The New Definitive Biography of Martin Luther King Jr.: NYT
“Supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable . . . The first comprehensive biography of King in three decades . ....
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NEWS & REVIEWS
- May 14
A Rave Review in The Washington Post
"King: A Life might be described as a deeply reported psychobiography . . . infused with the narrative energy of a thriller . . . Eig...
- May 14
The Economist Calls King: A Life "Magnificent"
"Jonathan Eig’s magnificent new biography is an overdue attempt to grapple with King in all his complexity. His book will inevitably draw...
- Apr 27
The Real MLK
David Garrow writes in The Spectator that King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig, will succeed Garrow's own Bearing the Cross as the standard...
- Apr 27
Belafonte and MLK
A phone call from MLK to Harry Belafonte changed both men's lives, as I wrote in The New York Times. Read the full story here.
- Apr 12
LBJ Was No Friend of MLK
In The New York Times, Jeanne Theoharis and I wrote about the mistake many of us making in letting LBJ, the media and the general public...
- Apr 8
A Work in Progress: Why I Wrote MLK
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg asked me to explain why I decided to write a book about MLK. I said I was trying to learn from...
- Apr 8
My Review of "The Kneeling Man"
I reviewed Leta McCollough Seletzky's fascinating book about her father's role as a police informant during the civil rights movement....
- Mar 21
"Landmark Biography...Monumental": New York Times
Writing in The New York Times, J. Howard Rosier calls Jonathan Eig's King: A Life with "plenty of new detail" that allows King to "emerge...
- Mar 3
Library Journal Starred Review
"A must for readers interested in moving beyond clichéd catchphrases to see a more complete and complex King..." Read the full review here.
- Feb 28
Famous Writing Routines
When the good folks at Famous Writing Routines asked me to describe my process (and show them my office), I couldn't say no. Read my Q&A...
- Feb 22
A Rave Booklist Review
Eig (Ali, 2017) has a dream that Americans will remember more about our most famous civil rights icon than one, partially improvised...
- Feb 21
A Portrait Fit for King
Lillian Young created a portait of Dr. King using only the words of my favorite King speech, "A Time to Break Silence." In this...
- Feb 16
Kirkus calls King book "Monumental"
Here's the Kirkus review of King: Definitive life of the champion of civil rights. Having placed Muhammad Ali in the canon of civil...
- Feb 15
Starred Review for King: A Life
"[A] sweeping biography. Eig gives a rousing recap of King’s triumphs as a civil rights leader . . . [A] complex, nuanced portrait . . ....
- Feb 13
When Martin Met Coretta
He picked her up for their first date in his green Chevy. She wore a light-blue suit under a long black coat. It was a rainy day in...
- Feb 2
BEST OF CHICAGO
Thank you, Mary Wisniewski and NEW CITY, for the kind write-up ... Just when you think Jonathan Eig can't possibly top his last...
- Jan 15
On MLK Day, don’t shortchange the message
"With civil rights and its history in peril, the upcoming biography, 'King: A Life,' is a groundbreaking book by Chicagoan Jonathan Eig."...
- Jan 4
2023 preview: Most anticipated nonfiction
"KING: A Life" was just included in BookPage's 2023 preview: Most anticipated nonfiction. "Among these 33 nonfiction books we can’t wait...
- Dec 6, 2022
Like Night and Day: The Sounds of Tom Harrell
Here's a piece I wrote for Esquire in 1988. Still one of my favorites.
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