Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Author: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
If there was any one man who articulated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malxolm X. His AUTOBIOGRAPHY is now an established classic of modern America, a book that expresses like none other the crucial truth about our times.
ISBN-13: 9780345350688
ISBN-10: 0345350685
Publication Date: 10/12/1987
Pages: 496
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 144

4 stars, based on 144 ratings
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Readnmachine avatar reviewed The Autobiography of Malcolm X on + 1435 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
The "autobiography" of Malcolm X, "as told to" Alex Haley, is a chill-inducing voyage through the mind of one black man in America at the dawn of what we consider the modern Civil Rights movement. At first enamored and later disillusioned by Elijah Mohammed's "Nation of Islam" ("Black Muslim") movement, Malcolm X was an intelligent, if formally uneducated, man who swallowed whole an amalgam of pseudo-theology and myth and later rejected it for "the true" Islam, apparently never questioning the more outrageous claims of either. The book is important in that it reflects the rage of part of the black community and shines a light on the conflict between Nation of Islam and the pacifist civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King. Well worth reading, but not for pleasure.
reviewed The Autobiography of Malcolm X on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Malcolm X's searing memoir belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans. And there's the vividness with which he depicts black popular culture--try as he might to criticize those lindy hops at Boston's Roseland dance hall from the perspective of his Muslim faith, he can't help but make them sound pretty wonderful. These are but a few examples. The Autobiography of Malcolm X limns an archetypal journey from ignorance and despair to knowledge and spiritual awakening. When Malcolm tells coauthor Alex Haley, "People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book," he voices the central belief underpinning every attempt to set down a personal story as an example for others. Although many believe his ethic was directly opposed to Martin Luther King Jr.'s during the civil rights struggle of the '60s, the two were not so different. Malcolm may have displayed a most un-Christian distaste for loving his enemies, but he understood with King that love of God and love of self are the necessary first steps on the road to freedom.
necardgal avatar reviewed The Autobiography of Malcolm X on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Fantastic book. I was hesitant to read it, but it surprised me with the depth of the story it told. Should be required college reading.
Read All 13 Book Reviews of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed The Autobiography of Malcolm X on + 11 more book reviews
Really helps readers to understand some of the background of racial relations in the US and around the world. The book contrasts the Nation of Islam, the organization founded by Elijah Mohammed, and the international religion of Islam. I found it very revealing.
tiffanyak avatar reviewed The Autobiography of Malcolm X on + 215 more book reviews
This book is pretty much everything that you expect it to be, and nothing that you expect it to be. It is a story of massive transformation in the very heart of a man, and opens a door to history in truly unexpected ways. I had a whole new respect for Malcolm X when I finished reading.
jeaneen avatar reviewed The Autobiography of Malcolm X on + 2 more book reviews
This is an excellent book. America was the cause of Malcom X's pain turned hatred, but God the source of his redemption and forgiveness. Loved the power behind his autobiography and the fearless life he lived ultimately recognizing the true God through love.
sydneymath avatar reviewed The Autobiography of Malcolm X on + 64 more book reviews
This is a very interesting book I read in college (copyright 1964)--still fascinating.

Epilogue by Alex Haley and assisted by him.


Genres: