Alex Haley: And the Books That Changed a Nation
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
It is difficult to think of two twentieth century books by one author that have had as much influence on American culture when they were published as Alex Haley's monumental bestsellers, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), and Roots (1976). They changed the way white and black America viewed each other and the country's history. This first biography of Haley follows him from his childhood in relative privilege in deeply segregated small town Tennessee to fame and fortune in high powered New York City. It was in the Navy, that Haley discovered himself as a writer, which eventually led his rise as a star journalist in the heyday of magazine personality profiles. At Playboy Magazine, Haley profiled everyone from Martin Luther King and Miles Davis to Johnny Carson and Malcolm X, leading to their collaboration on The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Roots was for Haley a deeper, more personal reach. The subsequent book and miniseries ignited an ongoing craze for family history, and made Haley one of the most famous writers in the country. Roots sold half a million copies in the first two months of publication, and the original television miniseries was viewed by 130 million people.
Haley died in 1992. This deeply researched and compelling book by Robert J. Norrell offers the perfect opportunity to revisit his authorship, his career as one of the first African American star journalists, as well as an especially dramatic time of change in American history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Norrell (Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington) offers a highly readable biography of Haley (1921 1992), famous in the 1960s and '70s for two bestsellers: The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as a cowriter) and the novel Roots. Norrell traces Haley's journey from a relatively privileged start as the grandson of a mill owner and son of a college professor in segregation-era Tennessee, through his WWII days in the Coast Guard, to his fraught but successful writing career. Haley emerges in this portrait as "a likable narcissist," a personable womanizer who left in his wake a string of wrecked marriages, tangled finances, and missed deadlines, such as delivering Roots a staggering 11 years late. Nevertheless, Norrell's even-handed treatment of Haley, including a dissection of the accusations of plagiarism and fictionalization that dogged the author, reveals a multidimensional and sympathetic human being. Through Haley, readers are also offered a fascinating glimpse into the pre-Internet publishing world. Anyone with fond memories of reading Roots (or watching the ABC miniseries based on it) should enjoy learning about Haley, although, as Norrell admits, this particularly elusive man remains an enigma.
