Frederick Douglass stands as one of American history’s most extraordinary figures, overcoming the evils of slavery and racial construction by force of will and grit. As a fervent abolitionist, gifted orator, and sagacious editor and author, he became one of the most outspoken and influential social reformers of his time. During his life, he published three autobiographies
Frederick Douglass stands as one of American history’s most extraordinary figures, overcoming the evils of slavery and racial construction by force of will and grit. As a fervent abolitionist, gifted orator, and sagacious editor and author, he became one of the most outspoken and influential social reformers of his time. During his life, he published three autobiographies chronicling his struggle from childhood to adulthood, from slave to free man, from ignorance to power-knowledge. And yet the full narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, contrary to popular belief, has been incomplete ... until now. Recently recovered on an archeological dig in Ireland, where Douglass lectured extensively in the 1840s, this heretofore “lost” autobiography marks the fourth and final work in the library of his selfhood. Tying together loose ends in the previous three autobiographies while exposing remarkable, often disturbing secrets about his private life, Douglass portrays himself not only as a man of words and character but as a kind of anachronistic hipster and proto-beatnik. There is a reason this volume never saw publication during his lifetime. A reason—and a method.
“Once again, D. Harlan Wilson biographizes with a hammer. Beware.” —William Clarke Quantrill, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Booker T. Washington Institute for African and African-American Research at Fostoria University
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What can I say about Douglass? Like the two books before it in the Biographizer series it is everything and it is nothing. There is the Mini Cooper again now Tom Cruise makes an appearance. There are asides, long diversions and the best non sequiturs ever. But, as with the previous books, this is no autobiography and only talks about Frederick Douglass tangentially. Do you know how hard it is to type Douglass without accidentally typing a 'b' where the 'g' should go? I have typed and corrected '
What can I say about Douglass? Like the two books before it in the Biographizer series it is everything and it is nothing. There is the Mini Cooper again now Tom Cruise makes an appearance. There are asides, long diversions and the best non sequiturs ever. But, as with the previous books, this is no autobiography and only talks about Frederick Douglass tangentially. Do you know how hard it is to type Douglass without accidentally typing a 'b' where the 'g' should go? I have typed and corrected 'Doublass' each time I used the name in this review. Three times so far. How D. Harlan Wilson overcame this problem I can only speculate. Also, whenever I type the author's name I inevitably wind up capitalizing both the 'W' and the 'I' in 'Wilson.' These observations are not in the book but they very well could be.
We are told repeatedly that Chapter 4 is the most important and that we must go back and read it every few pages. We are reminded to do this. In fact, I think I'll go back and read it right now.
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I'm a novelist, short story writer, lit critic, editor, playwright, publisher, and English prof. I serve as reviews editor for
Extrapolation
, a journal of SF criticism, and managing editor of
Guide Dog Books
, the nonfiction syndicate of Raw Dog Screaming Press. I'm also the editor-in-chief of
Anti-Oedipus Press
.
Here are my published books:
They Live (Cultographies)
(2015),
Primordial An Abstrac
I'm a novelist, short story writer, lit critic, editor, playwright, publisher, and English prof. I serve as reviews editor for
Extrapolation
, a journal of SF criticism, and managing editor of
Guide Dog Books
, the nonfiction syndicate of Raw Dog Screaming Press. I'm also the editor-in-chief of
Anti-Oedipus Press
.