One of the New York Times Book Reviewampaposs 100 Notable Books WITH AN APPENDIX OF NEVERBEFOREPUBLISHED WORK Fusing the personal and the political in highvoltage verse Amiri Baraka was one of the preeminent literary innovators of the past century This volume comprises the fullest spectrum of his rousing revolutionary poems from his first collection to unpublished pieces composed during his final years Throughout Barakaamprsquos career as a prolific writer in several genres also published under the name LeRoi Jones he was vehemently outspoken against oppression of African American citizens and he radically altered the discourse surrounding racial inequality His legacy in world literature is matched by his widespread influence as an activist and cultural leader Praised for its lyricism and introspection his early poetry emerged from the Beat generation while his later writing is marked by the Black Arts Movementampaposs intensely rebellious fervor and subversive ideology All along his primary focus was on how to live and love in the present moment despite the enduring difficulties of human history
