Eric J. Sundquist is UCLA Foundation Professor of Literature, UCLA. He is author or editor of twelve books on American literature and culture, including the award-winning volumes To Wake the Nations: Race in the Making of American Literature and Strangers in the Land: Blacks, Jews, Post-Holocaust America.
"The ['I Have a Dream'] speech and all that surrounds
it—background and consequences—are brought magnificently to life in
Eric Sundquist's new book, King's Dream. . . . In this book he
gives us drama and emotion, a powerful sense of history combined
with illuminating scholarship."—Anthony Lewis, New York Times Book
Review (Editor's Choice)
*New York Times Book Review*
“Writing in an unusually clear and cogent style, Sundquist analyzes
the rhetorical precedents and the starburst of rhetorical,
political, musical, and cultural associations related to ‘I Have a
Dream.’”—Keith Miller, author of Voice of Deliverance
*Keith Miller*
"Sundquist's careful, thoughtful study unearths new and fascinating
evidence of the rhetorical traditions in King's speech."—Drew D.
Hansen, author of The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the
Speech that Inspired a Nation
*Drew D. Hansen*
"Eric Sundquist brings vividly to life a watershed moment in
world history as he examines one of the most important
political speeches of all time."—Charles Johnson, author of Middle
Passage
*Charles Johnson*
"In King’s Dream, an engrossing meditation on the civil rights
movement, Eric Sundquist re-ignites our sense of the American
passion for justice and freedom, and brings vividly to life a
watershed moment in world history as he examines with care and
close reading one of the most important political speeches of all
time."—Charles Johnson, author of Middle Passage
*Charles Johnson*
"The author investigates the origin of King's powerful words and
places them in the context of JFK's political maneuverings, the
powerful new medium of television news and the complicated strategy
behind the simple march. Exhaustively researched, this book
delivers an exegesis of the speech and a captivating account of
King's motivations and turbulent times."—Publishers Weekly
*Publishers Weekly*
"The ['I Have a Dream'] speech and all that surrounds
it—background and consequences—are brought magnificently to life in
Eric Sundquist's new book, King's Dream. . . . Sundquist has
written about race and ethnicity in American culture. In this book
he gives us drama and emotion, a powerful sense of history combined
with illuminating scholarship."—Anthony Lewis, New York Times Book
Review (Editor's Choice)
*New York Times Book Review*
"Sundquist reestablishes King's speech within the larger cultural
dialog that it originally belonged to by examining sources such as
King's other speeches, the language of cultural debates about race
in America at the time that King spoke, and the original audience's
probable understanding of King's biblical, political, and
constitutional references. An academically strong, readable, and
fascinating book; highly recommended."—Library Journal (Starred
review)
*Library Journal*
"In highlighting the roots and ongoing struggle over the content
and use of the ['I Have a Dream'] speech, Eric J. Sundquist has
produced one of the best short books we have on the ideas of racial
equality from the early days of the American republic up to current
Supreme Court decisions."—George Bornstein, Times Literary
Supplement
*Times Literary Supplement*
"A fascinating new book. . . . King's Dream is a romp through
poetry and politics, music and movies, biblical law and laws of the
land. . . . Sundquist demonstrates brilliantly how King seamlessly
wove together his religious world with his political one. . . .
[He] brings his historical and literary brilliance to the study of
King, revealing the multiple meanings of the dream and the uses of
King's words."—Edward J. Blum, San Diego Union-Tribune
*San Diego Union-Tribune*
"King's Dream . . . is irresistibly topical. . . . Sundquist is
very good at showing how King's metaphors and allusions finesse a
perennial tension—between the pragmatic and the apocalyptic—within
African American political culture."—Roger Gathman, Austin
American-Statesman
*Austin American-Statesman*
"A fascinating new book. . . . [Sundquist] brings his historical
and literary brilliance to the study of King, revealing the
multiple meanings of the dream and the uses of King's
words."—Edward J. Blum, San Diego Union-Tribune
*San Diego Union-Tribune*
"Each chapter of Sundquist's intelligent and important book focuses
on one of several themes in the speech, unpacking the sources of
the words and placing them within a broader civil rights context.
His last chapter, 'Not by the Color of Their Skin,' is one of the
most incisive analyses of the affirmative action debate I have ever
read."—Clay Risen, Washington Post Book World
*Washington Post Book World*
"Eloquently, encyclopedically and exhaustively, Sundquist
catalogues networks of juxtaposition and conjunction in relation to
King's address. Classical allusions rub up against quotations from
movies, videos, comic books, TV shows and the Internet."—George
Elliott Clarke, Toronto Globe & Mail
*Toronto Globe and Mail*
"Sundquist weaves together history and rhetorical criticism to
offer a compelling account of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I have a
dream' speech. . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates
through faculty; general readers."—Choice
*Choice*
"Sundquist . . . brings King's famous speech—along with its
background and consequences—to life in this scholarly yet powerful
book."—Elsa Dixler, New York Times Book Review
*New York Times Book Review*
Chosen as one of the Best 100 Books of 2009 by the Toronto Globe &
Mail
*Toronto Globe and Mail*
“An insightful and incisive reading of what is probably the most
familiar speech ever made by an American. . . illuminating and
well-written.”—Robert Cook, Journal of American History
*Journal of American History*
"Sundquist's close reading of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a
Dream' speech reveals the essence of the Civil Rights movement in
America. . . . . Sundquist's book represents perhaps the most
detailed analysis of King's speech to date. It does an excellent
job of comparing and contrasting King's words with the thoughts of
other African American leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Malcolm
X. . . . Sundquist powerfully reminds his readers that one cannot
begin to comprehend the history of race relations in America
without fully understanding the 'I Have a Dream' speech."—Raymond
Frey, Magill's Literary Annual 2010
*Magill's Literary Annual 2010*
To this day, nobody knows what prompted Martin Luther King Jr. to depart from his prepared remarks during the August 28, 1963, March on Washington and deliver what is probably the most famous impromptu speech in American history. Was it the realization that the 40-year-old preacher from Atlanta hadn't yet connected with his audience? Was it the manifest destiny he felt as a child, that one day he would "have me some big words" like the preacher of his own church? Or was it the provocation of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who called to King to "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" According to Sundquist (To Wake the Nation), not even the master orator could put a finger on his extemporization. "I started out reading the speech," King recalled, then "all of a sudden this thing came out of me." The author investigates the origin of King's powerful words and places them in the context of JFK's political maneuverings, the powerful new medium of television news and the complicated strategy behind the simple march. Exhaustively researched, this book delivers an exegesis of the speech and a captivating account of King's motivations and turbulent times. (Jan.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
How can both those currently in favor of and those against affirmative action claim that Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous words about black and white children being judged "not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" support their causes? Sundquist (UCLA Foundation Professor of Literature, UCLA; To Wake the Nations: Race in the Making of American Literature) argues that our over-familiarity with the words of King's "I Have a Dream" speech actually prevents us from understanding it. Phrases from the speech are now so ubiquitous that they have appeared in Apple computer advertisements and on women's thongs. Sundquist reestablishes King's speech within the larger cultural dialog that it originally belonged to by examining sources such as King's other speeches, the language of cultural debates about race in America at the time that King spoke, and the original audience's probable understanding of King's biblical, political, and constitutional references. An academically strong, readable, and fascinating book; highly recommended.-April Younglove, Linfield Coll. Lib., Portland, OR Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
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