“Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man,” my biography of the late poet-musician is available in stores and online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Powell’s Books. It was named one of The New Yorker‘s notable books for November 2014 and was excerpted in Vanity Fair, Newsweek, the New York Daily News, and The Believer.
I conducted over 200 interviews and spent two years of reporting to tell his story, the most definitive account of this musical genius’s life and legacy.
Reviews:
“Controversial and enigmatic, the tragic trajectory of Scott-Heron’s life and career is expertly examined in this testament to one of the last great radical artists.” – Kirkus
“Baram’s exacting, intimate, and sensitive portrait preserves and honors Scott-Heron’s unique genius and essential legacy.” – Booklist
“A poignant portrait… of the artist as a black man struggling to make sense of his culture from the 1960s to his death… Baram’s appreciative biography offers a glimpse into the complex feelings and thoughts of this Renaissance man we lost much too soon.” – Publishers Weekly
“An addict and a recluse; a genius and a poet; a defacto founder of hip=hop who died in poverty, afraid to open his front door. Baram…traces Gil Scott-Heron’s complicated path in the first full-on biographical work devoted to a career as turbulent as it was brilliant.” – New Orleans Times-Picayune
“As Marcus Baram writes in his compelling new biography, “Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man,” his “onstage banter was legendary — part church sermon, part stand-up comic act, part political speech.” – Chicago Tribune