bell hooks: The Last Interview

Wide-ranging and insightful, this makes for a solid primer on hooks's ideas. I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance. Bell hooks was a prolific, trailblazing author, feminist, social activist, cultural critic, and professor. Born Gloria Jean Watkins, she used her pen name to center attention on her ideas and to honor her courageous great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. Hooks's unflinching dedication to her work carved deep grooves for the feminist and anti-racist movements. In this collection of seven interviews, stretching from early in her career until her last interview, she discusses feminism, the complexity of rap music and masculinity, her relationship to Buddhism, the "politic of domination," sexuality, love, and the importance of communication across cultural borders. Whether she was sparking controversy on campuses or facing criticism from contemporaries, hooks relentlessly challenged herself and those around her, inserted herself into the tensions of the cultural moment, and anchored herself with love.