King: A Life
Jonathan Eig
The first full biography in decades, King mixes revelatory and exhaustive new research with brisk and accessible storytelling to forge the definitive life for our times. Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. ―and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. more
688 pages, Hardcover
First published Farrar, Straus and Giroux
4.69
Rating
4673
Ratings
857
Reviews
Jonathan Eig
17 books 449 followers
Jonathan Eig is the author of six books, four of them New York Times best sellers, as well as four books for children. He is a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal. His works have been translated into more than a dozen languages.His most recent book is "King: A Life." His previous book, Ali: A Life," was the winner of the PEN Award and hailed as an "epic" by Joyce Carol Oates in her New York Times review.
His other books are: "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig;" "Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season;" "Get Capone;" and "The Birth of the Pill."
Jonathan served as consulting producer on the Ken Burns PBS documentary on Muhammad Ali.
Community reviews
In a nutshell wow. Let me get to wow. A few years ago I read Jonathan Eig’s Opening Day as my annual Jackie Robinson read. I read about Jackie Robinson every year and know his story well, but this book read like a story, a compelling story at that. I crossed checked with other nonfiction readers who I respect and they all noted that the books of Eig’s that they have read have all been top of the line. more
Jonathan Eig has earned himself a lifelong reader. This bio of MLK is unputdownable. Seriously, it is ridiculously good. Extensively sourced and beautifully written, Eig's work presents a flawed, good man doing the best he could to fight for the oppressed while loving his friends and enemies. Sadly, Dr. more
Audiobook ……read by Dion Graham …. 20 hours and 45 minutes We’ve heard “I Have A Dream” speech so many times we don’t even hear it anymore”. Many people took MLK’snonviolent approach as passivity…. but…. forget that - Martin Luther King Jr. more
Over the years, I have read several books on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , his life & the movement. Of all those books, this is by far the best book on Dr. King. more
"[Martin Luther] King mixed poetry, prayer, and patriotism. For another speaker, the result might have been ponderous, but King used these religious and poetic forces to inspire all of America to seize this moment of opportunity; to bring peace, love, and equality to those who had so long been denied; and to fulfill, at last, the promise of the American dream . . . the crowd roared and sang out in praise. more
Excellent book, well researched. You will learn something new about King even if you have read other books previously about his life. more
Revised and cross-published on The AvocadoJonathan Eig's King: A Life is the latest biography of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Eig, previously a biographer of Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson, notes that "King's life and lessons are often smoothed and polished beyond recognition," creating a saintly image that people of all political persuasions - radical organizers, milquetoast liberals, even mendacious conservatives - have tried claiming as their own. None of this actually grapples with King's beliefs, which balanced progressive theology, traditional Black Baptist oratory, social democratic reformist ideas and unwavering Christian faith. Nor does it account for King's deep unpopularity in his lifetime, with conservatives smearing him as a communist, liberals fretting that his tactics incited violence and Black radicals who felt he had "one foot in the cotton field and another in the White House. " Eig seeks to reintroduce us to King the Man, a flawed individual riven by inner conflict and self-doubt, but also an extraordinary leader, organizer and spokesman for his cause. more
King is a thorough and detailed profile of Martin Luther King Jr. Jonathan Eig’s level of research is truly impressive and I learned a lot about MLK from this biography that I didn’t know before. I listened to most of King on audio — Once again, Dion Graham did an excellent job, highlighting why he is one of my favorite narrators. From the epilogue of King, Eig shares the following in closing and I’ve been thinking about this since I finished the book earlier this week. It’s especially worth thought and consideration today, a day dedicated to honoring MLK: “Our simplified celebration of King comes at a cost. more
Endowed with the twin gifts of the ability to craft his subject's life into readable prose and caring deeply about the subject and his story, Jonathan Eig is a quintessential biographer. His treatment of Muhammad Ali was comprehensive and memorable. With King and Ali, Eig has recently gravitated toward larger-than-life subjects, so the fruits of his labor have tended to resemble the doorstop, but the readability and flow of this prose will have the reader finishing these works sooner than he is ready to let go of the subject. In King's case, Eig's book is so long because of the staggering amount of research the author performed. About a quarter of the book's length consists of notes and acknowledgments. more
It took me a long time to read King: A Life…about three weeks, which is much longer than it probably should have taken. It wasn’t that the book was boring. Far from it. In fact, Jonathan Eig’s new biography is much more interesting and exciting than most in the genre. It took me so long because I had to put it down after every chapter or two to absorb what I had read and think about things. more
Very thoroughly researched and carefully compiled biography. I learned so much about the civil rights movement, and I appreciated the education. I also really appreciated that the author interviewed so many living people to compile the narrative. All that being said, for some reason, Martin Luther King didn't completely come to life for me until the very final chapters. Excellent from a historical and educational perspective. more
This was a solid read. Eig did a much better job than other King biographers with good pacing and no deviations from a clear linear timeline. King's origin story was also well done and a full quarter of the biography was spent on his childhood. There were not as many contemporary quotes or touching moments though as I would expect from an otherwise top notch biography. 4 stars. more
Warning, this review gets a little preachy, which is kind of fitting. But if that's not your thing I get it. I didn't intend this review to go that way but fuck it here we are. TLDR: It's a great book, you should read it. The life of Dr. more
I've read several biographies on King, but I think this one is my favorite. I say that in part because I come from a school of thought wherein any history that is less than 50 years after the event cannot be accurately told. Those who write the history of modern events were either old enough to affected directly or know people who were affected directly by the events. It takes 50 years or so for the emotions and biases surrounding an event to melt away to obtain an accurate presentation of the event. MLK's story is further complicated by the involvement of the US Government which buried key evidence for 50+ years. more
Of all the books I've read about MLK, this was the one from which I took away the most. . . accessible, background given when I needed and expected it, not pushing in interrupting narrative storylines. Well-organized, well-researched and even-handed in its reporting. more
We need new studies on transcendent leaders so that we will never forget how their lives shaped history and how their legacies continue to impact our world with optimism for an improved tomorrow. Jonathan Eig’s unputdownable new biography of Martin Luther King Jr is the first full-length work to appear in decades about one of America’s most revered figures, and it is a commendable addition to the vast literature on MLK. As I consumed Eig’s rapidly paced narrative, I appreciated how he avoided the easy temptation to glorify King as Christlike. Instead, he focuses on King’s lifelong commitment to the Christian ethics of love and compassion and of finding purpose and redemption through acts of undeserved suffering for the cause of helping others, which for King constituted the divine test for humans of fulfilling God’s expectations of us. King’s mission to secure justice and equality for all Americans is inspiring, of course, but what can be disturbing is remembering how King’s efforts met perilous resistance from hatemakers, such as the Klan, but also from disgraceful elected officials at every level of government. more
Remarkable. Just read it. The story of my generation. One trivial and pedantic note: "reverend"is not a title. It's an adjective. more
Disappointing, but not a total bust. Eig synthesizes the well-known story of King's life with new material, most importantly from unpublished memoirs by King's wife and father, and information from FBI files. If you've been following the story, there's not much new--the FBI material including the specifics about King's sexual life--are presented in Beverly Gage's biography of J. Edgar Hoover, for example. The most problematic aspect of the book, though, is the thin sense of the nuances of African American history and a failure to make use of some of the best recent scholarship in the field. more
This book was fantastic. The author used an abundance of research (interviews, memoirs, FBI files, etc) to tell a very complete story of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. I only knew the basics of his life that they (barely) teach you in school. Learned so much about his life, his goals, his struggles and even his flaws. It's a big book but it wasn't a chore to read at all. more
MLK’s entire career lasted only 13 years. “Jim Crow laws prohibited Black and white people from playing checkers, dominos, and card games together in their own homes. ” “Black people could shop in department stores, but they couldn’t try on clothes. ” When Blacks wanted to be free of Jim Crow, the FBI seriously attributed it only to influence of the Communist Party. MLK learned of both civil disobedience and the theory of non-violent resistance through Thoreau’s writings. more
This book helped me realize how radical Martin Luther King Jr. was, and the radicalism he would inspire. . more
I've been listening to this for months (it's big. ), and was determined to wrap it up by MLKs 95th birthday. And so I did. ❤️𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗔 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗕𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗶𝗴 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗺I've read several books on King, and King: A Life is the most comprehensive and nuanced of them all, including new research, tapes, letters, and declassified FBI files. I especially appreciate that Eig doesn't shy away from allowing readers to see King as the wonderfully imperfect human he was, instead of the irreproachable Civil Rights mascot he's often portrayed as. more
Excellent read about the life of MLK. The book tracks the rise of the The Civil Rights movement, which I found to be very informative. We also learn about the other key players in this movement, such as Malcom X and Stokely Carmichael. It's amazing to me how many of the same issues around race then still exist today, particularly with the rise of white nationalism in America. I highly recommend this book. more
Well researched and very informative. Jonathan gives great insight separating the Man King and the Visionary Dr. King. . more
I feel like the five stars here are as much for the man as the book. The author argues that by turning MLK into a saint we’ve forgotten that he was a man - which makes us overlook just how radical and amazing he was in his commitment to non-violence and love. Honestly, I knew it was coming but I felt like crying at the description of his assassination. The narrative motors along. The story is amazing, and the book is a great way to start a year if your ambition is to be both a better and braver human being. more
Whoa 🤯 This was a great read. It was full of information and newly released tape’s that were classified but now declassified. It told the whole story of Martin Luther King Jr. I read it for Black History Month, but just now finishing it. I wasn’t too late with finishing it and reviewing, but a little. more
Far too many biographies of significant figures either glorify or villanize their subjects. It's become common practice to either totally ignore the serious behavioral flaws of our "heroes" or to completely negate substantial contributions they have bestowed to us. Over the years this has been true for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King who was honored by many but despised by others. In spite of winning the Nobel Prize at 35, leading the Civil Rights Movement, and being honored posthumously with a national holiday bearing his name, he was an imperfect human being who struggled with depression, fear of failure, and sexual unfaithfulness throughout his short life. more
I first encountered Jonathan Eig when I received a copy of his book on Mohammed Ali. The author has the ability to not only capture the essence of these famous Black leaders, but to also capture the energy and language of the time they lived in. He brings Martin Luther King’s strong oratory style to life as well as the anger and desperation of the civil rights movement. more
Martin Luther King, Junior: the name carries enormous weight in American history. When I was a kid growing up in the Reagan-era South, it never occurred to me that there was ever a time that King would have been hated because I was brought up with a very watered-down version of his story, one that I fear is still being taught in schools today. We were told that he led a March on Washington and that he had a dream of racial unity. We didn't hear about how he was assaulted and arrested many times simply for demanding that Black people have a seat at the table, nor that he so drew the ire of the most dangerous and despicable man in American history that the forces of the nation's top law enforcement organization were directed against King in a personal vendetta spanning many years. Most importantly, we weren't told that he died violently at only the age of thirty-nine, well before he might have passed from natural causes, or that his legacy was far more radical than what our overwhelmingly white educators would have us believe. more