Target Zero

January 30, 2006
This collection traces the life of civil rights activist and Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver using his own words. Divided into four parts ("Early Years," "Revolution," "Exile" and "Transition"), the volume moves from Cleaver's reminisces of his youth in southern California, through his extensive prison internment (which, as he tells it, provided the impetus for his intellectual development), his time with the then-fledgling Black Panthers, his seven-year exile in Cuba, Algeria and France, and finally, his continued efforts at promoting civil rights upon his return to the United States. These essays, poems, excerpts of Eldridge's autobiography and interviews work together to reveal the tempestuous and complex workings of a man as he evolved from a child angry at his father for beating his mother to an angst-ridden radical convinced that rape was a revolutionary act, to an international fugitive and, finally, to a converted Christian activist. Cleaver's language varies dramatically throughout the course of his story: the same man who wrote, "a pig white...deep-fried in the fat of his own bullshit" later penned a poem called "A Love Letter Writing Butterfly" that contains the line, "I'm a dreamer looking for a dreamgirl."

January 9, 2006
This collection traces the life of civil rights activist and Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver using his own words. Divided into four parts ("Early Years," "Revolution," "Exile" and "Transition"), the volume moves from Cleaver's reminisces of his youth in southern California, through his extensive prison internment (which, as he tells it, provided the impetus for his intellectual development), his time with the then-fledgling Black Panthers, his seven-year exile in Cuba, Algeria and France, and finally, his continued efforts at promoting civil rights upon his return to the United States. These essays, poems, excerpts of Eldridge's autobiography and interviews work together to reveal the tempestuous and complex workings of a man as he evolved from a child angry at his father for beating his mother to an angst-ridden radical convinced that rape was a revolutionary act, to an international fugitive and, finally, to a converted Christian activist. Cleaver's language varies dramatically throughout the course of his story: the same man who wrote, "a pig white...deep-fried in the fat of his own bullshit" later penned a poem called "A Love Letter Writing Butterfly" that contains the line, "I'm a dreamer looking for a dreamgirl."

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2005
Cleaver's former wife offers a collection of writings that reflects his transformation from an angry, talented young black man, bent on avenging himself against American racism, to a born-again Christian champion of American capitalism. The collection includes essays, interviews, memoirs, letters, speeches, and poems. The book is divided into four parts: Cleaver's early years in prison, where he started writing and completed " Soul on Ice" ; his revolutionary years, including involvement with the Black Panthers; his seven-year exile in Cuba, Algeria, and France; and his transformation later in life. The book includes Cleaver's writings on the split with Newton and the struggle within the Panther party as egos clashed. This book is a fascinating look at the transformation of a major figure in black-power politics and a tumultuous era in the U.S. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)