Review: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Title: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Author: Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley

Genre: Autobiography

Trigger Warnings: Racism, cults, drug use (including hard drug use), prison, guns (including death by gun)

Back Cover:

Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his journey from a prison cell to Mecca, describing his transition from hoodlum to Muslim minister. Here, the man who called himself “the angriest Black man in America” relates how his conversion to true Islam helped him confront his rage and recognize the brotherhood of all mankind.

An established classic of modern America, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” was hailed by the New York Times as “Extraordinary. A brilliant, painful, important book.” Still extraordinary, still important, this electrifying story has transformed Malcom X’s life into his legacy. The strength of his words, the power of his ideas continue to resonate more than a generation after they first appeared.

Review:

I didn’t really know anything about Malcolm X besides his name and something along the lines of “he was like Dr. King but violent” that I learned in … middle school, maybe? This book is a fascinating look at his life, from his childhood in Lansing, Michigan to hustling drugs and committing robberies in New York and Boston to his arrest, conversion to Islam, and subsequent fame as he tried to grow Elijah Muhammed’s Islam in America, and how his pilgrimage to Mecca changed his philosophy of race relations. It showed how his thoughts and his solutions to the problem of racism morphed and the actions he took to actually try and solve the problem.

This book isn’t divided into parts, but to me, there’s three main “parts” of it: Before his conversion, his time in the Nation of Islam, and after the Nation of Islam.

The part before his conversion, for me, anyway, functioned as an almost voyeuristic look at black manhood during the early 1940s – a world I’d never heard about or even really considered.

His time during the Nation of Islam showed me why nobody talked about him in history class. Nation of Islam, the sect (although it was throwing off some really culty vibes for me) of Islam started by Elijah Muhammed, had him preaching that white people were literally the devil and the only way to eliminate racism was for black people to separate completely from white people. He made a lot of white people mad, and I completely understand why. Some of the things he said even rubbed me the wrong way.

(As someone super interested in religions, I also found the in-depth look at the Nation of Islam and their beliefs fascinating.)

Are spoilers a thing in autobiographies? Well, I won’t say why, but he parted ways with the Nation of Islam and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and then traveled through Africa. He came back with a slightly kinder approach to race relations – one that I agree with a lot more, although as a white person, I don’t think my agreement means it’s the best approach.

The book finishes with an epilogue of sorts by the writer, who talks about the process of writing the book and also Malcolm X’s death.

This whole book is excellently written and reads like one big story about a great man. Malcolm X was an extraordinary man with extraordinary energy. He wanted what was best for black people, and he was willing to put all of his time and energy into that cause. Whether or not you agree with his ideas, he’s definitely a man worth admiring, and I’m glad for the opportunity to read about him in his own story.

Review: Autism in Heels

Title: Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum

Author: Jennifer Cook O’Toole

Genre: Memoir

Trigger Warnings: Bullying, sexual assault and violence, self-harm, eating disorders

Back Cover:

The face of autism is changing. And more often than we realize, that face is wearing lipstick.

Autism in Heels , an intimate memoir, reveals the woman inside one of autism’s most prominent figures, Jennifer O’Toole. At the age of thirty-five, Jennifer was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, and for the first time in her life, things made sense. Now, Jennifer exposes the constant struggle between carefully crafted persona and authentic existence, editing the autism script with wit, candor, passion, and power. Her journey is one of reverse-self-discovery not only as an Aspie but–more importantly–as a thoroughly modern woman.

Beyond being a memoir, Autism in Heels is a love letter to all women. It’s a conversation starter. A game changer. And a firsthand account of what it is to walk in Jennifer’s shoes (especially those iconic red stilettos).

Whether it’s bad perms or body image, sexuality or self-esteem, Jennifer’s is as much a human journey as one on the spectrum. Because autism “looks a bit different in pink,” most girls and women who fit the profile are not identified, facing years of avoidable anxiety, eating disorders, volatile relationships, self-harm, and stunted independence. Jennifer has been there, too. Autism in Heels takes that message to the mainstream.

From her own struggles and self-discovery, she has built an empire of empowerment, inspiring women the world over to realize they aren’t mistakes. They are misunderstood miracles.

Review:

I have never before in my life read a memoir, mostly because I’m not particularly interested in them. But my mother-in-law checked this out from the library for me, and I mostly started reading it because I was too awkward to give it back to her without at least trying to read it. Sure, I was interested in learning more about autism in women, but I was kind of put off by the memoir aspect.

It actually turned out to be really good, though. In the beginning, she talks about her children’s diagnoses, her diagnosis, and her research of how autism presents differently in girls than in the boys that most research is done on. I spend a lot of that part reading quotes out loud to my husband and going, “Hey, that’s me, I didn’t even realize that was an autistic thing.” She then went back through a lot of her life and showed how things she didn’t understand made more sense in an autism context.

Some of it was hard to read. I was homeschooled, so I never even had the opportunity to be bullied, but her description of how cruel her peers were to her when she didn’t pick up on social nuances was really difficult to read. She also had a chapter about her sexual abuse, but she did put a trigger warning on that chapter (and the one about self-harm/eating disorders), so I just skipped that one altogether.  She combines her story with the research she’s done, and the book doesn’t seem like a memoir as much as a discussion of autism, specifically autism in girls, illustrated by examples from one person’s life.

This is a short review, but I don’t have a whole lot to say. It was a very good book. I saw a lot of myself in the pages, and even some of my autistic husband, and it was inspiring to see how the socially ostracized little girl became a renowned speaker on autism. The only real criticism I have is that she only brushed against the idea of gender roles and emotional labor and how they affect autistic girls. I highly recommend this to anyone who is or knows an autistic girl and wants to learn more about how they think.