Biography

Basquiat

Author: Marc Mayer

Annotation: Despite his early death, Basquiat's large and powerful oeuvre has ensured his continuing reputation as one of modern art's most distinctive and eloquent voices. Borrowing from graffiti and street imagery, cartoons, mythology and religious symbolism, Basquiat's drawings and paintings explore issues of race and identity, providing social commentary that is shrewdly observed and biting. This book examines and celebrates the achievements of one of the most original artists of the late twentieth century and features spectacular reproductions of Basquiat's work. It offers new perspectives on Basquiat's achievements, explored in the contexts of the key influences on his work.

Today's price: £14.95

Hallelujah! The Welcome Table

Author: Maya Angelou

Product Description Throughout Maya Angelou's life food has played a pivotal role at important moments. In 'HALLELUJAH! The Welcome table' she narrates some of these tales and then gives us recipes for the food that helped shape her memories. There was the time she cooked a cassoulet for M.F.K. Fisher on the very day she moved into her new house in California. Or how her mother made a delicious maple cake for her when she was expelled from school for not being able to speak. Then there's a story about how once Decca (Jessica) Mitford made a delicious chicken - and the recipe is for 'Chicken Drunkard Style'. The recipes cover fried meat pies, caramel cake, Minnisota wild rice, chicken livers and many more. Dishes include fried meat pies, biscuits, potato salad, smoked pork chops, Beef Wellington, chicken livers, Minnesota wild rice, pot roast, and wilted lettuce. Color photos throughout. Maya Angelou's kitchen is a social centre, she cooks while she entertains and is renowned for what she serves.

Today's price: £9.99

Hurston: Folklore, Memoirs, and Other Writings

Author: Zora Neale Hurston

Annotation: A special feature of this collection of works by Zora Neale Hurston is the first complete and unexpurgated edition of her 1942 autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road. Tell My Horse, Mules and Men, and selected articles are included also. Features a brief essay on the texts and detailed notes. Her groundbreaking works, suffused with the culture and traditions of African-Americans and the poetry of black speech, have won her recognition as one of the most significant African-American writers.

Today's price: £40.00

Mary Seacole

Author: Jane Robinson

The 'Greatest Black Briton in History' triumphed over the Crimea and Victorian England. The Times called her a heroine, Florence Nightingale called her a brothel-keeping quack, and Queen Victoria's nephew called her, simply, 'Mammy' - Mary Seacole was one of the most eccentric and charismatic women of her era. Born at her mother's hotel in Jamaica in 1805, she became an independent 'doctress' combining the herbal remedies of her African ancestry with sound surgical techniques. On the outbreak of the Crimean War, she arrived in London desperate to join Florence Nightingale at the Front, but the authorities refused to see her. Being black, nearly 50, rather stout, and gloriously loud in every way, she was obviously unsuitable. Undaunted, Mary travelled to Balaklava under her own steam to build the 'British Hotel', just behind the lines. It was an outrageous venture, and a huge success - she became known and loved by everyone from the rank and file to the royal family. For more than a century after her death this remarkable woman was all but forgotten. This, the first full-length biography of a Victorian celebrity recently voted the greatest black Briton in history, brings Mary Seacole centre stage at last.

Today's price: £7.99

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Author: Malcolm X

From hustling, drug addiction and armed violence in America's black ghettos Malcolm X turned, in a dramatic prison conversion, to the puritanical fervour of the Black Muslims. As their spokesman he became identified in the white press as a terrifying teacher of race hatred; but to his direct audience, the oppressed American blacks, he brought hope and self-respect. This autobiography (written with Alex Haley) reveals his quick-witted integrity, usually obscured by batteries of frenzied headlines, and the fierce idealism which led him to reject both liberal hypocrisies and black racialism. Table of Contents: Table of contents: Nightmare; Mascot; homeboy; Laura; Harlemite; Detroit Red; Hustler; trapped; Caught; satan; Saved; Saviour; Minister Malcolm X; Black Muslims; Icarus; Out; Mecca; El-Hajj

Today's price: £9.99

The Black List

Author: Elvis Mitchell

Annotation: In "The Black List," 22 prominent African Americans offer their own stories and insights on the struggles, triumphs, and joys of black life in America. 20 full-color photographs.

Today's price: £29.95