The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley

My whole life had been a chronology of—changes.

I had already read The Autobiography of Malcolm X once before, but it still held my interest this time around. Malcolm X led one of the most dramatic and tragic lives of the twentieth century, and as he says, his whole life was a chronology of changes. He chronicles them all in his autobiography, which reads like a spiritual confession. I was impressed by Malcolm X’s willingness to share the personal details of his life, especially his wayward youth.

The book is extremely well put together by Haley, and the Kindle edition I read included an interesting “behind the scenes” essay in which Haley details how the book came about. Haley deserves a lot of credit for helping Malcolm X open up about his past and for shaping the narrative in such a compelling way.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley
First edition New York: Grove Press, 1965
Kindle edition Ballantine Books, 2015
Print length: 544 pages