Adam Shatz is the US editor of the London Review of Books and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and other publications. He is the author of Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical Imagination and the host of the podcast Myself with Others. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
"[A] nimble and engrossing new book . . . As Shatz shows in this
exemplary work of public intellectualism, in which he does not
sugarcoat or simplify, [Fanon] was every bit as much a victim of
empire as the patients he worked to heal."--Becca Rothfeld, The
Washington Post "Absorbing . . . Shatz [. . .] is a mostly steady
hand in turbulent waters. His chosen title highlights a side of
Fanon that often gets eclipsed by the larger-than-life image of the
zealous partisan -- that of the caring doctor . . . What gives The
Rebel's Clinic its intellectual heft is Shatz's willingness to
write into such tensions." --Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
Book Review "Undoubtedly the best [biography of Fanon] . . . With
The Rebel's Clinic, Shatz for the first time puts psychiatry in its
rightful place in Fanon's life and thought--at the center . . . A
remarkable achievement." --Robert J. C. Young, Los Angeles Review
of Books "Aware on every page of the press of claimants on Fanon's
legacy as the years go by--absorbing and resisting the various
readers, trying to reconcile them, admitting the strangeness and
multifariousness of the figure they leave behind . . . I came away
from The Rebel's Clinic admiring its treatment of all these aspects
of the man." --T.J. Clark, London Review of Books
"Adam Shatz goes beyond crass simplifications of both Fanon and his
legacy and gives us back the man in full: political radical,
expansive humanist, philosophical existentialist, practising
psychiatrist, freedom fighter, father, husband, son. Fanon did more
with his 36 years than most of us could manage in three lifetimes.
An extraordinary book about an extraordinary man." --Zadie Smith,
author of The Fraud
"The Rebel's Clinic is unsparing in its exposure of Fanon's
illusions; his illuminations are more difficult to define. The
achievement of Shatz's book is to show how mistaken Fanon was about
decolonization--profoundly and damagingly mistaken, at times--while
also making the case for him as a crucial thinker for the present .
. . Rather than conceiving of Fanon's oeuvre as a series of
memorable declarations and uncompromising (at times admirable)
stances, Shatz highlights the provisional nature of Fanon's
writings, the space they make for a multitude of styles, modes of
address, and political positions that aren't easily reconciled."
--Robyn Creswell, Raritan
"Excellent and thought-provoking . . . All too timely . . . The
Rebel's Clinic should be read by anyone who wants a deeper
understanding of the intellectual origins of today's 'decolonial
left, ' whether they sympathize with it or not." --Adam Kirsch, Air
Mail "Shatz [is] a writer and editor with a rare gift for taking
tricky, often controversial figures and doing them justice. Shatz
scrupulously explains what Fanon thought, why he thought it, and
why he matters." --John Powers, NPR "[The Rebel's Clinic] is not
only a superb addition to a large and largely hagiographic
literature; it is also a contribution to one of the greater
theoretical challenges we face today: Is it possible to create a
genuinely universalist political ethic that avoids the pitfalls of
earlier ones? . . . Without clichés, strained metaphors, or false
starts, Shatz's flowing prose makes the radicality of Fanon's
claims look like common sense . . . [A] superb biography." --Susan
Neiman, The New York Review of Books "A terrific new biography of
Fanon." --Lydia Polgreen, The New York Times "A strength of The
Rebel's Clinic is the meticulous charting of the schools and
figures that influenced Fanon's thought . . . Engrossing . . .
[This book] deserves to be the first stop for anyone looking for an
introduction to Fanon's life and work." --Erik Linstrum, The New
Republic "The Rebel's Clinic could not be more timely . . . Shatz's
book [is] a remarkable work of intellectual synthesis: a
comprehensive, readable introduction to Fanon's writings that
places his incredible life against the political and cultural
debates that informed it . . . [The book] glitters with wonderful
details." --Ken Chen, The Nation "A masterful new biography." --Edo
Konrad, The Guardian "Perhaps the most intellectually rich
[biography of Fanon]. Shatz, one of the great essayists of our
time, presents an imperfect and brilliant figure--one that
complicates the predominant myth of Fanon as a one-dimensional
apologist for violence . . . Shatz breathes life into Fanon, urging
us to think alongside him to make sense of our current world."
--Arvin Alaigh, Dissent "An author needs to comprehend a staggering
number of things to write a biography of Frantz Fanon . . . It is
Adam Shatz's understanding of all these things as well as of Fanon
as an individual that makes his book such a superb example of
historical biography." --Daniel Geary, The Irish Times "The Rebel's
Clinic is an impressive accomplishment . . . [Shatz] is one of the
finest political essayists working today. His best pieces have a
deftly allusive style, revealing a wide-ranging intelligence that
Fanon would have admired . . . His wide-lens approach allows for a
much deeper understanding of the contexts within which Fanon
operated in the various phases of his life." --Anthony
Alessandrini, Los Angeles Review of Books "Vividly written . . .
Unabashedly erudite." --Michela Wrong, The Spectator "[Shatz] is an
expert guide through the thicket of Fanon-lore that has emerged
since his death in 1961, and his book offers a compelling account
of Fanon's transformation from a medical student into a global icon
of anti-colonial revolution." --Kevin Ochieng Okoth, Foreign Policy
"Shatz's book distinguishes itself by connecting Fanon's thought to
the livewire debates facing us in 2024 . . . The themes of
self-determination and dignity [Fanon] addressed in his work will
be even more pressing for a rising generation of activists and
thinkers . . . They will do well to read Shatz's satisfying
biography."--Tomiwa Owolade, The New Statesman "[A] deft and
engrossing biography . . . The Rebel's Clinic is adept at examining
what Fanon proposed in [place of colonial psychiatry] and, thus, an
invaluable record of how his thinking and practice evolved."
--Christopher Lane, Psychology Today "A sensitive and affectionate
biography."--Tunku Varadarajan, The Wall Street Journal "[An]
insightful biography . . . Shatz is a sober and informed guide [to
Fanon]. He is an erudite writer, [and] his frequent detours into
the intellectual currents that surrounded Fanon--from
existentialism and the francophone black consciousness movement
Négritude to Algerians' varying attitudes to FLN tactics--are
useful." --Daniel Trilling, Financial Times "Engrossing . . . Like
all great biographies, The Rebel's Clinic reveals the person behind
the legendary persona . . . Elegantly written, sweeping and scope,
and perceptive in its analyses." --Vaughn Rasberry, The Chronicle
of Higher Education "[A] timely and engaging new book . . . Shatz
restores a sense of wholeness to Fanon's life and work." --Sam
Klug, Boston Review "Shatz makes a powerful case for a more complex
reading [of Fanon] . . . Shatz writes convincingly and movingly of
Fanon's enduring commitment to his clinical work and his patients .
. . Shatz demonstrates deep historical knowledge [. . .] and
produces some new insights." --Megan Vaughan, The Literary Review
"Shatz has produced a brilliant interpretative analysis of Fanon
the man and his ideas, a richly engaged understanding of Fanon's
ideological metamorphosis from Negritude to Third Worldism to
revolutionary socialism." --John P. Entelis, Journal of North
African Studies "A sober and thorough new biography of Fanon . . .
One gift of The Rebel's Clinic is that it amplifies the radical
nature of Fanon's work within the hospital setting."--Sasha
Frere-Jones, 4Columns "[A] perceptive biography . . . Elucidating
the ideas and figures that animated Fanon's thinking, [. . .] the
nuanced narrative skillfully illuminates how the disparate threads
of Fanon's life fit together . . . Shatz also provides discerning
commentary on Fanon's two masterworks . . . A striking appraisal of
a towering thinker."--Publishers Weekly "[A] thoroughly researched
biography . . . The Rebel's Clinic is a deep meditation on the
transformative power and influence of one radical philosophical
writer on the continuing fight for justice on many
fronts."--Booklist (starred review) "The Rebel's Clinic is a
diligent, scrupulous, serious book. Adam Shatz keeps Fanon alive as
one of us--a human being--not simply the larger-than-life subject
of an academic study. This book offers a careful reconstruction of
Fanon's times, especially the war in Algeria, and resonates at a
moment when we are tragically no closer to solving the problems
Fanon dedicated his life and writing to understanding."--John Edgar
Wideman, author of Fanon and Look for Me and I'll Be Gone "Frantz
Fanon has found his Isaac Deutscher in Adam Shatz. Politically and
psychologically suave, The Rebel's Clinic is as illuminating on the
tragic pattern of Fanon's private life as on the tumultuous
continents through which he moved. It is also continuously
insightful about Fanon's tormentingly complicated intellectual
bequest on the crucial subjects of race and empire."--Pankaj
Mishra, author of Run and Hide and From the Ruins of Empire "Adam
Shatz offers a richly detailed account of the life and thought of
Frantz Fanon. It is at once an intimate and unsparing portrait of
the complexities of Fanon's life as psychiatrist and militant
political activist, and a vivid depiction of the anti-colonial
struggles in which he engaged. We get a close look at internal
conflicts among revolutionaries, as Fanon makes his way from
Martinique to Algeria to sub-Saharan Africa. Shatz's masterful
command of the history of that moment of promise in the early 1960s
is compelling, indeed gripping reading. This is a book that gives
deep insight not only into the life and times of Fanon, but also
into the ways in which the history he lived was made."--Joan W.
Scott, professor emerita at the Institute for Advanced Study "The
Rebel's Clinic is a triumph, a sweeping work of intellectual
history that is also an intimate biography of a remarkable thinker
and historical figure. It is beautifully written, deftly
constructed, rigorous and illuminating. This is a book that will
last and be read for many years."--Eyal Press, author of Dirty Work
"The Rebel's Clinic is a fabulous book. Frantz Fanon's life as
portrayed by Adam Shatz is a breathtaking love and jealousy ridden
encounter with philosophy, politics, and literature, taking place
in the last days of European empires."--Ivan Krastev, author of Is
It Tomorrow Yet? and co-author of The Light that Failed "Adam Shatz
has captured Fanon's evolution as a thinker by linking this proud,
fastidious man's interiority to a complex network of contexts:
family, war, art, psychiatry, existentialism, black America,
left-wing Catholicism and, most of all, African poetics. The result
is the most subtle, comprehensive and lucid study yet to appear in
English.Shatz has the gift of explanation without
simplification."--Declan Kiberd, author of Inventing Ireland "More
than a biography, Adam Shatz's The Rebel's Clinic is a rich and
textured portrait of the intellectual and political worlds that
shaped Frantz Fanon's life, ideas, and legacies. Readers who know
Fanon's work intimately as well as those just discovering this
iconic figure of Third World revolution will learn from this
book."--Adom Getachew, author of Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise
and Fall of Self-Determination "Adam Shatz sweeps us up in Frantz
Fanon's life-as-road movie, with a cast of characters and an array
of settings that come alive on the page, from Sartre and Beauvoir
in Copacabana to Patrice Lumumba in the suburbs of Léopoldville. At
the same time, with his unequaled mastery of geopolitics and
world-spanning ideas, he has given us an intellectual history of a
century of revolutionary aspirations. The Rebel's Clinic is a what
is to be done for our times."--Alice Kaplan, author of The
Collaborator and Looking for The Stranger "The Rebel's Clinic is a
fascinating and enlightening read, one that will speak to many and
that will help correct misconceptions about Fanon. This book not
only provides a full picture of its subject; it also inspires the
reader to apply Fanon's insights to situations that transcend his
life and times. Adam Shatz has written an important book that
speaks to our troubled and confusing moment."--Raja Shehadeh,
Orwell Prize-winning author of We Could Have Been Friends, My
Father and I
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