Review
One of the great pioneers of late-twentieth-century music. --Independent
For more than two decades, [Gil Scott-Heron] has been committed to examining those facts of the human condition that most of us would rather forget . . . he is an artist who has crafted witty but crucial insights for Black America. --Washington Post
The formative incidents of Scott-Heron's life are placed in their cultural and historical contexts with great delicacy and precision. --Ben Thompson, Sunday Telegraph
This memoir reads a bit like Langston Hughes filtered through the scratchy and electrified sensibilities of John Lee Hooker, Dick Gregory and Spike Lee . . . about his own music, he could not be more simple or elegant. "I was trying to get people who listened to me," he writes, "to realise that they were not alone." --Dwight Garner, New York Times
Scott-Heron is such a fine writer . . . As readers and fans alike, we are left to mourn the passing of surely, the least likely pop star ever, one with a truly brilliant mind. --Rob Fitzpatrick, Sunday Times
Engaging and immensely human . . . Much like his poetry, Scott-Heron's style is spare and effective, offering up jagged observations on fame, friendship and political and racial injustice. --Fiona Sturges, Independent on Sunday
An impressively lucid book . . . both candid and guarded . . . his final admissions are heart-rending. --Metro
A delight, full of with and alliteration and studded with passages of verse . . . it is a heartbreaking read as the last testament of a much-loved man, but it should certainly be read. --Herald
Scott-Heron's memoir comes beautifully to life when talking about other musicians. --Telegraph Review
For more than two decades, [Gil Scott-Heron] has been committed to examining those facts of the human condition that most of us would rather forget . . . he is an artist who has crafted witty but crucial insights for Black America. --Washington Post
The formative incidents of Scott-Heron's life are placed in their cultural and historical contexts with great delicacy and precision. --Ben Thompson, Sunday Telegraph
This memoir reads a bit like Langston Hughes filtered through the scratchy and electrified sensibilities of John Lee Hooker, Dick Gregory and Spike Lee . . . about his own music, he could not be more simple or elegant. "I was trying to get people who listened to me," he writes, "to realise that they were not alone." --Dwight Garner, New York Times
Scott-Heron is such a fine writer . . . As readers and fans alike, we are left to mourn the passing of surely, the least likely pop star ever, one with a truly brilliant mind. --Rob Fitzpatrick, Sunday Times
Engaging and immensely human . . . Much like his poetry, Scott-Heron's style is spare and effective, offering up jagged observations on fame, friendship and political and racial injustice. --Fiona Sturges, Independent on Sunday
An impressively lucid book . . . both candid and guarded . . . his final admissions are heart-rending. --Metro
A delight, full of with and alliteration and studded with passages of verse . . . it is a heartbreaking read as the last testament of a much-loved man, but it should certainly be read. --Herald
Scott-Heron's memoir comes beautifully to life when talking about other musicians. --Telegraph Review
Product Description
'Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream. And Stevie Wonder had a dream. This is a book about dreams.' In the autumn of 1980, Stevie Wonder invited Gil Scott-Heron to join him on a forty-one-city tour across America, ending in Washington in January 1981, to gather popular support for the creation of a holiday in honour of the great civil-rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. Scott-Heron uses this history-making tour as the backbone of his fascinating memoir. Raised by his grandmother in Jackson, Tennessee, Scott-Heron's journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most uncompromising and influential musicians and songwriters of his generation is a remarkable one. Politically savvy and savagely satirical, socially conscious and tender-hearted, Gil Scott-Heron has been called the godfather of rap, and his unexpected death in May 2011 marked the loss of one of the world's most vocal and articulate artists. Chuck D of Public Enemy said of Scott-Heron, 'we do what we do and who we do because of you' and Eminem added, 'Scott-Heron influenced all of hip-hop'. In the words of Sarah Silverman, 'he mirrored ugliness with beauty, audacity, and valour'. A compelling testament to Gil Scott-Heron's career and achievements, The Last Holiday is full of Scott-Heron's keen insights into the music industry, the civil rights movement, modern America, governmental hypocrisy and our wider place in the world.
About the Author
In a musical career spanning five decades, from Small Talk at 125th and Lenox to I'm New Here, Gil Scott-Heron (1949 - 2011) released twenty albums and many seminal singles including 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised', 'Home Is Where the Hatred Is', 'Winter in America', 'B Movie', 'JohanA--nesburg' and 'Lady Day and John Coltrane'. He was also the author of three previous books; two novels, The Vulture and The Nigger Factory and Now and Then: The Poems of Gil Scott-Heron.
