Amazon.com
First published in 1984, this is a revised edition of The Autobiography of Leroi Jones, which includes the original text (restored by the author) as well as a new introduction. Born Leroi Jones in 1934--he became Amiri Baraka in the mid-1960s---he is one of the seminal figures of contemporary black writing, a poet, playwright, novelist, critic, and political activist. Even more than those labels indicate, however, Baraka has been at the heart of literary and ideological ferment since the 1950s. Early in his career, he was strongly influenced by the Beats. During the cultural upheaval of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, he moved uptown to Harlem, changed his name, and embraced a religion that was a hybrid of Islam and traditional African principles. And then, in the 1970s, Baraka turned his back on Black Nationalism and embraced Marxist Leninism. The autobiography, written in Baraka's inimitable style, one that we might call word-jazz, ends there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Dutchman
I've read the script and seen the video.Fascinating, well-written examination of behavior, race, and social standards.Should be more well recognized as a great black writer.

frankness, humor, self-examination ....
Autobiographies, even by poets, rarely reach the depths of honest self-examination one finds in their poems. One has only to think of Kenneth Rexroth's tall stories or William Carlos Williams' evasions.

ButMr. Baraka's is different. His has been a journey from a middle classbackground in Newark (keeping in mind that it was not a white middleclass), through Howard University's elitist social structure, the racism ofthe Air Force; his beginnings as a poet & his drift into CharlesOlson's powerful gravity. Many of America's best white poets were among hisfriends & he did much to promote their careers along with his own. Thenhis turn towardleadership of the great Black Awakening of the Sixties,his move "uptown," his embrace of socialism & subsequentreturn to Newark where he continues to influence young writers &activists of all colors & ethnic backgrounds.

There are alsohis controversial plays, his feuds, marriages & arrests. Also hiswitnessing of the Newark Rebellion (the full deadly story never accuratelyreported in the press), his deep understanding of American culture &respect for authentic expression.

That's a lot to cover, butBaraka does so with frankness, humor, self-examination & an occasionalwillingness to admit error without loading up on pointless regrets.

A fine account of a fallible man who, even in his most angry moments,gives the world beautiful things. & that anger is usually over ourfailure to see the beauty of justice.

Bob Rixon, WFMU-FM ... Read more

Book Description

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

Book Description
"The path the slave took to 'citizenship' is what I want to look at. And I make my analogy through the slave citizen's music -- through the music that is most closely associated with him: blues and a later, but parallel development, jazz... [If] the Negro represents, or is symbolic of, something in and about the nature of American culture, this certainly should be revealed by his characteristic music."

So says Amiri Baraka in the Introduction to Blues People, his classic work on the place of jazz and blues in American social, musical, economic, and cultural history. From the music of African slaves in the United States through the music scene of the 1960's, Baraka traces the influence of what he calls "negro music" on white America -- not only in the context of music and pop culture but also in terms of the values and perspectives passed on through the music. In tracing the music, he brilliantly illuminates the influence of African Americans on American culture and history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

An American Treasure
This is one of the most important books on America and American history, culture and citizenship. It would benefit the world if it were incorporated into public education. Someone said that nations are judged by their art and this book examines that subject superlatively. This study of the blues examines the evolving cosmology of the Africans and their journey and creation: the blues, one of the singular most powerful beauties of America. He shows how from the blues came all and embraced all other peoples and cultures. Baraka's ability to live the thoughts of the originators enables us to understand the profoundity of their sorrow and sublimity of their joy.

gone where the Southern cross the yella dog
The other day a friend rashly claimed that art and music were equally hard to describe in words.I asked him to tell me about a certain painting of Picasso's.He did, but claimed it wasn't accurate."OK," I said, "you're right, but now tell me about Mozart's Jupiter Symphony."He opened his mouth, closed it, looked at me, and said, "Yeah, I see what you mean."Writing a book about the blues would be equally hard, it seems to me.So, LeRoi Jones did what he could, back in 1963, to tie the indescribable to the more concrete.He wrote a social history of African-Americans in the USA through the prism of music or---maybe on the principle of red and yellow tile floors (are they red with yellow designs or yellow with red designs ?)---he wrote a book on African-American music through the prism of social history.It is one of the most important books on American music (and American society) that you can find.It has stood the test of time.He begins from the Africans who came to North America as slaves bearing very different cultures, confronted by an absolutely different view of the world emanating from their new masters.Here he tries to show how African music became transformed into African-AMERICAN music and then American.He continues then up through the generations of slavery, to Emancipation, migration to the cities, World War I, the Depression, World War II and the bebop age of the Fifties.The book is pre-Civil Rights movement, pre-Martin Luther King.Jones may have looked down on the NAACP and its allies as "white liberal supported organizations", I'm not sure, but they don't appear.The times are symbolized by the use of "Negro" throughout.I agree, the tome is dated, but don't reject it, don't pooh-pooh the man.This is a very intelligent, very worthwhile book.Anyone, particularly from outside the USA, who wants to know the history of African-American music within its social environment ought still to read BLUES PEOPLE.He writes, "If Negro music can be seen to be the result of certain attitudes, certain specific ways of thinking about the world (and only ultimately about the ways in which music can be made), then the basic hypothesis of this book is understood." [p.153]Jones goes to great lengths to get to the bottom of those attitudes and thoughts.

My main criticism, apart from the fact that history dictates that we must be left a half century behind contemporary realities, is that though Jones obviously knew and loved the blues and jazz and all the various styles ( if not swing), his approach is coldly academic, highly dispassionate. He may criticize people who tried to make money, he may downplay all those who "abandoned" their roots, but my disappointment is that there is nothing of himself in the work barring a few mentions of his family.He does not share his enthusiasm.Music is beauty after all. I am sure he wanted the book to be taken as a serious essay, which it is.But in keeping himself removed from the discussion, being so analytic and professional in the style of the day, he has robbed us "readers of the future" of many insights.

African-American experience in the USA expressed itself most particularly in the blues, only later did that musical mode become part of the general American culture, often watered down, sometimes imitated by those who didn't wish to fit in or who wished to cash in.When conditions have changed, when the black middle class has entered mainstream America, and the urban underclass is wrapped up in hip-hop, gangsta rap culture, which is relentlessly commercialized by the powerful media, talking about the blues may seem a matter for historians or ethnomusicologists.Still, BLUES PEOPLE resonates strongly if we try to understand where we have been.As for where we are going---that old line sums it up---we're goin where the Southern cross the yella dog.

Blues People
This is a really interesting look at the evolution of black culture through the lense of music. Some of the author's opinions about later music (50's-60's) may seem out of touch to today's readers, but overall it is well worth reading.

The Best Starting Point
I actually purchased the first paperback edition this book a long time ago, and I learned that it had been out of print for quite some time. It was a time when I was a casual listener of blues and jazz, and didn't think about the roots of the music I was listening to. The book was interesting enough, but it didn't have information about more contemporary stuff, as it was printed in 1963.

Recently, I found this book in the upper shelves of my library, having completely forgotten about it in spite of my infatuation with the blues for the better part of the last two decades. It was a most welcome surprise for me, as it contained a compact but comprehensive introduction to the time period from the first Africans came to America to the 1920s when their music was first recorded, and laid the groundwork to how this music evolved in a sociological context. The rural lifestyle, the reflections of the exodus from the south on the music and subsequent refined, urban sound are discussed in this framework.

Although it would not really appeal to the casual reader and listener, "Blues People" is invaluable for the serious blues and jazz fan for setting the music into the general context of social life and external effects that made this music what it is today.

Very honest&breaks all chains
this book not only puts the music into perspective but also the struggle that still goes on too this day.very upfront&honest about problems that still linger.it traces the journey&challenges it's reader too better understand the reason for the whys??one of the best Books that I have ever read from start too finish. ... Read more

Book Description

Centered squarely on the Negro-white conflict, both Dutchman and The Slave are literally shocking plays--in ideas, in language, in honest anger. They illuminate as with a flash of lightning a deadly serious problem--and they bring an eloquent and exceptionally powerful voice to the American theatre.

Dutchman opened in New York City on March 24, 1964, to perhaps the most excited acclaim ever accorded an off-Broadway production and shortly thereafter received the Village Voice's Obie Award. The Slave, which was produced off-Broadway the following fall, continues to be the subject of heated critical controversy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Liberal America
"Dutchman offers a very realistic study in terms of how "Liberal White American", not racism, is murdering the Black American.

Pure Fury...No Solution
This play is written beautifully in a style that resembles some very late American Dadaist poetry. However if you take the play as a whole, this play lacks any didactic purpose. Baraka is hypocritical in that he has become the hate-monger that he despises. Other than wonderful banter and a powerfully angst-ridden diatribe, this play offers nothing but hate and intolerance.

civil rights
Wow. I think this play portrays an aspect of the black community that cannot be felt by any other community without some feelings of disingenuity. The rage present in the play is overwhelming. The sense of danger and loss is also present, but more subtly so. This play is also very ambiguous and wanting interpretation. I say "wanting interpretation" because Dutchman seems to call for the reader's own interpretation purposefully... the criticism around it is enough to spark a debate, but still the critical aspects are not overwhelmed by the immediacy of emotion and action.

beautiful
A great representation of race relations in america (in the revolutionary '60's as well as representative of today), man's relation towoman, and the irony and tension that is comes package in.For no other reason, the mythology and theological references are delightfully handled.Sadly, this work is one of the most underrated and underread works of the 20th century.

One of the most affecting plays I've ever read.
An excellent play that captivates with a brutal examination of race relations...timeless ... Read more

Amazon.com
Jones' atmospheric prose brings the Beat era to life with more gusto than any previous memoir, thanks to homely details like eating potato pancakes at the Second Avenue Deli and wearing Ukrainian scarves and black tights. She looks back on her marriage to LeRoi Jones with tenderness, even as she delineates the cultural forces that eventually ripped them apart. Famous friends like Allen Ginsberg make appearances, but Jones' focus is on family (her two daughters are lovingly described) and individual growth. Evocative and touching.Book Description

Customer Reviews (11)

My God, pick up this book now!
I am an avid reader, and I read an assortment of books, but I have never come across a book like this!Miraculously, I picked it up at a used bookshop and bought it after quickly scanning the description on the back flap.It seemed interesting, but was thrown in a corner with a bunch of other books that I promised myself I would read when I caught up on mounds of other books which seemed more important.Fast forward a few years and imagine someone literally nose in book, reading while walking, not able to put it down!This is a woman's fascinating account of life in the '50s and '60s, but that's not all.Hettie's writing style is so unique, beautiful and inspired it's a shame she hasn't written a dozen books with the same freeflowing gorgeous poetry of this one.This book actually made me laugh out loud, sob, smile, feel anger, and shame.It also made me frustrated by the injustices of the world.How can one attend school everyday from the age of five and not learn a tenth of what is taught in this slim book?Buy this for your sons and daughters, your parents, friends, teachers.It's true that this should be required reading.I would love to have a conversation with this wise woman, but in the meantime, this book is as close to that as one can hope for.

This book has it all.


This book has it all. It's half novel, half history lesson, half
feminist screed, and half bittersweet love story. And somehow it all
works.


In my first novel I wrote, "Behind every great man is a good woman he
steals all of his ideas from". But in this case the man had his own
great ideas, and the woman proved later with this book that she is the
equal to the great man.


love, Michael W. Dean

I love Hettie!
I had the honor of taking both a poetry and personal essay class taught by Hettie Jones, and all I have to say, is she is just about the coolest lady I know, and since I met her before reading this memoir, it was absolutely amazing to think of all she has been through, she is wonderful and this book reflects just that.

couldn't put it down
Great books - stayed up until 3 am to finish.paid the price this morning but it was worth it.

Poignant, but ultimately mundane
Hettie Jones' work is an important contribution to the Beat era.The Beats were avant-garde in many ways, but they remained entrenched in sexism.Sexual liberation is here frought with masculine privilege, as is drug-taking and the creation of art--men get to create, while the mothers cook, clean, and change diapers.

However, I found the book a bit dull and unreflective.Jones seems not to have been very excited by the Beat scene or the people whom she knew.Nor does she emote a real feminist consciousness.Instead, she seems to sense that something was wrong, and hope that things will change. ... 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

Book Description
incl long out-of-print chapbooks, broadsides et al ... Read more

Product Description
222pp, 8vo. "First comprehensive critical study." ... Read more