Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note

E851784

"Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note" is the debut poetry collection by Amiri Baraka (then LeRoi Jones), known for its innovative, jazz-influenced verse and its exploration of race, identity, and existential despair in mid-20th-century America.

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Label Occurrences
Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note canonical 2

Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf book
poetry collection
associatedWith Greenwich Village literary scene
avant-garde poetry
author Amiri Baraka NERFINISHED
LeRoi Jones NERFINISHED
containsPoem Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (poem) NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticalReception acclaimed in avant-garde circles
debutWorkOf Amiri Baraka NERFINISHED
explores Black subjectivity
personal relationships
political consciousness
religious doubt
firstEditionFormat paperback
genre poetry
hasForm free verse
hasMedium print
historicalSignificance early example of Baraka’s fusion of jazz and poetry
precursor to Black Arts Movement aesthetics
influencedBy bebop
jazz
language English
literaryMovement Beat generation NERFINISHED
Black Arts Movement NERFINISHED
mainTheme African American identity
alienation
existential despair
race
spiritual crisis
urban life
period mid-20th century
publicationYear 1961
publisher Corinth Books NERFINISHED
Totem Press NERFINISHED
setting United States in the 1950s
styleCharacteristic colloquial language
improvisational rhythm
irony
surreal imagery
subjectOf literary criticism on African American poetry
scholarship on Beat-era poetics
titlePoem Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (poem) NERFINISHED

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Imamu Amiri Baraka notableWork Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
Everett LeRoi Jones notableWork Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note