The Autobiography of Malcolm X

About the Book

Originally published: New York: Grove Press, 1965.

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - ONE OF TIME'S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The "extraordinary" (The New York Times) autobiography of the legendary civil rights leader once called the most dangerous man in America--essential reading for anyone who wants to understand this nation's history

In the searing pages of this classic biography, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and activist, tells the remarkable story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement to veteran writer and journalist Alex Haley. Haley worked with Malcolm X for nearly two years; all the while, Malcolm did "not expect to live long enough to read this book in its finished form." As clear-eyed about his own fate as he was about the plight of his community, Malcolm saw his truth-telling as a gift that would live beyond his own mortality.

Raised in Lansing, Michigan, Malcolm Little journeyed on a road to fame as astonishing as it was unpredictable. Drifting from childhood poverty to petty crime, Malcolm found himself in jail. It was there that he encountered the teachings of the Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad. The newly renamed Malcolm X devoted himself body and soul to Islam, quickly becoming the Nation's foremost spokesman. When his conscience forced him to leave the group, Malcolm founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity to spread an inspiring message of pride, power, and self-determination across the country.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed but whose message is timeless. This commemorative edition, published on the 100th anniversary of Malcolm X's birth, is both a celebration of the lasting impact of his story and a chance to interrogate how far we've collectively come. In revisiting his incisive perspective on the lies and limitations of the American Dream, we gain extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.

Review Quotes

"Extraordinary . . . a brilliant, painful, important book."--The New York Times

"This book will have a permanent place in the literature of the Afro-American struggle."--I. F. Stone

"Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me; the blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will."--Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father

"A great book . . . Its dead level honesty, its passion, its exalted purpose, will make it stand as a monument to the most painful truth."--The Nation

"The most important book I'll ever read, it changed the way I thought, it changed the way I acted. It has given me courage I didn't know I had inside me. I'm one of hundreds of thousands whose lives were changed for the better."--Spike Lee

About the Author

Alex Haley is the world-renowned author of Roots, which has sold six million hardcover copies and has been translated into thirty languages. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Alex Haley died in February 1992.