The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by Malcolm X with Alex Haley
Malcolm's life as told to Haley: Nebraska childhood, Harlem hustler, prison and self-education by copying the dictionary, the Nation of Islam, the break, Mecca, and the final transformation before his assassination. It is one of the great American stories of self-remaking through reading and discipline, whatever one thinks of each stage.
Read it if…
you want a story of radical self-education and the courage to change your mind publicly.
Skip it if…
you want comfort; the book is confrontational throughout.
Three things you will actually use
- Self-education is available to anyone with a book and will.
- Discipline transformed him more than ideology.
- Be willing to revise your convictions in public.
Do this first
Read the prison chapters on how he learned to read and write; then read something hard.
Our verdict
A great American autobiography.
Compare with other Character books
Benjamin Franklin: An Autobiography
Benjamin Franklin · Character
The original, still practical.
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