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A Lonely Rage: The Autobiography of Bobby Seale
Book by Seale, Bobby
238 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Bobby Seale
22 books78 followersRobert George Seale is an American political activist. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 4, 2019
I liked the honesty this brother brought to the page. Without a hint of haughtiness. The romantic interludes were a surprise, perhaps those scenes could be categorized as self-congratulatory, but hard to say. They help flesh out the man he was and definitely the fast and loose times he lived.
I was a Black Panthers cheerleader from afar, just a bred-in-the-bone hellbent adolescent revolutionary, I guess. Growing up in 1970s Skokie, a Chicago suburb, but exposed to the inner city inequities through my father’s discount store, the Panthers were superheroes in the flesh.
Standing up to the corrupt racist “pigs!” Wow. Reading Bobby Seale’s raw recollections of these now-distant confrontations really pulled me into the mind-blowing struggle for self-respect and social justice he and others dedicated their lives to. I was moved by this telling.
One disappointment is the ending. Like many a great book or film, the final scene hits a narrative snag that leaves me hanging. I just don’t understand how he impromptu decides to leave Oakland, persuades his “wife” to go along for the ride—one-way plane tickets in hand—but drops the kids off at his mom’s on their way to the airport. The author owed his readers a bit more deft breakdown on the situation. I’m left thinking, “What a dick,” when I’ve cheered on his exploits the previous 230 or so pages.
I don’t know, maybe he ended the book this way to string readers along for the follow up memoir? If so, then all’s forgiven.
Minus this minor denouement faux pas, I raise two clenched fists and one hell-raising “Power to the People” motherfuckers!
I was a Black Panthers cheerleader from afar, just a bred-in-the-bone hellbent adolescent revolutionary, I guess. Growing up in 1970s Skokie, a Chicago suburb, but exposed to the inner city inequities through my father’s discount store, the Panthers were superheroes in the flesh.
Standing up to the corrupt racist “pigs!” Wow. Reading Bobby Seale’s raw recollections of these now-distant confrontations really pulled me into the mind-blowing struggle for self-respect and social justice he and others dedicated their lives to. I was moved by this telling.
One disappointment is the ending. Like many a great book or film, the final scene hits a narrative snag that leaves me hanging. I just don’t understand how he impromptu decides to leave Oakland, persuades his “wife” to go along for the ride—one-way plane tickets in hand—but drops the kids off at his mom’s on their way to the airport. The author owed his readers a bit more deft breakdown on the situation. I’m left thinking, “What a dick,” when I’ve cheered on his exploits the previous 230 or so pages.
I don’t know, maybe he ended the book this way to string readers along for the follow up memoir? If so, then all’s forgiven.
Minus this minor denouement faux pas, I raise two clenched fists and one hell-raising “Power to the People” motherfuckers!
March 15, 2024
Read this years ago but the character in Bolano's 2666 clearly inspired by Bobby Seale reminded me of it.
At the time I was disappointed it wasn't as politically insightful as I'd hoped but in retrospect I appreciate how much of this book is dedicated to letting everyone know that Bobby Seale loved to fuck.
At the time I was disappointed it wasn't as politically insightful as I'd hoped but in retrospect I appreciate how much of this book is dedicated to letting everyone know that Bobby Seale loved to fuck.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews