Rating: 
Summary: Too Wordy
Review: It was a nice book but it see the author was trying to impress the reader with his vocab!
Rating: 
Summary: Holler If You Hear Me Speaks Loud and Clear
Review: Michael Eric Dyson reveals in his latest book, "Holler If You Hear Me," that his own son, Michael II, once proclaimed, "Pop, if Tupac had had the chance to talk with you, he'd still be alive today." Having read Dyson's brilliant analysis of the most extraordinary poet to grace the modern music scene, I believe that Pac, indeed, would have found a healing salve for his wounds in the words and wisdom of America's unrivaled hip-hop intellectual. Dyson's tender probe of hip-hop's most shining knight takes us on a whirlwind search for Tupac Shakur. Eight chapters and an epilogue later, we learn that Pac was the one searching, searching for a Black man he could call father, searching for justice in America, searching for manhood and selfhood, and above all else, searching for love. An undeniable genius whose charismatic presence lit up the screen and stage, and whose searing social proclamations helped make rap a vehicle for change, Tupac's mercurial ascent has not yet plateaued, which makes Dyson's tome all the more important. Like other cultural icons he is compared with, Tupac's popularity transcends race and generation. Dyson's unparalleled defense of black youth, shines forth like a beacon in "Holler If You Hear Me," and caused me to understand that Pac is that brilliant young black man that each one of us has struggled to save from his own self-destruction. Dyson-the-journalist interviewed scores of people whose lives' Tupac touched and adroitly gets them to speak candidly about the paragon of virtue and violence that was Tupac Shakur. Those who knew the young man behind the handsome, dreamy visage, tell how this self-made intellectual chose death's door as his destiny. In his pulsatingly painful chapters exploring Tupac's relationship with his mother Afeni Shakur, Dyson allows us to understand for the first time how the patriarchal shortcomings of the Black Power movement failed the children of our revolutionaries. The carefully crafted chapter entitled "But Do the Lord Care?" had me in tears after learning how the brutality Tupac experienced in prison all but extinguished his flame. Hip hop has become one of the most important cultural genres ever created, and Michael Eric Dyson's compassionate look at it's most enduring icon is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the power of black youth.
Rating: 
Summary: Poet of the modern time.
Review: Nothing comes easier than talk about about what art needs: first of all, it is always arbitrary; second, it just provides theme for philosophizing, and furthermore relieves us of the obligation that not everybody is up to - gratitude for what it is. What a wonderful book this is. A book instantly animated by the breathing of all cultures. So far no one has spoken of Tupac as Dyson does. His words don't simply signify an object or a life, but freely choose and hover freely, like a soul around a body that has been abandoned but not forgotten. Dyson's penetrating gaze goes beyond the biography of Tupac Shakur, it defines the unity in the whirlpool of his life, proposes to us a doctrine of the systematization of phenomenon. The air of this book calls for a flight. Thank you Mr. Dyson.
Rating:
Summary: Strong Book
Review: only a Great Mind&Soul Like Michael Eric Dyson could Bring together another Powerful&Strong Book.The Genius of Mr.Dyson's Writing&Wording bring Home the Meaning&Vibe that 2Pac was saying in many of His Songs&Poems.Very Much on point.The Interviews were on Point as well.Mr.Dyson Writes like Nobody's Business to me.Very Well Read&Yet Full Of Understanding so that everybody can Relate.
Rating: 
Summary: title misleading
Review: The author offers some insight into cultural issues, but for the most part, this is a very disappointing book that doesn't bring you any closer to understanding Tupac or the choices he made. Both the intended audience and the style of this book are very confused as well - it offers too little insight to be a biography, but is too focused on one individual to be cultural criticism; it's too academic in some ways, and too much like a magazine article in others. I also echo previous viewers' issues with the author's vocabulary. It's often uncomfortable (like someone is trying too hard to impress you) or completely confounding, such as comparing Tupac's lyrics to 'the ethical poverty of romantic nationalism'. What in the world does that mean, and what does it have to do with Tupac Shakur?
Rating:
Summary: title misleading
Review: The author offers some insight into cultural issues, but for the most part, this is a very disappointing book that doesn't bring you any closer to understanding Tupac or the choices he made. Both the intended audience and the style of this book are very confused as well - it offers too little insight to be a biography, but is too focused on one individual to be cultural criticism; it's too academic in some ways, and too much like a magazine article in others. I also echo previous viewers' issues with the author's vocabulary. It's often uncomfortable (like someone is trying too hard to impress you) or completely confounding, such as comparing Tupac's lyrics to 'the ethical poverty of romantic nationalism'. What in the world does that mean, and what does it have to do with Tupac Shakur?
Rating:
Summary: Definition of Pac's Life
Review: The best of three books i have read about Pac, well writen.The writer went all to talk about the inside of Pac, the outside and different point of views. But i am a bit disappointed with the fact that the writer did not really ask people who were close to Pac, guys like Suge, Snoop,outlawz,Kidada and Mopreme.
Also the book shows who Dre is, a snitch, i mean he does not talk like people Jada who said everything bad and good, all he had for Pac is hate thats lt. He is jus a beef like man whith greedy mentallity, maybe because he doe not come close to Pac's lyrics.
Rating:
Summary: more than just a view at Tupac, a view at a whole culture
Review: This book offer more than just a look at this undeniably great Poet called Tupac, it also looks at the HipHop-culture describing why so many black people uses the "N-WORD" and goes all the way back to slavery to explain this, also the "B-Word" and others reasons in hiphop gets explained (which could be great if for example Right-Wing people like Bill O'Reilly would read this, becouse he is always attacking rappers on his show the factor)... It's a good book and Michael Eric Dyson is a good writer , u can actually picture Tray-Dee from The Eastsidaz sitting at the dinner-table crying in an interview he did about Tupac in the book. 4 Stars: Quality Stuff
Rating:
Summary: more than just a view at Tupac, a view at a whole culture
Review: This book offer more than just a look at this undeniably great Poet called Tupac, it also looks at the HipHop-culture describing why so many black people uses the "N-WORD" and goes all the way back to slavery to explain this, also the "B-Word" and others reasons in hiphop gets explained (which could be great if for example Right-Wing people like Bill O'Reilly would read this, becouse he is always attacking rappers on his show the factor)... It's a good book and Michael Eric Dyson is a good writer , u can actually picture Tray-Dee from The Eastsidaz sitting at the dinner-table crying in an interview he did about Tupac in the book. 4 Stars: Quality Stuff
Rating:
Summary: the voice we will miss
Review: This is an amazing weaving of the life of Tupac Shakur that many readers will find hard to put down. Though not a biographical work about Tupac, I could feel his life oozing from each page. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson's account of this "James Dean" tragic figure in black face, invites readers to look behind the social mask of hip-hop and touch the reality of being young, gifted and black in a world which often silences their voices. What we refused to hear from Tupac while alive, Dyson amplifies in "Holler If You Hear Me." I was surprised at Tupac's self-taught scholarship and intelligence. He was a rebel with a cause. Like most of Dyson's works, he objectively tells all sides of the stories. The time taken with the numerous interviewees in the book, proves that Dyson did not rush through this text and considered the voices of people who knew Tupac well, to best tell us what Tupac could not. Dyson takes off Tupac's social mask to show the poet, the social critic, the feminist, and the god-obsessed hip-hopper. I believe that readers will think twice, no three times, about giving narrow descriptions of urban youth after reading this book. Dyson wonderfully shows us the social construction of the "thug life."
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