bell hooks is one of America's most respected and indeed renowned public intellectuals, best known as a feminist, but also as a cultural and political critic. She was born and raised in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and after decades living in New York and California and earning a PhD, she has returned to her home state to live in Berea. As an African-American woman, she is comfortable railing against patriarchy, against homophobia, against racism, and, yes, even against capitalism. Yet in her everyday life she is an inclusive and caring and very spiritual person, drawing upon Buddism, Christianity and all religious traditions. This is the second of five books by bell hooks, including her only poetry book, centered on love. bell hooks connects love with salvation and the personal with the political with the concept of the beloved community.
New York: HarperCollins, 2001. 225 pages. Hardback in dust jacket.