The Playboy Interviews

By Alex Haley

Everyone knows Alex Haley as the world-renowned author of the international bestseller ROOTS, and as the writer who collaborated with Malcolm X on his historic autobiography. What many people don't know is that Alex Haley began his professional writing career as a journalist. It was his experience in this arena that earned him the plum assignment as Playboy's first -- and foremost -- interviewer. Witness Haley's work with the pre-Ali Cassius Clay, in which the posture of the young rebel fell away and a sensitive, intelligent young man emerged. He lured Malcolm X beyond his scathing Black Muslim rhetoric to reveal the agile, perceptive mind of a charismatic leader. With Johnny Carson, Haley revealed the man behind the mask of a charming television raconteur. And, in a devasting interview with George Lincoln Rockwell, the self-appointed fuhrer of the American Nazi Party, Haley deftly exposed the frightening heart and soul of the twisted man and his racist ideology. A fascinating slice of recent history, an extraordinarily candid collection of celebrity interviews and personal reminiscences, ALEX HALEY: THE PLAYBOY INTERVIEWS anthologizes for the first time a gifted writer's finest work at its controversial and informative best.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345383001
• ISBN13: 9780345383006
• Release Date: June 1993
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 503 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

An extremely valuable document.

Alex Haley is rather unappreciated these days, as his reputation is unjustly tarnished by issues surrounding the veracity of "Roots." But this collection of his pioneering interviews for Playboy should leave no doubt that this was a fine journalist.The interviews with individuals then prominent on the African-American scene -- Miles Davis, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Brown -- are very insightful. For anyone who happens to be a journalist, or aspires to be one, the book serves as a textbook of a kind. With Miles Davis and Brown -- the ultimate "hip" individuals -- Haley comes off as something of a square, but nonetheless asks questions that elicit thoughtful and candid responses. His interview with Johnny Carson is another highlight. Carson, then in only his fifth season as host of "The Tonight Show," already appears, thanks to Haley's prodding, to be an embittered showbiz veteran, an intelligent man who fully realizes the relative unimportance of what he does for a living. The conversation with neo-Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell is a masterpiece. Without losing his own cool, Haley is able to allow Rockwell to expose himself as a complete buffoon, if a dangerous one.Toward the end of the book, you'll find Haley's account of the pros and cons of being the author of "Roots." He doesn't ask for sympathy, but he is realistic about the experience.I'm sorry to see that it's out of print, but if you have any interest in the U.S. during the 1960s, you should make the effort to find this book. You won't regret it.