June 19, 2019

11. The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Listen Later

54 minutes

I want to say before I go on that I have never previously told anyone my

sordid past in detail. I haven't done it now to sound as though I might be

proud of how bad, how evil, I was. But people are always speculating—why am I

as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be

reviewed. [...] The full story is the best way that I know to have it seen, and

understood, that I had sunk to the very bottom of the American white man's

society when—soon now, in prison—I found Allah and the religion of Islam and

it completely transformed my life.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to

Alex Haley) emerges from a specific time and place and yet, despite feeling

very much of that moment, still resonates with issues that American culture is

dealing with today—and is still a powerfully written book. Chris and Suzanne

discuss its historical context, the formal questions of autobiography, writing

to be read by wildly different audiences, conversion narratives, and what

Malcolm X might have made of today’s America.

Show Notes.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

[Bookshop.] (Weirdly, there

doesn’t seem to be an audiobook?!)

Alex Haley’s Playboy interview with Malcolm

X, which led to the book.

50 Years Later, The Autobiography of Malcolm X Is Still a Must-Read.

Solving for X: Malcolm X and White

Readers, an article which is at times incisive, at times problematic.

The Explosive Chapter Left Out of Malcolm X’s

Autobiography (with images of the co-edited manuscript).

A recent exhibit of the unpublished chapters: Only After the Deepest

Darkness: The “Lost” Chapter & Manuscript of The Autobiography of Malcolm

X.

Next episode: Moby-Dick

[Gutenberg,

Librivox].

Support The Spouter-Inn on Patreon to help

us make the show—and join our members-only Slack!

...more

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The Spouter-Inn

By Suzanne Conklin Akbari and Chris Piuma

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June 19, 2019

11. The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Listen Later

54 minutes

I want to say before I go on that I have never previously told anyone my

sordid past in detail. I haven't done it now to sound as though I might be

proud of how bad, how evil, I was. But people are always speculating—why am I

as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be

reviewed. [...] The full story is the best way that I know to have it seen, and

understood, that I had sunk to the very bottom of the American white man's

society when—soon now, in prison—I found Allah and the religion of Islam and

it completely transformed my life.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to

Alex Haley) emerges from a specific time and place and yet, despite feeling

very much of that moment, still resonates with issues that American culture is

dealing with today—and is still a powerfully written book. Chris and Suzanne

discuss its historical context, the formal questions of autobiography, writing

to be read by wildly different audiences, conversion narratives, and what

Malcolm X might have made of today’s America.

Show Notes.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

[Bookshop.] (Weirdly, there

doesn’t seem to be an audiobook?!)

Alex Haley’s Playboy interview with Malcolm

X, which led to the book.

50 Years Later, The Autobiography of Malcolm X Is Still a Must-Read.

Solving for X: Malcolm X and White

Readers, an article which is at times incisive, at times problematic.

The Explosive Chapter Left Out of Malcolm X’s

Autobiography (with images of the co-edited manuscript).

A recent exhibit of the unpublished chapters: Only After the Deepest

Darkness: The “Lost” Chapter & Manuscript of The Autobiography of Malcolm

X.

Next episode: Moby-Dick

[Gutenberg,

Librivox].

Support The Spouter-Inn on Patreon to help

us make the show—and join our members-only Slack!

...more