Print ISBN: 978-1-64265-379-3
# of Pages: 300
# of Volumes:
Print List Price: $105.00
e-ISBN: 978-1-64265-380-9
eBook User Price: $105.00
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Critical Insights: Malcolm X

Editor: Robert C. Evans
January 2020


This volume examines Malcolm X's legacy both as a writer himself and as the subject of works by others. 

A CHOICE Top 75 Community College Resource for October 2020


Malcolm X is widely known as a leading advocate for African American rights, but he was also the author of numerous speeches and other works of prose, including The Autobiography of Malcolm X; Malcolm X SpeaksMalcolm X Talks to Young People; and The End of White World Supremacy: Four Speeches by Malcolm X. He has, in addition, been featured as a figure in various kinds of creative writing by other authors and was the focus of a major Hollywood film. 

The volume starts out with a “flagship” piece by renowned Malcolm X scholar Robert Terrill, followed by a biographical essay by Editor Robert C. Evans that introduces readers to Malcolm X’s early life and work. This is followed by four Critical Context essays:

  • “Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam: Rhetorical Tactics in the First Dozen Years,” Scott Varda
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X: A Survey of Critical Responses,” Robert C. Evans
  • “Humor in the Rhetoric of Malcolm X: The 1961 Embassy Auditorium Speech,” Robert C. Evans
  • “Malcolm, Martin, and Muhammad: Clashing Rhetorics,” Nicolas Tredell

Next comes the Critical Readings section of this book, which contains the following essays:

  • “Malcolm X: Thoughts and Advice,” Louis A. DeCaro Jr.
  • “Rhetorical Tactics in Malcolm X’s ‘The Ballot or the Bullet’ Speech,” Scott Varda
  • “A Blurred Snapshot of a Man in Rapid Motion: Robert Penn Warren’s Interview of Malcolm X,” Steven D. Ealy
  • “Fire and Ice: Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver, and Bobby Seale,” Nicolas Tredell
  • “Spike Lee’s Malcolm X: A Survey of Reviews,” Anna Orlofsky
  • “The Shifting Image of Malcolm X: Malcolm X as Nationalist versus Global Hero in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X and Michael Mann’s Ali,” Christian Jimenez
  • “Two Documentary Films on Malcolm X: A Survey of Reviewers’ Responses,” Robert C. Evans
  • “Racial and Reconnective Literacies: Malcolm X and a Literacy Event,” Danny Rodriguez
  • “Malcolm X and Me,” Saladin Ambar

In the final section, Critical Resources, easy-to-follow lists are provided to help guide the reader through important dates and moments in the author’s life. A selection of further reading is then provided. Each essay in Critical Insights: Malcolm X includes a list of Works Cited and detailed endnotes. Also included in this volume is a Bibliography, biographies of the Editor and Contributors, and alphabetical Index as well as Chronology of Malcolm X’s Life and Works by Malcolm X.

The Critical Insights Series distills the best of both classic and current literary criticism of the world’s most studies literature. Edited and written by some of academia’s most distinguished literary scholars, Critical Insights: Malcolm X provides authoritative, in-depth scholarship that students and researchers will rely on for years. This volume is destined to become a valuable purchase for all.


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