From the Back of the Bus by Dick Gregory


From the Back of the Bus
Title : From the Back of the Bus
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : -
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 125
Publication : First published January 1, 1962

Dick Gregory is a comedian, social satirist, Negro, pioneer. In little more than a year he has climbed from $10 a day car washer to $5000 a week headlinerdoing what some said he shouldn't do, most said he couldn't do, but what Gregory knows he must do -- tell the truth about segregation so that it brings smiles instead of hurt, and insight, even to the insensitive. His method: "Once I get them laughing, I can say anything."

Library of Congress Catalog No. 62-14714

From the Back of the Bus Reviews

  • Magdelanye

    Reading James Baldwin in my later teens really pointed a direction for me as i set about to get educated. JB set a high bar and his brilliant fiery and tender writing introduced me to worlds unimagined. DG in his wise and witty way brought it all closer to home. I couldn't march on Washington, but i could take myself to the back of the bus where for a couple of weeks on my commute I read this until my cheap paperback copy came apart- I remember reading the last chapter with it being held together with an elastic band' and feeling such an affinity

  • Tony Laplume

    A kind of throwaway piece of vital history, if that makes any sense, a black entertainer from 1962 breaks cultural ground by giving free voice to cultural frustrations. And since he's a comedian, it's pretty funny stuff. The name Dick Gregory may have been lost to time, but he deserves to be remembered.

  • Rooks

    I was expecting longer material, as opposed to quotes, but even with that being said, Dick Gregory was, in the words of my father, "a baaaaaad man." As such, and despite being slightly disappointed, I can't help but give this a four.

  • Chad Oakley

    Hilarious! Very underrated comedian.

  • Faith

    I was expecting more essays, and it's really just snippets from stand-up acts. Funny and insightful for the most part; just not what I was expecting.

  • Mark

    A fun quick read of quips and snippets of social commentary from his career.

  • Stitchling

    The book is a collection of quotes with a bit if bio. I would have liked to know more, but it's a good start at least.

  • Wendy

    Painfully timely.

  • Mark Rabiner

    One of my favorite books for many years I read over and over. I kept it right next to a Lenny Bruce paperback on my very small pre highschool bookshelf.... "How to talk dirty and influence people" . And there as a "Don Martin bounces back" in there somewhere. All got read over and over again. I should do that now.... re read in a regular basis.