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On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance |  | Author: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Creator: Raymond Obstfeld
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy Used: $0.01
as of 7/31/2010 23:23 PDT details
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New (14) Used (51) Collectible (8) from $0.01
Seller: internationalbooks
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 204819
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1ST
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 1416534881
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323092
EAN: 9781416534884
ASIN: 1416534881
Publication Date: January 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From 1920 to 1940, the Harlem Renaissance produced a bright beacon of light that paved the way for African-Americans all over the country. The unapologetic writings of W. E. B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, the fervent fiction and poetry of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, the groundbreaking art of Aaron Douglas and William H. Johnson, and the triumphant music of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong gave voice and expression to the thoughts and emotions that Jim Crow segregation laws had long sought to stifle. In On the Shoulders of Giants, indomitable basketball star and bestselling author and historian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar invites the reader on an extraordinarily personal journey back to his birthplace, through one of the greatest political, cultural, literary, and artistic movements in our history, revealing the tremendous impact the Harlem Renaissance had on both American culture and his own life. Beginning with the rise of the Harlem Rens as pioneers of professional basketball, Kareem traces the many streams of historical influence that converged to create the man he is today -- the NBA's all-time leading scorer and a veritable African-American icon. Travel deep into the soul of the Renaissance -- to the night clubs, restaurants, basketball games, and fabulous parties that have made footprints in Harlem's history. Meet the athletes, jazz musicians, comedians, actors, politicians, entrepreneurs, and writers who not only inspired Kareem's rise to greatness but an entire nation's. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born in the midst of a cultural reawakening, carried on the shoulders of athletes trying to prove there was a lot more at stake than a ball game, men and women who made music that could break your heart, and writers and intellectuals who gave voice to not just the ideals of a movement but the raw emotions. Kareem tells what it took to get these revolutionaries to Harlem and how they changed the world. A world that is still riding on the shoulders of giants.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
 The numb-noggined ninety knocks out a book. November 12, 2009
Terry McGovern (Globe, AZ)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book could have been two magnitudes better with a reader who doesn't think Papal rhymes with apple, and a writer who doesn't believe that when a prison term is reduced, it's been "communed".
The boring reader makes several more laughable gaffes, and Kareem, probably thinking he's being scholarly, a number of times gives see references to other chapters of the book mid-sentence.
If the movers and shakers of the Harlem Renaissance comprised
what Kareem refers to as the "talented tenth" of the local populace, his effort at chronicling the movement betrays himself, his contributor and narrator as representatives of the "numb-noggined
ninety".
 ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS August 24, 2009
Roger M. Yamamoto (AIEA, HI USA)
I RECEIVED THE BOOK IN TIMELY FASHION AND IN GOOD CONDITION. ABSOLUTELY NO COMPLAINTS.
THANK YOU,
ROGER
Inspirational July 5, 2009
Scott E. Walters
I teach a course on the art and artists of the Harlem Renaissance, and this has been the best "textbook" I have found to date. The chapters alternate between a historical descriptions of different aspects of the period (music, thinkers, geography, ect.) written by Abdul-Jabbar's co-author, and Abdul-Jabbar's descriptions of how the work of the Harlem Renaissance affected his life. This alternation between history and biography is what makes the book so inspirational, because Abdul-Jabbar makes very clear his belief that history should inspire present effort. The prose is dynamic -- a "good read." The added bonus of the sections on the Harlem Renaissance basketball team and its struggles connects sports, the arts, and politics in a very rich way. I recommend this book unreservedly.
 One-sided, but still quite good September 13, 2008
J. V. Hennburg (San Diego, CA United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
First things first: This book provides a very interesting and seemingly thorough review of the forms of art to emerge from Harlem. It is worth reading for that reason alone. I would merely caution readers that Kareem is not hesitant to express a resentment against white America. Harlem is a very, very dangerous place, and has been for a long time, but reading this book you would never think that. You would think any acts of violence done there were brought on by caucasian mistreatment, that the Harlem Renaissance was an effort by blacks to overcome all the harm they had been done - and are still done - by whites. Someone of Kareem's influence could have gone about that differently. He could have described the art and literature as he did, mention the influence of black hardship in creating that culture, then at some point mention how black America has the role models it needs to excel. He could have pointed out that while making a living as a writer or a trumpet player is great, carrying and using a handgun with the same intentions is not. I always wished Carlos Santana would make more of a contribution to his culture's growth through his music. Maybe Kareem's next book will make a similar effort.
on the shoulder of giants June 23, 2008
Douglass Murray
I have only scanned the book, however I am historically familiar with a
lot of the content which motivated me to buy the book as a collectors
item. I also order the book for my grandson and a friend's son.
Doug Murray
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
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