An edition of Black Fire (1994)

Black fire

the making of an American revolutionary

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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 25, 2024 | History
An edition of Black Fire (1994)

Black fire

the making of an American revolutionary

The New Press is thrilled to publish the autobiography of a hitherto unknown hero, adventurer, and rebel - Nelson Peery. This remarkable and highly dramatic memoir was finished when Peery was "old enough to be honest with [him]self and the typewriter." But it was started when Peery was only twenty-four, and it retains all the innocence, sauciness, and hope of a young man who fully expected the world to live up to the promises and values he fought for in World War II.

Raised during the Depression, Peery is the second son of the only black family living in a rural Minnesota town, where he quickly learns about race and class. Fleeing a life of limited opportunity and following an innate sense of adventure, Peery boards a train heading west, where he is taken in by a group of hoboes. Rarely have we seen - and never through the eyes of a young black man - the extraordinary resourcefulness and camaraderie that enables these men to survive the hardships of the Depression.

When the war begins Peery joins the all-black 93rd Infantry Division: he is stationed first in the Jim Crow South and ultimately in the South Pacific. Frustrated by the hypocrisy of fighting abroad for opportunities denied blacks at home, Peery prepares to do battle, with both his mind and sword.

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Culminating in his increasingly insurrectionary acts, this is the classic story of the making of a revolutionary. It tells of the climate and experience that convinced Peery to war against racism and classism. Though he will be compared to Eldridge Cleaver and Malcolm X, the world Peery describes is a different one - that of Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright.

Like Wright, Peery was eventually drawn to communism, but one of his own invention: a worldwide revolution of people of color - which in the heady days of 1945 Peery thought would be the way of the future.

Whether he's raising hell in Minnesota, fighting racism in Louisiana, or being seditious in the Philippines, Peery's adventures, coupled with his wry, saucy wit, make you laugh, even as you empathize with his rage. Heartwrenching and inspiring, Black Fire is the rare memoir with the power to change our understanding of the past.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
340

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Black Fire
Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary
October 1995, New Press
Paperback in English
Cover of: Black Fire
Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary
1995, New Press, The
Paperback
Cover of: Black fire
Black fire: the making of an American revolutionary
1994, New Press, Distributed by W.W. Norton
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
New York
Genre
Biography.

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
973/.0496073/0092, B
Library of Congress
E185.97.P44 A3 1994, E185.97.P44A3 1994

The Physical Object

Pagination
xi, 340 p. ;
Number of pages
340

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1434957M
Internet Archive
blackfiremakingo00peer
ISBN 10
1565841581, 156584159X
LCCN
93046901
OCLC/WorldCat
29565331
Library Thing
830105
Goodreads
1770436
216673

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History

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July 25, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
February 25, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
July 31, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
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December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page