-disciplined, quick-witted, charismatic, acutely intelligent and a public speaker of quite awesome power. While Malcolm correctly predicted that black culture would assume a central role in American life, he would never have foreseen the election of a black president.

Manning presents a strong case that there was some form of FBI collusion in his murder, if only to the degree that the bureau, which had spies all over the NOI, failed to prevent the plot. He also floats the probability that at least one of the killers was an FBI informant.

Whatever the truth, there is no disputing that Malcolm was shot dead by men who largely shared his beliefs.

The book does not specualte much on how or why Malcolm X became the man he did--the book tells the story in a matter-of-fact manner, up to and including his murder, and what happened soon thereafter. A very good read.
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Oct 24, 2012 Althea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh wow! An obvious labour of love from Marable and a book that was crying out to be written. Malcolm's life tragic, inspiring, uplifting, depressing but throughout it all his depth of character, charm and arrogant self assurance shone like a beacon. After the assassination chapter I felt deflated, like all the air had been sucked out the room with Malcolm and that bore testimony to Marables powerful prose and to the subject himself. I read these 494 pages in a week with enormous respect to Marab...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Tommy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I liked it. Malcolm X was a civil rights figure that I was only remotely aware of through Taylor Branch's 3 volume work on the civil rights movement. This was a great read that delved into the life of a controversial figure in his time. The author focuses on dispelling the falsehoods of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" with Alex Haley and showed the many reinventions of the public face Malcolm used through out his life. I was intrigued by Malcolm's role in trying to establish Islam into the mai...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Demetria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bio-memoir

The late Dr. Manning Marable was an incredible researcher and professor. His published work and the many students that he taught over the years are a testament to his legacy. His last book, "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention" is an epic piece of work. Malcolm X's life has never been subjected to such an intense level of academic scrutiny. It's an incredible accomplishment and took years of painstaking research and attention to detail. This is not subway reading material, baby. It's almost 600 pag...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Terry rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read cover to cover, and listened again on Audible. I found the book informative in that it adds some new information to the other Malcolm library, esp. Peter Goldman's book. I lived thru the 60's and well remember Malcolm as the fearsome revolutionary. Having studied him since then, I am always impressed at his constant evolution (as opposed to reinvention) of belief, philosophy, and vision. You can almost 'feel' him simmering, as he re-evaluates and moves in new and risky directions. Above a...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having never read "The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley," I was hopeful that Marable’s biography would be a more thorough, scholarly, and perhaps accurate telling of Malcolm’s story; hence my choice. Like many Americans, I’m fairly well informed about the Civil Rights Movement (as a whole) and MLK (as an iconic American figure)… however, I always felt rather ignorant about the character and pedigree of various black nationalist movements. Malcolm X (like Che Guevara) can seem mo...more

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About Manning Marable

Manning Marable was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University. He founded and directed the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. He authored several texts and was active in progressive political causes. At the time of his death, he had completed a biography of human rights activist Malcolm X, entitled Malcolm X: A Life of Rei...more

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Books by Manning Marable

How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America: Problems in Race, Political Economy, and Society (Updated Edition)

Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction in Black America, 1945-1990

Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices on Resistance, Reform, and Renewal an African American Anthology

W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Radical Democrat

Freedom: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle

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“To blacks, it was abundantly clear what groups like the NAACP and CORE wanted; the NOI, by contrast and largely by design, had no clear social program that realistically could be implemented (215).” — 1 person liked it

“Within the Nation, he [Malcolm] explained that his purpose was to present the views of Elijah Muhammad and to challenge distortions about their religion. In fact, his objectives were to turn upside down the standard racial dialectic of black subordination and white supremacy, and to show off his rhetorical skill at the expense of white authorities and Negro integrationists (185).” — 1 person liked it

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