Bell Hooks: The Last Interview - (Paperback)

About the Book

"bell hooks was a prolific, trailblazing author, feminist, social activist, cultural critic, and professor. Born Gloria Jean Watkins, bell used her pen name to center attention on her ideas and to honor her courageous great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. hooks's unflinching dedication to her work carved deep grooves for the feminist and anti-racist movements. In this collection of 7 interviews, stretching from early in her career until her last interview, she discusses feminism, the complexity of rap music and masculinity, her relationship to Buddhism, the "politic of domination," sexuality, and love and the importance of communication across cultural borders. Whether she was sparking controversy on campuses or facing criticism from contemporaries, hooks relentlessly challenged herself and those around her, inserted herself into the tensions of the cultural moment, and anchored herself with love"--

Book Synopsis

"With a thoughtful introduction by Mikki Kendall, it will remind you why she was loved, honored, challenged and respected." - Ms. Magazine

"This new collection is essential reading for both longtime readers of hooks and new fans seeking to learn more about her groundbreaking contributions to cultural and intellectual movements." - Electric Lit

"Wide-ranging and insightful, this makes for a solid primer on hooks's ideas." --Publishers Weekly

"I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance."
--bell hooks

bell hooks was a prolific, trailblazing author, feminist, social activist, cultural critic, and professor. Born Gloria Jean Watkins, bell used her pen name to center attention on her ideas and to honor her courageous great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks.

hooks's unflinching dedication to her work carved deep grooves for the feminist and anti-racist movements. In this collection of 7 interviews, stretching from early in her career until her last interview, she discusses feminism, the complexity of rap music and masculinity, her relationship to Buddhism, the "politic of domination," sexuality, and love and the importance of communication across cultural borders. Whether she was sparking controversy on campuses or facing criticism from contemporaries, hooks relentlessly challenged herself and those around her, inserted herself into the tensions of the cultural moment, and anchored herself with love.

Review Quotes

A The Root Favorite Books By Black Authors 2023
An Electric Lit Best Nonfiction Book of 2023

"This new collection is essential reading for both longtime readers of hooks and new fans seeking to learn more about her groundbreaking contributions to cultural and intellectual movements." - Electric Lit

"The Last Interview series features a collection of notable conversations with some of the most iconic cultural figures of our time...And now, the author bell hooks gets her time to shine." --ELLE Magazine

"Essential reading" --Booklist

"With a thoughtful introduction by Mikki Kendall, it will remind you why she was loved, honored, challenged and respected." --Ms. Magazine

"Beautifully curated collection." - Lion's Roar

"This collection... reveals the evolution of hooks' thought from 1989 to 2017 as she reflected on important social and political issues of her time...A candid self-portrait of an important 20th-century thinker." --Kirkus

"Wide-ranging and insightful, this makes for a solid primer on hooks's ideas." --Publishers Weekly

"The Last Interview collects conversations with hooks conducted by journalists from 1989 through 2017, revealing the scope of her ideas." - Shepherd Express

About the Author

Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name bell hooks, was a social activist, cultural critic, femenist theorist, and an American author and social activist. Celebrated as one of our nation's leading public intellectual by The Atlantic Monthly, as well as one of Utne Reader's 100 Visionaries Who Could Change Your Life, she was a charismatic speaker who divided her time among teaching, writing, and lecturing around the world. Sept 25, 1952 - Dec 15, 2021

(Introduction) Mikki Kendall is a New York Times bestselling writer, speaker, and blogger whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, Time, Salon, Ebony, Essence, and elsewhere. She has discussed race, feminism, violence in Chicago, tech, pop culture, and social media on Good Morning America, The Daily Show, NPR (among others), as well as at universities across the country. She is also the author of Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights and a co-editor of the Locus-nominated anthology Hidden Youth, as well as a part of the Hugo-nominated team of editors at Fireside Magazine. A veteran, she lives in Chicago with her family.