The Essential Dick Gregory

by Dick Gregory Narrated by Joe Morton, Christian Gregory, Andre Gaines, Afrika K. Kenjyatta

Overview

Narrated by Audie, Emmy, and NAACP® Image Award-winning actor, Joe Morton, and joined by Christian Gregory and Afrika K. Kenjyatta.*

A soulful, generation-defining collection of thought-provoking, agitating, and liberating works from Dick Gregory, the activist and author of sixteen books, including the classic bestseller Nigger: An Autobiography and the 2017 NAACP Image Award Winner, Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies.

A true renaissance man, Richard Claxton “Dick” Gregory was one of the pioneering satirists of his generation, a reformer and brilliant spokesperson for the downtrodden and forgotten who dedicated his life to speaking unadulterated truth-and to improving ordinary lives. A revered human rights and environmental activist, fearsome and uncompromising social critic, lauded bestselling author, and beloved nutrition guru, Gregory aimed not only to educate souls, but to liberate them. His words shaped a generation and remain vital for our own turbulent times, offering wisdom to enlighten and inspire a new activist age.

This carefully curated anthology of selected writings reflects and celebrates Dick Gregory's wisdom and his vision. Divided into three sections-Body, Mind, and Spirit-it includes previously unavailable transcriptions and excerpts taken from his sixteen books, fifteen albums and audio compilations, and more than 1,200 hours of archival video, including lectures, interviews, and comedic performances. It is a breathtaking tour through the life of one of America's most prophetic and relevant cultural icons. The Essential Dick Gregory is a pointillistic portrait of a man who gave up a lucrative entertainment career to fight injustice on the front line of battle-leading protests and hunger strikes to end the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa; supporting civil rights, feminism, and Native Americans,; and addressing hunger, poverty, and police brutality.

This compelling volume will challenge your beliefs, allow you to see life in unexpected ways, and dare you to make the world a better place.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Editorial Reviews

DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

This marvelous narration brings the comedian, activist, vegetarian, and civil rights leader vividly to life. Joe Morton gets Gregory’s tone, sound, pace, and humor perfectly. Along with having mastered Gregory’s unique style, he captures Gregory’s humility, candor, and sense of fun. Emulating his manic energy, Morton lets Gregory’s ringing soul come through in this collection of interviews, speeches, memories, and occasional other works. Famous at an early age, Gregory was a bestselling author, a nightclub comic who at the height of his success decided to play only college campuses, and a progressive who went on hunger strikes to protest a number of issues, including the Vietnam War. Sadly, his symbolic fasts may have shortened his life. This splendid collection merits a wide audience. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

08/22/2022

The work of comedian and activist Dick Gregory (No More Lies) comes together in this standout anthology gathered by his son. The book is divided into three chronological sections, “The Body,” “The Mind,” and “The Spirit,” each representing a different phase of Gregory’s life. The first part features his reflections on his impoverished childhood in segregated St. Louis, when he found in comedy a way to turn the tables on bullies who teased him for being on “relief.” Early brushes with activism saw him participate in a high school walkout to protest overcrowded conditions and the omission of his name from the athletics section of the yearbook because “they don’t list the Negro track meet.” Gregory also recalls learning comedy tricks from legends Nipsey Russell and Sammy Davis Jr. and preparing a response to being called a racial slur by a white audience member: “My contract reads that every time I hear that word, I get $50 more a night.” Elsewhere, Gregory (1932–2017) covers racial discrimination in the performing arts, birth control, his visit to Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis, and vegetarianism. Sharp, funny, and often inspiring, this is a must-read for Gregory’s fans, and a perfect entry point for the uninitiated. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

"[A] standout anthology... Sharp, funny, and often inspiring, this is a must-read for Gregory’s fans, and a perfect entry point for the uninitiated." — Publishers Weekly

“A useful bookend to a public figure who wielded humor with vigor and an astuteness to the American condition perhaps matched only by Mark Twain.” — Washington Post

"A satisfying encapsulation of the career of a seminal comedian and social justice warrior." — Kirkus Reviews

“The Essential Dick Gregory covers a lot of ground . . . Dick Gregory was one of a kind, the genuine article. If you never saw him, this collection of his thoughts and writings are a wonderful introduction . . . If you did see him, this book will bring back memories, and you will learn things about him you may not have known.”

— New York Journal of Books

DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

This marvelous narration brings the comedian, activist, vegetarian, and civil rights leader vividly to life. Joe Morton gets Gregory’s tone, sound, pace, and humor perfectly. Along with having mastered Gregory’s unique style, he captures Gregory’s humility, candor, and sense of fun. Emulating his manic energy, Morton lets Gregory’s ringing soul come through in this collection of interviews, speeches, memories, and occasional other works. Famous at an early age, Gregory was a bestselling author, a nightclub comic who at the height of his success decided to play only college campuses, and a progressive who went on hunger strikes to protest a number of issues, including the Vietnam War. Sadly, his symbolic fasts may have shortened his life. This splendid collection merits a wide audience. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2022-08-17
A collection of pieces from the revered Black American comedian and activist.

Gregory (1932-2017) was a stand-up comedian dealing with topical issues who evolved naturally into an important social justice advocate. His son, Christian, who manages his father’s estate, compiled material from 16 books, 12 albums, “hundreds of interviews and syndicated news columns, and hundreds of hours of archival footage.” Though “skinny and underweight” as a child, he learned that "once you get a man laughing with you, it's hard for him to laugh at you." Awarded "Outstanding Athlete" at Southern Illinois University, Gregory endeavored to bring the same "dignity and honor and respect to show business as I carried to the track.” In 1960, a successful set at the Playboy Club in Chicago led to mass-media attention. The next year, Mike Wallace called him "one of America's top egghead comics" who could find humor in the "tragic problems of your race.” As Christian notes, “the funny man from the South Side was now one of the biggest names in show business.” Drawn into the civil rights movement by violence in Greenwood, Mississippi, in 1963, Gregory delivered fiery orations in Birmingham, Selma, and at college campuses nationwide. He identified himself as a "comedian, social satirist, maybe a clown. The true clown knows all the social problems." He also held hunger strikes to protest the war in Vietnam. This volume collects many impassioned speeches and his final nightclub performance as well as diet advice drawn from his role as a "nutritional guru.” “The salvation of the planet is in diet," he said in 1981. "If you see the way we disrespect our bodies, then you can see why the people who manipulate us can get by with what they can." After his death, the New York Times called him "a sledgehammer for justice,” an appropriate moniker based on the evidence presented here.

A satisfying encapsulation of the career of a seminal comedian and social justice warrior.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175829533
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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