Cultural Literature

A New Yorker writer's intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur's life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death.In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur's single "Changes" became an anthem for the...

In this charmingly honest book, Detroit Piston Grant Hill shares the wisdom and values imparted to him by his parents and speaks his mind on a variety of topics, showing how anyone--especially young people--can "change the game," on and off the court...

In the summer of 1950, I was in college and had to write a term paper about Ernest Hemingway. I went to my professor and told him that maybe I should go visit Ernest Hemingway and hear his side..."Are you crazy? You'll never get within a mile of him. Why...

In 1964, at the age of three, Tim Bascom is thrust into a world of eucalyptus trees and stampeding baboons when his family moves from the Midwest to Ethiopia. The unflinchingly observant narrator of this memoir reveals his missionary parents' struggles...

Undoubtedly, Africa has experienced its fair share of pains during the process of world development. As it remains the most underdeveloped continent, with disproportionate levels of intimidation, domination and all that goes with underdevelopment, this...

Chalk is based on the life story of a couple who gave birth to twenty-three children. It paints a powerful picture of the life of one black family living in the Southeastern United States of America during the Depression up through the 1960s.The book is...

This publication accompanies the first comprehensive museum survey of the American artist. Chakaia Booker: The Observance explores the artist's signature form--monumental works made of rubber--while showcasing her artistic innovations across mediums...

A profound remembrance of an extraordinary life cut short, celebrating Chadwick Boseman's brilliance on screen as well as his rich existence as a generous friend, family member, and activist. Chadwick Boseman will forever be remembered as a sublime...

Nationwide, more and more entrepreneurs are committing themselves to creating and running third places, also known as great good places. In his landmark work, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg identified, portrayed, and promoted those third places...

If you want to know what real jazz criticism is, read Celebrating the Duke. It is a fitting memorial to an outstanding critic and writer.--Jazz JournalCelebrating the Duke offers readers a perceptive, panoramic survey of jazz as revealed, in illuminating...

Cedric Robinson - political theorist, historian, and activist - was one of the greatest black radical thinkers of the twentieth century. In this powerful work, the first major book to tell his story, Joshua Myers shows how Robinson's work interrogated...

CDs, Records, & Tapes is a nostalgic Hip Hop essay collection. Told from the perspective of a creative writer who came of age with the culture, it revisits posse tracks, release dates, and classic albums. Each entry captures love for the culture,...

In a series of candid interviews with jazz players, composers, and critics, Gene Lees explores racism in the past and present of jazz--both the white racism that for decades ghettoized black musicians and their music, and the prejudice that Lees...

The classic biography of reggae legend Bob Marley, updated and revised for the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death Bob Marley left an indelible mark on modern music, both as a reggae pioneer and as an enduring cultural icon. Catch a Fire, now a classic...

'I came to see the mountains as an outpouring of our modern lives, ' Roy writes, 'of the endless chase for our desires to fill us.' Readers of Behind the Beautiful Forevers will be drawn to this harrowing portrait. -- Publishers WeeklyCastaway Mountain...

Although Muhammad Ali's decision to assume a new name has often been portrayed as a sudden transformation, Cassius Clay's conversion to Islam was a process, not an event. For many months he received guidance from Malcolm X, who had traveled from Harlem...