Up from Nigger

Dick Gregory (Author), James R. McGraw (Author)

Stein & Day Pub, 1976

Hardcover and dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Clean, unmarked pages. Name on fep. Small scuff, tear on dj. "Dick Gregory's real-life story is far more exciting than a TV drama; he makes his own headlines. [This book] spans the decade from the mid-Sixties to the [mid-Seventies], from popular comic to campus prophet. Taking up where his million-copy seller Nigger left off, it is a hazardous, harried, and hilarious adventure. The cast of characters is varied and colorful--from Malcolm X to Mayor Daley; Martin Luther King, Jr. to Sheriff Jim Clark; Gladys Knight to Red Buttons; Bob Hope and Ed Sullivan to Bertrand Russell and Adlai Stevenson; Walter Cronkite, Tallulah Bankhead, John and Bobby Kennedy, and Barbra Streisand. The scenes span the continent and the world--Gregory in night clubs and at civil rights rallies; driving through a blizzard while being chased by armed rednecks; felled by a bullet while trying to restore order during the Watts riot; delivering 20,000 turkeys to Mississippi at Christmas; playing hide-and-seek with the CIA; fishing with the Indians; running for Mayor of Chicago and President of the United States; fasting in a jail cell; 'freeing' the Army with Jane Fonda; circling the globe in a futile effort to gain admission into Australia; collapsing during the Boston Marathon but running the 800-mile distance from Chicago to Washington, D.C., two years later. Dick Gregory tells it all with zest and unfailing spirit. The comedian-crusader has kept and burnished his wit--his most powerful weapon in his unending battle for human rights and personal evolution 'Up From Nigger.' James R. Mcgraw, who collaborated with Dick Gregory on Up From Nigger, shared many of these adventures."--Dust jacket