Table Of ContentTH RTY-SEVEN YEARS
I BOXING ON
OF PAPER
“In Writin^ Is Fightin^ Ishmael
—
Reed one of our keenest ob-
—
servers does the unusual: he writes
delicately about vulgarities in Ameri-
can life and thought, especially
racism, bourgeois greed, capitalist
flimflam like neoconservatism, red-
neck nationalism (the intellectual
sort particularly), etc. His delicate
script betrays love for what’s good
—
about the country too its honest
and caring creators, both intellectual
and institutional.”
—
Martin Kilson
Harvard University
Ishmael Reed is one of the most innovative and
provocative voices in contemporary literature.
—
While his highly impressive corpus including
seven novels, four books of poetry, and three
plays—has placed Reed at the forefront of black
fiction, he has also gained national prominence
as one of the most outspoken critics of our time.
This gathering of his essays, book reviews, and
editorials brings us into the ring ofdebate where
Reed boxes his best match against American
culture.
Here he moves in on the very premises of popular
opinion to discuss society as he knows it: the
state of black literature, illiteracy, black
identity and the media, cultural pluralism and
—
the modern political system the ills and
industry of Ronald Reagan, Jesse Jackson,
and their parties. Stepping into this country’s
blind spot, hejabs with tremendous effect at the
problem of drug abuse in his hometown of
Oakland, California. From there Reed moves
with ease to a meditation on Harvard Yard and
(Continued on backflap)
Oepartment of Ubfaries
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I.WW
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By Ishmael Reed
Essays
Writin’ Plightin’
Is
God Made Alaska for the Indians
New
Shrovetide in Orleans
l\ovels
Reekless Eyeballing
The Terrible Twos
Flight to Canada
The Last Days of Louisiana Red
Munibo Jumbo
Yellow Back Radio Broke Down
The Free Lance Pall Bearers
Poetry
D
Catechism of Neoamerican Hoodoo Church
A
Secretary to the Spirits
Chattanooga
Conjure
Plays
Mother Hubbard, formerly Hell Hath No Fury
d’he Ace Boons
Savage Wilds
Xntholofiiies
Calafia
Now
19 Necromancers from
Television Productions
Personal Problems
A Word in Edgewise
#
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II
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I
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Ishmael Reed
Thirty -Seven Years of Boxing on Paper
Atheneum / /Veir York / 1988
“My Oakland, There Is a There There,” Part 1, first appeared in California Magazine,
March 1983. Part II appeared under the title “At Ground Zero in Oakland” in the
San Francisco Examiner, March 1988. “The Christmas Spirit” first appeared in the
OaklandTribune, December 1983. “America: The Multi-National Society” originally
appeared in San Francisco Focus, December 1983. “300 Years of 1984” was delivered
as a lecture as part of The George Orwell Series, Marin College, February 1984.
“Hymietown Revisited” first appeared in California Magazine, October 1984. “Of
One Blood, Two Men” originally appeared in the New York Times, 4 November
1984. “Dream Ticket” appeared under the title “Real Democrats Don't Eat Quiche”
in The Nation, 6 April 1985. “How the Afrikaners Can Hold On” appeared under
the title “Botha should take a tip on state-of-the-art apartheid from a real pro” in The
Tribune, 23 August 1985. “Champion: Joe Louis, Black Hero in White —America”
first appeared in The San Francisco Examiner, January 1986. “In Opposition Which
State?” was delivered as a speech at the 48th International PEN Congress in New
York City, 16 January 1986. “Hyped or Hip?” first appeared in California Magazine,
March 1986. “Steven Spielberg Plays Howard Beach” originally appeared in New
York Amsterdam News, January 1987. “August Wilson: The Dramatist as Bearer of
Tradition” originally appeared in a somewhat different form in Connoisseur, March
1987. “Killer Illiteracy” first appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, November
1987. “America’s Color Bind: The Modeling of Minorities” first appeared in the San
Francisco Examiner, November 1987. “Soyinka Among the Monoculturalists” first
appeared in The New Theater Review, a publication of the Lincoln Center Theater,
Summer
1987.
©
Copyright 1988 by Ishmael Reed.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or trans-
mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, in-
cluding photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
Atheneum
Macmillan Publishing Company
866 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022
Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reed, Ishmael, 1938-
Writin’ is fightin’
1. Title.
PS3568.E365W75 1988 814'. 54 88-10555
ISBN 0-689-11975-5
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