BOOKS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT BESTSELLERS AUTHORS BOOK PUBLISHING Michael Giltz Freelance writer and raconteur GET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ Read more Elijah Muhammad , Malcolm X , Martin Luther King , Malcolm x Biography , Manning Marable , Marcus Garvey , Marcus-Garvey , Nation Of Islam , The Malcolm x Project , Books News 21 32 6 72React Inspiring Funny Typical Important Outrageous Amazing Innovative BeautifulMalcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention -- The Review Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention By Manning Marable$30; Viking Press The scholar and author Manning Marable died just on the eve of publication of his magnum opus, this sober, detailed, engrossing biography of Malcolm X.</p><p> One trusts he is resting easy,knowing that the early reviews were rapturousand that the book did justice both to his lifelongwork as an educator and champion of progressivecauses and to Malcolm X's ever-growingimportance as a figure both in the blackcommunity and impassioned fighters for freedom MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2 9/11 Responders Warned They Will Be Screened For Terrorism Ties (EXCLUSIVE) Jerry Seinfeld, Donald Trump Rip Each Other In Heated Political War Of Words Amazing Discovery On Mars FOLLOW USBIG NEWS: Bestsellers | Kindle | eBooks | Literary Prizes | NYR | Personal Finance | More...</p><p> Awkward Family Photos: Easter Bunny EditionWhich Countries Speak The Best English? 9 Earth Day Favorites You Should Read ToSex, Scandal And Debauchery Among Historic British News Web Like 276K April 24, 2011 | Log In | Sign Up Get Alerts Like 1 Posted: 04/22/11 03:43 PM ET SHARE THIS STORY Submit this story Get Books Alerts Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIES Like 20K Like 4K FRONT PAGEPOLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA TECH COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD FOOD LIVING IMPACT EDU LOCALand justice around the world.</p><p> It's natural to focus on the juicy bits, the revelations not heard before or finally confirmed: the convincing proof of infidelities on the part of both Malcolm X and his wife Betty, the stripping away of myth surrounding his criminal past, the shocking lack of desire on the part of the police to find and convict the real killers, the informers and undercover police that infiltrated his movements and the "gay for pay" claim that X's description of a "friend's" involvement with a rich gay white man was a front for his own first-hand knowledge. (Marable quotes letters from Malcolm X in prison, after converting to the Nation Of Islam, in which he hopes thisbenefactor can help him get out on parole early and provide him a home and stability of some sort.) Needless to say, the children of Malcolm X have decried the book.</p><p> But they shouldn't.</p><p> It pays their father the high respect of treating him like the world figure he is and strives to separate fact from fiction withthe sober, balanced eye of a writer and scholar whose only desire is to present Malcolm X fully, with all his contradictions and complexity.</p><p> This isn't the final word: too many documents remain unreleased by the FBI and numerous police departments even decades after his assassination.</p><p> But one thing isabundantly clear: you can't simply watch Spike Lee's film Malcolm X or read The Autobiography Of Malcolm X as Told To Alex Haley.</p><p> To get the fullest, fairest treatment of his life, you must also read this book.</p><p> It begins with the story of Malcolm Little's parents, ardent supporters of Marcus Garvey, the closest precursor to the black nationalism that fired the imagination of Malcolm X.</p><p> We see his father's brutaldeath -- almost certainly a hate crime -- and the young, wandering life of Malcolm and his siblings asthey were unmoored by a mother overwhelmed by the bitter hypocrisy and discrimination of the state.Always smart and wary of work, it's no surprise when Malcolm reinvents himself as "Detroit Red" andembarks on a life of crime and a white girlfriend, a life that Marable insists wasn't nearly as hardcore asMalcolm X said.</p><p> In a reasoned manner that sets the tone for the book, Marable sets the cultural and political scene of Harlem when Malcolm X arrives in New York.</p><p> Marable details what X described in his autobiography and Shelterpop: Unplugging Appliances: Do I REALLY Have to Do This? AOL Real Estate: Prince William and Kate to Live in Royal Mansion The Real Reason You're Not Married (And What To Do About It) Awkward Family Photos: Easter Bunny Edition (PHOTOS) TV Squad: Maria Menounos Relives Her Paparazzi 'Wardrobe Malfunction' on 'Lopez' (VIDEO) Popeater: LeAnn Rimes Marries Eddie Cibrian DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5 Sam Waterston Saving Easter Island’s Marine Ecosystems David O.</p><p> Russell FDR Said it All in 1936 -- Who Will Follow in His Steps Today? MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2 Like 633 Like 1K Like 63 Like 284 Like 3K Like 56 Like 398 Fox To Help Promote Discredited Author's Birther Book Awkward Family Photos: Easter Bunny Edition (PHOTOS) then dissects what was most likely to have really happened based on records of the time.</p><p> For example, for political reasons (Marable says) Malcolm X describes working with prostitutes in Times Square andburglarizing homes in all-white suburbs.</p><p> Marable says it's more likely that the prostitution he dealt withusually occurred on 125th St. and he probably robbed some Harlem nightspots.</p><p> His time in prison and conversion to the racist ideology of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation Of Islam is captured precisely by never downplaying the cult-like behavior of that organization or the very real and very positive effect it had on Malcolm X.</p><p> His work in the group with whole-hearted devotion, his growth as a public speaker and thinker, his growing politicalization (when a central demand of the Nation Of Islam was to avoid politics and the outside world) and his ultimate championing of a pan-Africanism are captured brilliantly and precisely.</p><p> At every turn you sense the essential truth of Malcolm X: whateverstage of his philosophical and political growth, he always represented fierce, unapologetic pride in theheritage of blacks and the strength they can and should embody in the face of oppression.</p><p> This is whatelectrified millions who couldn't and wouldn't embrace the demonizing of whites that Malcolm X himselfultimately came to reject as counter to the tenets of traditional Islam.</p><p> It's fascinating to see exactly how focused the FBI and police were on a man and organization that called on black people to abhor drinking and doing drugs, work hard and not ask for handouts from anyone.The Nation Of Islam and Malcolm X's later groups were always under threat of informers and undercoverlaw enforcement who tried to sow divisions between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad.</p><p> One policemanassigned for months at a time to listen secretly to phone conversations soon realized that not only wasMalcolm X not a threat in the sense of encouraging lawlessness but that everything he knew about theman was wrong.</p><p> He encouraged his superiors to work with Malcolm X.</p><p> Needless to say, he was ignored.</p><p> But Marable truly shines in the book's final chapters.</p><p> The closer we get to Malcolm X's death, the deeper Marable plunges into the day-to-day changes.</p><p> Malcolm X was being slowly kicked out of the Nation, aprocess that wrenched him emotionally even though he was quickly outgrowing both the narrow tenets of the cult and disillusioned with the hypocrisy of Elijah Muhammad, who lived lavishly and had sex with numerous secretaries while demanding sacrifice from his followers.</p><p> Marable convincingly asserts that it'stoo simplistic to see Malcolm X as moving more towards the mainstream while Dr.</p><p> Martin Luther KingJr. was becoming more radical.</p><p> The moment to moment contradictions in Malcolm X's speeches in the last months of his life are not the words of a man telling each audience what they want to hear (tossing in an old school reference to"devils" at one stop; denouncing violence at the next; embracing a color-blind vision of life where you judge deeds not skin tone at a third and hinting at inevitable and righteous violence at a fourth).</p><p> They are the words of a man who was discovering for himself a new philosophy, a new way of thinking thatwas still radical and strong (and strands of which would influence everything from the Black Panthers torap music) but also more mature and nuanced and with an international perspective.</p><p> Marable led The Malcolm X Project at Columbia University, an online site filled with a wealth of material on X's life and work.</p><p> Slowly, more and more speeches, more and more unsealed documents and more facts about the truth surrounding his life and death will come out.</p><p> Others will surely build upon the workthat Marable has done here.</p><p> But this book will remain a cornerstone for any serious scholarly work about HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3 HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2 HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES Tribeca Film Festival lgbt Museums Health Personal Health Google Sleep Video Easter MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » Which Countries Speak The Best English? (PHOTOS) Like 249 The Book With No Audience, Written That Way On Purpose Like 19 jayoatway RT @kzamri : Is Twitter destroying your relationship? http://huff.to/fPOX4N [HuffPost] mjenkins RT @HuffingtonPost : Your iPhone may be tracking your every movehttp://huff.to/fvesYh Greg Mortenson Hospitalized: 'Three Cups Of Tea'...</p><p> Sandra Bullock Furious Over Ex Jesse James's...</p><p> Awkward Family Photos: Easter Edition (PHOTOS) Fox To Help Promote Corsi's Birther Bookthe life and legacy of Malcolm X.</p><p> Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the co-host of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests.</p><p> It's available free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews .</p><p> NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of books to consider for review.</p><p> He typically does not guarantee coverage and invariably receives far more books than he can cover.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz More in Books...</p><p> Buy a link here Sponsored Links Mom Is 55, Looks 30...</p><p> Her clever $5 wrinkle therapy angers Botox Doctors.</p><p> Find Out How! 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