In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley gives
readers a rare glimpse of that backstage drama.
Stepping out of the ghostwriter role, Haley delivers
the book's epilogue in his own voice. The epilogue
explains how a freelance reporter originally dismissed
as a "tool" and "spy" by the Nation of Islam
spokesperson managed to work through personal and
political barriers to get Malcolm X's life story on paper.
While I hesitate to compare this book with The
Autobiography of Malcolm X, I do owe a debt of
gratitude to Haley for his candid epilogue. Over the
last 12 months, it has served as a sort of instruction
manual on how to deal with a biographical subject who
has built an entire career on being disagreeable. From
the outset, I envisioned closing this biography with a
similar epilogue, both as an homage to Haley and as a
way to let readers know how this book came to be.
The story behind this story starts in an Oakland
apartment, winding its way through the various locales
mentioned in the book-Silicon Valley, Maui, Boston, and
Cambridge.
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