edited by Paula Massood
Temple University Press, 2007
Cloth: 978-1-59213-484-7 | Paper: 978-1-59213-485-4
Library of Congress Classification PN1998.3.L44S65 2007
Dewey Decimal Classification 791.430233089961

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
From his stunning debut, She's Gotta Have It, to his incendiary Do the Right Thing, through Jungle Fever, Bamboozled, and even Inside Man, Spike Lee has found loyal fans and fervid detractors, as well as critical praise, if not always box office success.  Lee's films have sparked critical inquiries into the nature of genres, the role of the auteur, and the question of whether there is, in fact, a black cinematic aesthetic.  According to some critics, Lee's films challenge viewers to engage intellectually with a cinematic "text," to revel in and deconstruct the complexities of each film's polyphonic visual and aural fields.

Gathered in this anthology are critical writings on Spike Lee's films by leading scholars in the fields of cinema studies and African American studies.  In sixteen new and reprinted essays, the contributors to The Spike Lee Reader consider the nexus of race, gender, and sexuality in Lee's work, and in so doing encourage readers to further explore the cultural, social, and political implications of Lee's films as well as his entire body of work.

Contributors include: Christine Acham, Toni Cade Bambara, Mark D. Cunningham, Anna Everett, Daniel Flory, Krin Gabbard, David A. Gerstner, Ed Guerrero, Keith M. Harris, bell hooks, Wahneema Lubiano, James C. McKelly, Tavia Nyong'o, Beretta E. Smith-Shomade, Michele Wallace, S. Craig Watkins, and the editor.