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.

I think this book took me five minutes to read--a lot of talking, no ideas. Original ones, anyway.

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.

The works in this book are so bad, so graceless, so blocky and so stilted that they appear to have been cobbled together by a blind carpenter. Make that a blind apprentice carpenter, for Mr. Baraka has never progressed beyond the hate Whitey, hate Jews, hate Christians, hate America screeds of his youth. That this man is taken seriously by the literary establishment is a tribute to nothing less than political correctness run amok.

Simply put, his work is life changing.

Amiri Baraka is part of a rare breed of humanity that challenges us to continuously change, evolve, and morph into all that we are destined to be.

Read his work and you will not leave the same way you entered.