Biography

Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker is the first installment in the long-awaited portrait of one of the most talented and influential musicians of the twentieth century, from Stanley Crouch, one of the foremost authorities on jazz...

A groundbreaking neuroscientist shares the harrowing and inspiring story of his life growing up in one of Miami's toughest neighborhoods. He reveals how it led him to his pioneering work that is redefining our ideas about drug addiction. A pioneering...

This collection includes compelling conversations between acclaimed writer Walker and other significant literary and cultural figures, including Gloria Steinem, Howard Zinn, and Pema Chodron. Noted scholar Byrd sets Walker's work into context with an...

In 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Johnson and five fellow soldiers were captured and taken as prisoners of war. Johnson, America's first black female prisoner of war, shares the story of her capture and imprisonment in Iraq and her rescue. In...

Frank B. Wilderson, III is the award-winning author of Red, White, &Black: Cinema and the Structure of US Antagonisms(forthcoming) and the director of Reparations . . . Now(in progress).In 1995, a South African journalist informed Frank B. Wilderson, one...

Although Beyonce Knowles is not yet 30, the sensual superstar has already succeeded on many levels: as a dancer, singer, composer, model, music producer, video director and actress. This biography tells the story of a young, talented woman's meteoric...

No one was closer to Michael Jackson at the height of his creative powers than Bruce Swedien, the five-time Grammy winner who, with Jackson and producer Quincy Jones, formed the trio responsible for the sound of Jackson's records - records that topped...

Published on the 100th anniversary of Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson's world-famous arctic journey Originally published in 1912 as "A Negro Explorer at the North Pole" by the renowned African American explorer Matthew Henson, this compelling...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Maya Angelou shares her path to living well and with meaning in this absorbing book of personal essays. Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter transcends genres and categories:...

This engaging book chronicles the changes in Maya Angelou's life as she enters the hub of activity that is New York. There, at the Harlem Writers Guild, sherededicates herself to writing, and finds love at an unexpected moment. Reflecting on her many...

Who's Watching Shorty? is a fearless memoir about the 14-year-old-girl in the child pornography video that ultimately led to R.Kelly's trial, and one of the most high-profile cases of a generation. Reshona Landfair--known as "Jane Doe" when she...