One of the slave owners is frequently shown intoxicated on rum in one scene, he's passed out drunk in the back of a carriage. ' landmark book.'-Marian Wright EdelmanĪbout The Author Alex Haley (1921-1992) was a bestselling and award-winning writer whose works, including Roots and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, centered on the struggles of African Americans.White characters are often shown drinking wine, cider, or rum. a symbolic chronicle of the odyssey of African Americans from the continent of Africa to a land not of their choosing.- Washington Post Philadelphia Tribune, 6/7/16

Review Quotes Praise for Roots The book is an act of love, and it is this which makes it haunting.- New York Times A gripping mixture of urban confessional and political manifesto, it not only inspired a generation of black activists, but drove home the bitter realities of racism to a mainstream white liberal audience.- Observer Groundbreaking- The Associated Press A Pulitzer Prize-winning story about the family ancestry of author Alex Haley. Questlove of The Roots is the executive music producer for the miniseries's stirring soundtrack. The star- studded cast in this new event series includes Academy Award-winners Forest Whitaker and Anna Paquin, Laurence Fishburne, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Derek Luke, Grammy Award-winner Tip T.I. Roots is a stirring reminder that we can achieve these goals only if we look history squarely in the face. And each generation must overcome our social ills through greater knowledge and decisive action. Each generation must make up its own mind about how it will navigate the treacherous waters of our nation's racial sin. It affected events far beyond its pages and was a literary North Star. To quote from the introduction by Michael Eric Dyson: Alex Haley's Roots is unquestionably one of the nation's seminal texts.

It is a book for the legions of earlier readers to revisit and for a new generation to discover. Now, Roots once again bursts onto the national scene, and at a time when the race conversation has never been more charged. In the four decades since then, the story of the young African slave Kunta Kinte and his descendants has lost none of its power to enthrall and provoke. The celebrated miniseries that followed a year later was a coast-to-coast event-over 130 million Americans watched some or all of the broadcast. When Roots was first published forty years ago, the book electrified the nation: it received a Pulitzer Prize and was a #1 New York Times bestseller for 22 weeks. About the Book First published by Doubleday in 1976 copyright on verso: 1974.īook Synopsis Based off of the bestselling author's family history, this novel tells the story of Kunta Kinte, who is sold into slavery in the United States where he and his descendants live through major historic events.

Alex haley's roots movie