A marvellous documentary of black America and life lived in the raw * * Spectator * *
Engaging and immensely human . . . Much like his poetry, Scott-Heron's style is spare and effective, offering up jagged observations on fame, friendship and political and racial injustice * * Independent on Sunday * *
This memoir reads a bit like Langston Hughes filtered through the scratchy and electrified sensibilities of John Lee Hooker, Dick Gregory and Spike Lee . . . about his own music, he could not be more simple or elegant. I was trying to get people who listened to me, he writes, to realise that they were not alone. -- Dwight Garner * * New York Times * *
One of the great pioneers of late-twentieth-century music. * * Independent * *
Scott-Heron is such a fine writer . . . As readers and fans alike, we are left to mourn the passing of surely, the least likely pop star ever, one with a truly brilliant mind. -- Rob Fitzpatrick * * Sunday Times * *
A delight, full of with and alliteration and studded with passages of verse . . . it is a heartbreaking read as the last testament of a much-loved man, but it should certainly be read. * * Herald * *
Gil Scott-Heron is timeless. * * New York Times * *
An impressively lucid book . . . both candid and guarded . . . his final admissions are heart-rending. * * Metro * *
For more than two decades, [Gil Scott-Heron] has been committed to examining those facts of the human condition that most of us would rather forget . . . he is an artist who has crafted witty but crucial insights for Black America. * * Washington Post * *
The formative incidents of Scott-Heron's life are placed in their cultural and historical contexts with great delicacy and precision. -- Ben Thompson * * Sunday Telegraph * *
