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The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a 1965 book by human rights activist Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley. In 1998, Time named The Autobiography of Malcolm X one of the ten most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.

Summary

The Autobiography of Malcolm X describes the trajectory of Malcolm X's life. It begins with an incident during his mother's pregnancy and describes his childhood in Michigan, including the death of his father and his mother's deteriorating mental health, which resulted in her commitment to a hospital. The book describes Malcolm X's young adulthood in Boston and New York, during which he became involved in the criminal underworld and was ultimately arrested and sentenced to prison. It details his conversion to the Nation of Islam, his ministry, and his emergence as the organization's national spokesman. The book describes Malcolm X's subsequent disillusionment with the Nation, his departure from the organization and conversion to Sunni Islam, his pilgrimage to Mecca, and his travels in Africa. Haley wrote an epilogue to the book summarizing the end of Malcolm X's life, including his assassination in New York's Audubon Ballroom.

In addition, The Autobiography of Malcolm X outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. Because the book was written during the period in which Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam, the earlier sections of the book reflect the teachings of the Nation and the later sections articulate some of Malcolm X's later thinking.

Writing the Autobiography

Haley wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X based on more than 50 in-depth interviews he conducted with Malcolm X between 1963 and the activist's February 1965 assassination. The two men first met in 1960 when Haley wrote an article about the Nation of Islam for Reader's Digest. They met again when Haley interviewed Malcolm X for Playboy. The Autobiography of Malcolm X was Haley's first book.

The first interviews for the autobiography frustrated Haley. Rather than talk about his own life, Malcolm X spoke about Elijah Muhammed, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Haley's reminders that the book was supposed to be about Malcolm X, not Muhammed or the Nation of Islam, angered the activist. After several meetings, Haley asked Malcolm X to tell him something about his mother. That question began the process of Malcolm X describing his life story.

Publication and sales

Doubleday had contracted to publish The Autobiography of Malcolm X and paid a $30,000 advance to Malcolm X and Haley in 1963, but in March 1965, three weeks after Malcolm X's assassination, the publisher canceled its contract. Instead, Grove Press stepped in and published the book. Since The Autobiography of Malcolm X went on to sell millions of copies, professor Manning Marable, who directs the Malcolm X Project at Columbia University, described Doubleday's choice as the "most disastrous decision in corporate publishing history".

Eliot Fremont-Smith, reviewing The Autobiography of Malcolm X for The New York Times in 1965, described it as "extraordinary" and said it was a "brilliant, painful, important book". Two years later, historian John William Ward wrote that the book "will surely become one of the classics in American autobiography". In 1990, the Los Angeles Times said, "Unlike many '60s icons, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, with its double message of anger and love, remains an inspiring document." Variety called it a "mesmerizing page-turner" in 1992.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X has been a consistent best-seller since its 1965 publication. It experienced particularly strong sales during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and again during the early 1990s. According to The New York Times, the paperback edition sold 400,000 copies in 1967 and 800,000 copies the following year. The New York Times reported that six million copies of the book had been sold by 1977. The book returned to the best-seller list during the early 1990s, during the publicity blitz surrounding Spike Lee's film Malcolm X. In 1992, sales had climbed 300% from their 1989 level.

Screenplay adaptations

In 1968, film producer Marvin Worth commissioned a screenplay based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X from novelist James Baldwin, who was later joined by screenwriter Arnold Perl. The screenplay took longer to develop than anticipated, and Perl died in 1971. Baldwin developed his work on the screenplay into the book One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published in 1972.

Other authors who attempted to draft screenplays include playwright David Mamet, novelist David Bradley, author Charles Fuller, and screenwriter Calder Willingham. Director Spike Lee revised the Baldwin-Perl script for his 1992 film Malcolm X.

Missing chapters

In late 1992, attorney Gregory Reed purchased the original manuscript of The Autobiography of Malcolm X during an auction of the Haley estate. The manuscript includes three chapters that were omitted from the final book. In a 1964 letter to his publisher, Haley had described these chapters as "the most impact material of the book, some of it rather lava-like".

Professor Manning Marable read the missing chapters and concluded they had been dictated during Malcolm X's final months in the Nation of Islam. In them, according to Marable, Malcolm X proposed the establishment of a union of African American civic and political organizations. Marable speculates that this project may have been one of the reasons both the Nation of Islam and the FBI wanted to silence Malcolm X.

In April 2010, the forthcoming publication of the missing chapters, with a foreword by Malcolm X's daughter Ilyasah Shabazz, was announced.

See also

• African American literature

References

1. Ohmann, Carol (Summer 1970). "The Autobiography of Malcolm X: A Revolutionary Use of the Franklin Tradition". American Quarterly. 22 (2): 131.
2. Gray, Paul (June 8, 1998). "Required Reading: Nonfiction Books". Time. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
3. Haley, Alex (1992). "Alex Haley Remembers". In Gallen, David (ed.). Malcolm X: As They Knew Him. New York: Carroll & Graf. p. 243. ISBN 0-88184-850-6. Originally published in Essence, November 1983.
4. Haley, "Alex Haley Remembers", pp. 243–244.
5. "Text Malcolm X Edited Found in Writer's Estate". The New York Times. September 11, 1992. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
6. Haley, "Alex Haley Remembers", p. 244.
7. "The Time Has Come (1964–1966)". Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement 1954–1985, American Experience. PBS. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
8. ^ Marable, Manning (2009). "Rediscovering Malcolm's Life: A Historian's Adventures in Living History". In Marable, Manning; Aidi, Hishaam D (eds.). Black Routes to Islam. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 312. ISBN 1-4039-8400-X.
9. Nichols, Lewis (November 21, 1965). "In and Out of Books". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
10. Goodman, Amy (May 21, 2007). "Manning Marable on 'Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention'". Democracy Now!. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
11. Fremont-Smith, Eliot (November 5, 1965). "An Eloquent Testimony". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
12. Ward, John William (February 26, 1967). "Nine Expert Witnesses". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
13. Solomon, Charles (February 11, 1990). "Current Paperbacks". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
14. McCarthy, Todd (November 10, 1992). "Malcolm X". Variety. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
15. Seymour, Gene (November 15, 1992). "What Took So Long?". Newsday. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
16. Watkins, Mel (February 16, 1969). "Black Is Marketable". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
17. Pace, Eric (February 2, 1992). "Alex Haley, 70, Author of 'Roots,' Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
18. Lord, Lewis; Thornton, Jeannye; Bodipo-Memba, Alejandro (November 15, 1992). "The Legacy of Malcolm X". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
19. Rule, Sheila (November 15, 1992). "Malcolm X: The Facts, the Fictions, the Film". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
20. ^ Weintraub, Bernard (November 23, 1992). "A Movie Producer Remembers the Human Side of Malcolm X". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
21. Field, Douglas (2009). A Historical Guide to James Baldwin. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-19-536653-0.
22. Ansen, David (August 26, 1991). "The Battle for Malcolm X". Newsweek. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
23. Marable, "Rediscovering Malcolm's Life", pp. 312–313.
24. Marable, "Rediscovering Malcolm's Life", p. 313.
25. "Malcolm X's Daughter to Add to Father's Autobiography". New York Post. April 12, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2010.

Further reading

• Haley, Alex (May 1963). "Playboy Interview: Malcolm X". Playboy.

External links

• "Teachers Guide: The Autobiography of Malcolm X". Random House. 2004.

• 1965 books
• African American autobiographies
• Political autobiographies
• Works by Malcolm X