LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader

by Baraka, William J. Harris

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 This updated edition contains over 50 pages of previously unpublished work, as well as a chronology and full bibliography.

Genres: Poetry, Essays, Plays, Nonfiction, Race, Politics, African American

544 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 1991

Reviews

[Jon Zelazny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came for the firebrand poetry, was dazzled by the music criticism, and left fairly appalled by the man's increasing stridency and bitterness. It's hard to escape the fact that for all the passion and brilliance Jones brought to the table, Baraka was super into lecturing African Americans exactly how they needed to live, think, and make their art. And condemning them with the harshest possible racial slurs if they fail to meet his expectations. His vitriol for Spike Lee simply beggars belief... unless you think about how quickly Spike was hailed as a major artist and cultural figure, y'know, the status Baraka failed all his life to achieve. Still love the poetry, though. I put on some Mingus and read it out loud and proud to an imaginary coffee house crowd. Even the "kill Whitey" parts. For whatever reason, I don't take it personally.

[Angela Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amiri Baraka truly astounded me when I discovered him in college. I actually prefer the anger and power of his Amiri Baraka stage over the LeRoi Jones writings. It is a shame he has not received as much acclaim as he deserves. He is not only fascinating as a writer, but as a human in his constant transformation.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really liked when he was leroi jones.
as amiri baraka, he's just okay.

this is a good book to read if you're interested in baraka. it's even handed and gives great examples of his work from all his time periods along with fitting his thoughts together.

[David Massey]

This is a great book that is only marred at times by a little too much anger--but the anger is understandable, given the history of race in this country. There are too many good things in the book to be put off by the few things that seem intemperate.

[James Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love him or hate him, you can't deny that contemporary American poetry, theater and criticism would be the same without this firebrand.

[stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

a long view of a turbulent and talented man - the OTHER side of the beats.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best book to get the lowdown on baraka ... revolutionary in thought and action.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amiri Baraka recently died, and I was inspired to look up his plays and poems based on the obituary in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/art... ). I read the play "Dutchman" and was a bit shocked--but I am still thinking about it, and it makes more sense as the events sink in. The marxist poems are best read aloud, like slam poetry, and I quite enjoyed reading some to my husband in the car, particularly, "Am/Trak", "When We'll Worship Jesus," "A New Reality is Better than a New Movie!" and "Why's/Wise." I'm looking forward to reading the play "What was the Relationship of the Lone Ranger to the Means of Production?"

Good times.

[Denise M.]

AKA Amiri Baraka

[Johnny Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

diggin' blackness.