November 12, 2015
Robert J. Norrell on Alex Haley and the Roots of Autobiographical Storytelling in African American Culture
Professor Robert J. Norrell has held the Bernadotte Schmitt Chair of Excellence since 1998. He writes mainly about American race relations, including his most recent biography, ALEX HALEY: And the Books That Changed the Nation, which focuses on the rise to national celebrity and great literary influence of Haley. In this piece written exclusively for Bookreporter.com, Professor Norrell discusses the roots of autobiographical storytelling in African American culture --- it was one of the very first genres embraced --- and the earlier works that he believes had the greatest impact on Haley’s writing and his struggle to tell his own story.
While plenty of books are wholly original, no one can claim that literature is immune to trends. TWILIGHT set off an entire slew of vampire titles, and dystopians flooded the young adult market for years. In 2015, books featuring protagonists with mental health issues have dominated the YA scene.
In this blog series, Teen Board member Alison S. takes a look at another trend that continues to stay strong in adult and YA literature alike --- fairy tale adaptations. Her first post discussed Gregory Maguire’s CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER. Her second post, below, covers Janette Rallison's MY FAIR GODMOTHER.
