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King

A Life

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Dion Graham superbly narrates this riveting audiobook, emulating the majestic cadence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, speeches... The result is a monumental biography performed exquisitely by a Golden Voice narrator." —AudioFile on King: A Life (an Earphones Award wInner)
"This gripping biography of a revolutionary leader flies by. Listeners interested in a new perspective of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life will be captivated." —Library Journal
Hailed as "the most compelling account of [Martin Luther] King's life in a generation" by the Washington Post, the Pulitzer Prize–winning bestseller is now adapted for young adults in this new standard biography of the most famous civil rights activist in American History.

Often regarded as more of a myth and legend than man, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was many things throughout his storied life: student, activist, preacher, dreamer, father, husband. From his Atlanta childhood centered in the historically Black neighborhood of Sweet Auburn to his precipitous rise as a civil rights leader on the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery, Dr. King would go on to become one of the most recognizable, influential, and controversial persons of the twentieth century.
In this fast-paced and immersive adaptation of Jonathan Eig's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller readers will meet a Dr. King like no other: a committed radical whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime, a minister wrestling with his human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government.
The inspiring young adult edition of King: A Life highlights the author's never-before-seen research—including recently declassified FBI documents—while reaffirming and recontextualizing the lasting effects and implications of MLK's work for the present day. Adapted by National Book Award–nominated authors Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, this biography for a new generation is a nuanced, unprecedented portrayal of a man who truly shook the world.
Accolades and Praise for King: A Life:
Pulitzer Prize Winner
A New York Times, Washington Post, and Indie Bestseller
A National Book Award Nominee
One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year
A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
A "Best Book of the Year" from New York TimesWashington PostTIME Magazine ● The New YorkerPublishers WeeklyThe Chicago TribuneSmithsonian Magazine ● Christian Science Monitor Air Mail

"Supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable . . . Eig's book is worthy of its subject."New York Times
"No book could be more timely than Jonathan Eig's sweeping and majestic new King." Philadelphia Inquirer
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 6, 2023
      Martin Luther King Jr. went beyond meek nonviolence into far-reaching radicalism, according to this sweeping biography. Eig (Ali: A Life) gives a rousing recap of King’s triumphs as a civil rights leader—the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, his “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 march on Washington, the 1965 procession from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.—as well as his despondency later in the 1960s as his anti-poverty campaigns struggled and Black energies drifted from nonviolent protest toward armed militance and “Black power.” Contesting accusations by Malcolm X and others that King was an “Uncle Tom,” Eig casts him as a revolutionary who reshaped the South with his integrationism, became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War despite losing political support and drawing the ire of the FBI, and developed a deep critique of systemic racism and economic inequality that called for reparations for slavery and a guaranteed minimum income. King is no saint in this complex, nuanced portrait—his plagiarism and womanizing are probed in detail—but Eig’s evocative prose ably conveys his bravery, charisma, and spell-binding oratory (rallying the Montgomery boycotters, “he called out in his deep, throbbing voice, and the people responded, the noise of the crowd rolling and pounding in waves that shook the building as he built to a climax”). It’s an enthralling reappraisal that confirms King’s relevance to today’s debates over racial justice. Agent: David Black, David Black Literary.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Listeners are given a well-rounded portrait of the leading figure in the Civil Rights movement, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King--fleshed out by fascinating and coherent accounts of the events of the day and the people around him. Dion Graham masterfully portrays the voices and emotions of Dr. King's orations; Coretta King's softer, lighter speech; and the racist attitudes of people in crowds and those that conspired against him. An author's note emphasizes the many facets of King's character gleaned from FBI recordings, personal papers, and hundreds of interviews. This production succeeds at reinforcing the fact that the inspiring civil rights leader "is a person, not just a holiday." E.J.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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