The Last Holiday: A Memoir - Hardcover

Scott-Heron is such a fine writer . . . As readers and fans alike, we are left to mourn the passing of surely, the least likely pop star ever, one with a truly brilliant mind. -- Rob Fitzpatrick * * Sunday Times * * This memoir reads a bit like Langston Hughes filtered through the scratchy and electrified sensibilities of John Lee Hooker, Dick Gregory and Spike Lee . . . about his own music, he could not be more simple or elegant. "I was trying to get people who listened to me," he writes, "to realise that they were not alone." -- Dwight Garner * * New York Times * * Gil Scott-Heron is timeless. * * New York Times * * For more than two decades, [Gil Scott-Heron] has been committed to examining those facts of the human condition that most of us would rather forget . . . he is an artist who has crafted witty but crucial insights for Black America. * * Washington Post * * One of the great pioneers of late-twentieth-century music. * * Independent * * The formative incidents of Scott-Heron's life are placed in their cultural and historical contexts with great delicacy and precision. -- Ben Thompson * * Sunday Telegraph * * Engaging and immensely human . . . Much like his poetry, Scott-Heron's style is spare and effective, offering up jagged observations on fame, friendship and political and racial injustice. -- Fiona Sturges * * Independent on Sunday * * An impressively lucid book . . . both candid and guarded . . . his final admissions are heart-rending. * * Metro * * A delight, full of with and alliteration and studded with passages of verse . . . it is a heartbreaking read as the last testament of a much-loved man, but it should certainly be read. * * Herald * * Scott-Heron's memoir comes beautifully to life when talking about other musicians. -- Tom Horan * * The Telegraph Review * * What is most remarkable about Scott-Heron's account of his progress ...is his delight in telling the story. Almost by way of explanation for his dazzling command of language, the first chapter opens thus "Words have been important to me for as long as I can remember"... His scope as a writer, evident even in the most casual passages of this memoir, is a testament to his reach. * * New Statesman * * Scott-Heron is undeniably a trickster wordsmith, reaching into his bag of goodies for turns of phrase and figures of speech that effortlessly hold attention. He veers from a slangy, conversational, wisecracking style to the tone of a perceptive philosopher, unable to resist mesmerising us with alliteration or suddenly dropping on us the sort of rhythmic street poetry that earned him the reluctant soubriquet "godfather of rap", equally able to evoke a mood of urgency or tenderness. * * Observer * * His recollections of growing up in the south and his candid thoughts on the music industry help to cement his status as one of the most outspoken and compelling figures of his generation. * * Hot Press * * An impressively lucid book...both candid and guarded... his final admissions are heart-rending. * * Metro * * Scott-Heron's memoir comes beautifully to life when talking about other musicians. * * Telegraph Review * * A delight, full of with and alliteration and studded with passages of verse... it is a heartbreaking read as the last testament of a much-loved man, but it should certainly be read. * * Herald * * Scott-Heron is such a fine writer...in a beautifully elegiac final chapter, he talks about his children and rails against his own "lifelong existence on f***ing isolation2. As readers and fans alike, we are left to mourn the passing of surely, the least likely pop star ever, one with a truly brilliant mind. * * Sunday Times * * Engaging and immensely human * * Independent on Sunday * * The formative incidents of Scott-Heron's life are placed in their cultural and historical contexts with great delicacy and precision. * * Sunday Telegraph * * The tone of The Last Holiday is humble, charming and intelligent throughout, and the author clearly has no time for the trappings of modern celebrity, preferring to focus on the craft of what he does, and the social and political context of his work. * * Scotsman * * His swansong leaves a vivid impression: of Scott-Heron as hungry talent, wise soul and wayward dude. * * Metro * * The prose is lyrical and no-nonsense, and Scott-Heron's poetry interspersed with the real-life events that inspired his work adds great depth to the book. Engaging from the first page. * * Skinny * * This is a marvellous documentary of black America and life lived in the raw. * * Spectator * *

In the autumn of 1980, Stevie Wonder invited Gil Scott-Heron and his band to join him on a forty-one-city tour across America. The purpose of the tour, which included a major rally in Washington on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday, was to galvanise popular support for the creation of a national holiday in honour of the great civil rights leader. The Last Holiday is Scott-Heron's fascinating account of what took place and how he came to be there. Raised by his grandmother in Tennessee, Scott-Heron's journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most uncompromising and influential songwriters of his generation is a remarkable one. Politically savvy and socially conscious, savagely satirical yet deeply compassionate, he is regularly cited as the godfather of rap, and his unexpected death in May 2011 marked the loss of one of the world's most eloquent musicians. In the words of Sarah Silverman, 'he mirrored ugliness with beauty, audacity and valour'. Chuck D of Public Enemy remarked, 'we do what we do and how we do because of you', and Eminem felt that 'he influenced all of hip-hop'. A heartfelt and beautifully written memoir, The Last Holiday is full of bright insights into the music industry, New York, the civil-rights movement, modern America, governmental hypocrisy, Stevie Wonder and our wider place in the world. It is also a fitting testament to the generous brilliance of Gil Scott-Heron and to the Spirits that have guided him.