Malcolm before X

This first-rate biography looks at Malcolm Little before and as he became Malcolm X. Much of it focuses on his six-and-a-half years of incarceration (1946--52), during which he converted to Islam, changing the trajectory of his life. This is one of the great conversion stories of modern history: a young man mired in crime raises himself up and, through self-discipline, becomes an explosive spokesperson for Black Americans. Drawing on little examined prison records, Parr (writing, Lakeland Univ.; The Seminarian) asks slightly new questions but doesn't, of course, displace Malcolm's posthumously published Autobiography; rather, he adds to the history, refining Malcolm's after-the-fact recollections of his earlier life with substantiated evidence. By the end of Parr's account, readers understand how Malcolm Little becomes Malcolm X, ready to fight for Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam. He only had 13 years left to live, but what years they were. VERDICT Parr never overreaches or preaches. He doesn't slight Malcolm's rigidities but he enriches readers' appreciation of one of the most influential spokespersons of a tumultuous age.--David Keymer

The early life and incarceration of the man who would become Malcolm X. Parr (The Seminarian: Martin Luther King Jr. Comes of Age, 2018) has written the definitive story of the youth and early adulthood of one of the most dazzling and controversial civil rights leaders in American history. He uses long-neglected primary sources--papers, correspondence, records from the Massachusetts prisons in which the self-destructive Malcolm was incarcerated for his crimes as the leader of a small band of Boston burglars--to vividly depict the fascinating transformation of Malcolm Little to the electrifyingly eloquent and ever-evolving activist Malcolm X. Parr's thorough research and engaging style augment and enhance the story of Malcolm's African, Caribbean, and American roots; the predisposition for intellectualism and worldliness that he inherited from his activist parents (particularly his mother, Louise Little, an intriguing figure in her own right); and the racial duality he struggled with as a child in rural Michigan. Parr makes use ofThe Autobiography of Malcolm X, the celebrated collaboration between Malcolm and Alex Haley, enough so that readers who have not read it are not operating in ignorance of that foundational work. Parr's use of the prison documents provides for eye-popping descriptions of Malcolm's horrifying and edifying correctional experience and in-depth profiles of the significant individuals Malcolm encountered--most notably John Elton Bembry "Bimbi"--who were instrumental in his quest for self-discipline, structure, knowledge, and erudition. A rich portrait of a young revolutionary. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.