Alex Haley’s Roots: An Author’s Odyssey

‘Few Americans are aware that Alex Haley has two books among the most popular in American history—his collaboration with Malcolm X and Roots. Adam Henig underscores this point and more in his brief but incisive biography of Haley. Much more can be said about this magnificent writer and if Henig’s book doesn’t ignite this search, it will stand as a worthy pursuit of Haley’s contribution to American letters.” —Herb Boyd, author of Baldwin’s Harlem: A Biography of James Baldwin and co-editor of By Any Means Necessary: Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented

In 1977, following the airing of the mega hit television mini-series Roots, its author, Alex Haley, became America’s newest “folk hero. ” He was on his way to becoming the most successful author in the history of publishing until it all fell apart.

Based on interviews of Haley’s contemporaries, personal correspondence, legal documents, newspaper accounts, Adam Henig investigates the unraveling of one of America’s most successful yet enigmatic authors.