Rating: 
Summary: A difficult read, but well worth the work!
Review: This is a wonderful, and much needed body of work. West is one of our Centuries greatest minds. Through his essays, and a few short stories, he weaves images of Black American Culture, classical philosophy, scientific theory, world history, and concepts of world religions into a tapestry of deep thought and serious innovation. He's a philospher with the "funk" of James Brown, and the fluidity of water. He compares Chekovic to Coltrane. If you want a change from the "he/she" novels of a "Jerome Dickey", try this soulful delight.
Rating:
Summary: Cornel Prophesies
Review: This was by no means an easy read. I must say that there hasn't been a book yet to inspire and yet shape an entirely new perspective on the way I look at the world at large. Cornel is truly a scholar. He touched on subjects from the controversial Affirmative Action to the Arts. This book has opened a whole new world for me. Before I read this one, I was the typical fictional reader and on occassion I might have read a biography. I can see now that the world is a much better place because of the likes of Professor West. If there is any seeds of reformation in your heart, this bok will help to water and then shine the light needed for proper growth. Read seriously!
Rating:
Summary: monument to a towering American intellectual
Review: Those interested in the leading black intellectual in America should pick up either "Race Matters," or for a few extra clams, this tome, which collects West's musings on all kinds of topics from politics to religion to the arts. If you're not used to West's style, his verbosity and habitual name-dropping may irritate you. But if you can endure some of his excesses, this book will give you the definitive look at a rare breed of thinker -- one that I only describe as a "jazz intellectual," or an intellectual with "soul." And for you "colorblind" advocates, NO, that's not necessarily a "black" thing, but sure, "black" can have something to do with it. I especially enjoyed West's riffs on Christianity. While I ultimately don't share his views ("Chekhovian Christian" is how he describes it), I must say that West gives me as much insight on how to live as a Christian in this world as any "true-believer" out there. Finally, a note re the negative reviews: Humans are self-contradicting folk, and West is the quintessential example: a Christian that espouses Marx, Chekhov, and Beckett; an intellectual that digs soul music; let's be straight -- a black in "the academy." But those that don't see the contradictions in their own existences need to smell some coffee, or move out of Kansas. So, unlike the unhappy campers below, I don't see West's philosophy as meaningless and frustrating, but authentic and empowering. In short, West "keeps it real." That's the only kind of "intellectual" that matters to me; the rest can stay on the bookshelf, gathering dust.
Rating:
Summary: monument to a towering American intellectual
Review: Those interested in the leading black intellectual in America should pick up either "Race Matters," or for a few extra clams, this tome, which collects West's musings on all kinds of topics from politics to religion to the arts. If you're not used to West's style, his verbosity and habitual name-dropping may irritate you. But if you can endure some of his excesses, this book will give you the definitive look at a rare breed of thinker -- one that I only describe as a "jazz intellectual," or an intellectual with "soul." And for you "colorblind" advocates, NO, that's not necessarily a "black" thing, but sure, "black" can have something to do with it. I especially enjoyed West's riffs on Christianity. While I ultimately don't share his views ("Chekhovian Christian" is how he describes it), I must say that West gives me as much insight on how to live as a Christian in this world as any "true-believer" out there. Finally, a note re the negative reviews: Humans are self-contradicting folk, and West is the quintessential example: a Christian that espouses Marx, Chekhov, and Beckett; an intellectual that digs soul music; let's be straight -- a black in "the academy." But those that don't see the contradictions in their own existences need to smell some coffee, or move out of Kansas. So, unlike the unhappy campers below, I don't see West's philosophy as meaningless and frustrating, but authentic and empowering. In short, West "keeps it real." That's the only kind of "intellectual" that matters to me; the rest can stay on the bookshelf, gathering dust.
Rating:
Summary: African-American, Pragmatist, Multiculturalist and Christian
Review: Why is Cornel West interesting to philosophically-minded as well as non-philosophical readers at a time when many distinguished theorists are not?
I think because he is sincere. One senses a genuine struggle in the man to put himself down on paper, to write of his uncertainties and inner divisions as an African-American intellectual, a product of elite institutions (like Harvard, or Princeton, where he now teaches), who has risen from middle class roots and understands the struggles of ordinary people for survival and dignity.
Professor West appreciates and embodies the multiplicity and variability of his age: He draws on -- because he UNDERSTANDS -- third world intellectual movements and thinkers, such as liberation theology and the writings of Gustavo Gutierrez as well as the work of the Brazilian-born Harvard Law Professor Roberto Unger, who is his collaborator; he makes use of his African-American intellectual legacy derived from figures like W.E. B. Du Bois and (for me) Baldwin, as well as great spiritual leaders like Dr. King; he is fully conversant with the high tradition of American "pragmatist" philosophical work in the writings of James, Peirce, Dewey -- and I hope that, someday, he will also write about GEORGE SANTAYANA.
He explores his own autobiographical and existential challenges as a way of establishing his shared humanity with the reader. This is one human being reaching out to others. Checkov and Christianity, William James and Malcolm, Kolakowski and many others drift through these pages -- including, in my judgment, some unexplored influences: Spinoza and maybe also Kierkegaard.
This is a fine collection by an important American philosopher. Get it.
Rating:
Summary: African-American, Pragmatist, Multiculturalist and Christian
Review: Why is Cornel West interesting to philosophically-minded as well as other readers at a time when many distinguished theorists are not? I think because he is sincere. One senses a genuine struggle in the man to put himself down on paper, to write of his uncertainties and inner divisions as an African-American intellectual, a product of elite institutions (like Harvard, or Princeton, where he now teaches), who has risen from middle class roots and understands the struggles of ordinary people for survival and dignity. Professor West appreciates and embodies the multiplicity and variability of his age: He draws on -- because he UNDERSTANDS -- third world intellectual movements and thinkers, such as liberation theology and the writings of Gustavo Gutierrez as well as the work of the Brazilian-born former Harvard Law Professor Roberto Unger, who is his collaborator; he makes use of his African-American intellectual legacy derived from figures like Du Bois and (for me) Baldwin, as well as great spiritual leaders like Dr. King; he is fully conversant with the high tradition of American "pragmatist" philosophical work in the writings of James, Peirce, Dewey -- and I hope someday he will also write about GEORGE SANTAYANA. He explores his own autobiographical and existential challenges as a way of establishing his shared humanity with the reader. This is one human being reaching out to others. Checkov and Christianity, William James and Malcolm, Kolakowski and many others float through these pages -- including, in my judgment, some unexplored influences: Spinoza and maybe also Kierkegaard. This is a fine collection by an important American philosopher. Get it.
Rating: 
Summary: More PC tripe from a Marxist race-baiter
Review: Why would one spend any time reading a book from this lightweight? I guess Horowitz had it right when he referred to West as a "second-rate ideologue." READERS OF THE WORLD UNITE! You would be well off to leave this book in the Ivy League gutter of political correctness where it belongs, unless you prefer to judge a man by his race instead of his character, as West does....
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