For the 50th anniversary of his murder, this gritty, engrossing, definitive biography of the legendary Black writer Donald Goines – the Godfather of Urban Street Lit and “one of hip hop’s greatest inspirations” (The Source Magazine) – is now back in print with a new foreword from New York Times bestselling author JaQuavis Coleman.
Addict, thief, pimp, pusher, player—and most notably, groundbreaking writer. Donald Goines was all of these.
As a kid, Donald Goines was the product of a middle-class family. After high school, he joined theAir Force—and discovered the heroin that would rule the remainder of his life. On the streets, he turned to writing when he was straight enough to keep at it. He used the language of the streets and he wrote of its people. Goines’ success was immediate and exciting. But eventually those same streets claimed him. He was murdered as he sat writing a new book. Yet his legacy continues, as a revolutionary in the literary world and also in music, with major hip-hop artists including 50 Cent, Nas, and Jay-Z all crediting Goines’s novels as influences. Here is his complete story.
Praise for Donald Goines
“A true master at depicting street life in its rawest, most authentic form, Mr. Goines mastered the art of storytelling from the darkest corner of America: the ghetto. His brilliance still shines through and touches the soul of modern black culture.” —JaQuavis Coleman, New York Times bestselling author
“Donald Goines is the most iconic voice in urban fiction. His masterful pen is timeless.” —Ashley Antoinette, New York Times bestselling author
“I learned to read on Donald Goines. His books are classics.” —Carl Weber, New York Times bestselling author and founder of Urban Books
“A timeless writer, Donald Goines laid the foundation for all who came after. Fifty years later, his novels continue to inspire urban fiction from one generation to the next.” —Wahida Clark, New York Times bestselling author
“Machiavelli was my tutor, Donald Goines my father figure.” —Tupac Shakur
“The voice of the ghetto itself.” —The Village Voice
“He lived by the code of the streets and his books vividly recreated the street jungle and its predators.” —New Jersey Voice
“Donald Goines is one of Hip Hop’s Greatest Inspirations.” —The Source Magazine
“The godfather of black pulp fiction.” —Salon.com
“Goines put you right there in the action.” —AllHipHop.com
“Donald Goines, a brilliant writer of street literature, captures the pain of addiction perfectly.” —Black Enterprise, The 18 Best Books of All Time
“Goines’s influence on hip-hop, pulp-fiction, movies, and scores of authors deserves as much praise as a James Baldwin or Richard Wright, who also wrote about Black life in the ghetto.” —Darryl Robertson, hip hop journalist
“Donald Goines was for the streets [in the 70s] what the rappers are today. . . . He was in the streets, of the streets and spoke for the streets.” —Chaz Williams, CEO of Black Hand Entertainment
“Donald Goines has become, decades after his death, one of the most influential African-American authors in the African-American literary canon.” —Thumpers Corner
For the 50th anniversary of his murder, this gritty, engrossing, definitive biography of the legendary Black writer Donald Goines – the Godfather of Urban Street Lit and “one of hip hop’s greatest inspirations” (The Source Magazine) – is now back in print with a new foreword from New York Times bestselling author JaQuavis Coleman.
Addict, thief, pimp, pusher, player—and most notably, groundbreaking writer. Donald Goines was all of these.
As a kid, Donald Goines was the product of a middle-class family. After high school, he joined theAir Force—and discovered the heroin that would rule the remainder of his life. On the streets, he turned to writing when he was straight enough to keep at it. He used the language of the streets and he wrote of its people. Goines’ success was immediate and exciting. But eventually those same streets claimed him. He was murdered as he sat writing a new book. Yet his legacy continues, as a revolutionary in the literary world and also in music, with major hip-hop artists including 50 Cent, Nas, and Jay-Z all crediting Goines’s novels as influences. Here is his complete story.
Reviews
Praise for Donald Goines
“A true master at depicting street life in its rawest, most authentic form, Mr. Goines mastered the art of storytelling from the darkest corner of America: the ghetto. His brilliance still shines through and touches the soul of modern black culture.” —JaQuavis Coleman, New York Times bestselling author
“Donald Goines is the most iconic voice in urban fiction. His masterful pen is timeless.” —Ashley Antoinette, New York Times bestselling author
“I learned to read on Donald Goines. His books are classics.” —Carl Weber, New York Times bestselling author and founder of Urban Books
“A timeless writer, Donald Goines laid the foundation for all who came after. Fifty years later, his novels continue to inspire urban fiction from one generation to the next.” —Wahida Clark, New York Times bestselling author
“Machiavelli was my tutor, Donald Goines my father figure.” —Tupac Shakur
“The voice of the ghetto itself.” —The Village Voice
“He lived by the code of the streets and his books vividly recreated the street jungle and its predators.” —New Jersey Voice
“Donald Goines is one of Hip Hop’s Greatest Inspirations.” —The Source Magazine
“The godfather of black pulp fiction.” —Salon.com
“Goines put you right there in the action.” —AllHipHop.com
“Donald Goines, a brilliant writer of street literature, captures the pain of addiction perfectly.” —Black Enterprise, The 18 Best Books of All Time
“Goines’s influence on hip-hop, pulp-fiction, movies, and scores of authors deserves as much praise as a James Baldwin or Richard Wright, who also wrote about Black life in the ghetto.” —Darryl Robertson, hip hop journalist
“Donald Goines was for the streets [in the 70s] what the rappers are today. . . . He was in the streets, of the streets and spoke for the streets.” —Chaz Williams, CEO of Black Hand Entertainment
“Donald Goines has become, decades after his death, one of the most influential African-American authors in the African-American literary canon.” —Thumpers Corner
