My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race & Defiance
Harry Belafonte
Written with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Schnayerson, My Song is an inspiring story of performance and protest, from a superstar singer and actor who was on the front lines of practically every progressive political battle in modern memory.
Along the way, he befriended some of the most influential figures of the 20th century, from Tony Curtis, Marlon Brando and Sidney Poitier to Martin Luther King, the Kennedys, Eleanor Roosevelt, Fidel Castro, James Baldwin, Bob Dylan and Nelson Mandela. From his impoverished childhood in Harlem and Jamaica, through his meteoric rise as an international calypso star, provocative crossover into Hollywood where he broke down many racial barriers, passionate lifelong involvement in the civil rights movement and myriad other social causes, to his personal struggles and rich friendships, this is a remarkable, multifaceted and hugely inspirational story.
"A man whose story should be told for generations to come" (Robert Redford)
Product Details
About Harry Belafonte
Reviews for My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race & Defiance
Garrison Keillor
New York Times
It isn't just the story of man, but the story of a country and a century
Variety
A potent memoir of our times
Library Journal
Somewhere amid the accounts of when he became the first artist to sell a million copies of an album, the first black leading actor to romance a white leading actress in a major Hollywood film, and the man who was asked to pick out the clothes that Martin Luther King would be buried in, you realize just how extraordinary Harry Belafonte's life has been . . . Not only a capitaving memoir of his own story but an intriguing look at US history from the late '40s the present
Boston Globe
Bracingly opinionated autobiography from an American original
Kirkus
Carries us liltingly along with his song that the best times always lie ahead as long as we take care of each other
Publishers Weekly
A celebration of singer, actor and social activist Harry Belafonte.Moving and enlightening as it serves up a crash-course in 20th-century history . . .
Variety, on SING MY SONG
Long before he became a cultural icon, Harry Belafonte learned to fight injustice wherever he saw it - a principle which has driven him ever since. This rich memoir chronicles a life of activism alongside some of history's greatest heroes and sheds new light on moments that shaped our nation. Through it all, Harry exudes the same passion and candour I've experienced in our friendship and conversation over the years
President Bill Clinton This memoir, a page turner, will help to correct the image of Belafonte as a mere 'Belaphoney' divorced from the realities of black, pre-civil rights America
Spectator