A scholarly primer by the intellectual and author Henry Louis Gates, Jr. collects three decades of his writings in a range of fields, in a volume that also offers insight into his achievements as a historian, theorist, and cultural critic.

Pt.I(The New Yorker) -- (The Wall Street Journal) -- (The New York Times Week in Review) -- (Colored People) -- (Colored People) -- (Colored People) -- (The Root). -- Pt.II Pt.III (The New York Times Book Review). -- Pt.IV (Critical Inquiry) -- (The signifying monkey) -- (PMLA) -- (The Chronicle of Higher Eduation). -- Pt.V (The New York Times) -- (Du Bois Review) -- (The New Yorker) -- (The New Yorker) -- (In search of our roots) -- (Faces of America) -- (In search of our roots). -- Pt.VI (Wonders of the African world) -- (The New Yorker) -- (Critical Inquiry) -- (Black in Latin America) -- (Black in Latin America). -- Pt.VII (The New York Times) -- (The New York Times Book Review) -- (The New Yorker) -- (The New York Times) -- (The New York Times) -- (The New York Times) -- (The Washington Post) -- (The Southern Review) -- (The Root) -- (Du Bois Review) -- (Du Bois Review) -- (Du Bois Review). Genealogies: -- Family matters -- My Yiddishe mama -- Native sons of liberty -- In the kitchen -- Walk the last mile -- The last mill picnic -- In our lifetime -- Excavation: -- Introduction, Our nig; or, sketches from the life of a free black by Harriet E. Wilson -- Introduction, The bondswoman's narrative : a novel by Hannah Crafts -- In her own write, series introduction, The Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers -- Introduction, African American lives, with Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham -- Introduction to the first edition, Africana : the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience, second edition, with Kwame Anthony Appiah -- Prefatory notes on the African slave trade, In search of our roots. -- Canons: -- The master's pieces : on canon formation and the African-American tradition, Loose canons -- Introduction, "Tell me, sir,...What is 'black' literature?," Loose canons -- Preface to the second edition, The Norton anthology of African American literature, with Nellie Y. McKay -- Canon confidential : a Sam Slade caper -- "Race," writing, and reading: -- Being, the will, and the semantics of death : Wole Soyinka's Death and the king's horseman -- Introduction, Writing "race" and the difference it makes -- Preface, The image of the black in Western art, with David Bindman -- The signifying monkey and the language of signifyin(g): rhetorical difference and the orders of meaning -- Reading "Race," writing, and difference -- Jean Toomer's conflicted racial identity, with Rudolph P. Byrd -- Reading people: -- Both sides now : W.E.B. Du Bois -- The prince who refused the kingdom : John Hope Franklin -- King of cats : Albert Murray -- White like me : Anatole Broyard -- Bliss Broyard -- Elizabeth Alexander -- Oprah Winfrey -- Reading places : Africa, to me -- Black London -- Harlem on our minds -- Introduction -- Brazil : "May Exú give me the power of speech" -- Culture and politics : -- 2 Live Crew, decoded -- "Authenticity," or the lesson of Little Tree -- The chitlin circuit -- Changing places -- Forty acres and a gap in wealth -- Ending the slavery blame-game -- Is he a racist? : James Watson's errant, perilous theories -- Pt.VIII Interviews : An interview with Josephine Baker and James Baldwin -- The future of Africa : an interview with Wole Soyinka -- A conversation with Condoleezza Rice : on leadership -- A conversation with William Julius Wilson on the election of Barack Obama -- A conversation with Isabel Wilkerson : on America's great migration Pt.I Genealogies : Family matters (The New Yorker) -- My Yiddishe mama (The Wall Street Journal) -- Native sons of liberty (The New York Times Week in Review) -- In the kitchen (Colored People) -- Walk the last mile (Colored People) -- The last mill picnic (Colored People) -- In our lifetime (The Root) -- Pt.II Excavation : Introduction, Our nig; or, sketches from the life of a free black by Harriet E. Wilson -- Introduction, The bondswoman’s narrative : a novel by Hannah Crafts -- In her own write, series introduction, The Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers -- Introduction, African American lives, with Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham -- Introduction to the first edition, Africana : the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience, second edition, with Kwame Anthony Appiah -- Prefatory notes on the African slave trade, In search of our roots -- Pt.III Canons : The master’s pieces : on canon formation and the African-American tradition, Loose canons -- Introduction, "Tell me, sir,...What is ’black’ literature?," Loose canons -- Preface to the second edition, The Norton anthology of African American literature, with Nellie Y. McKay -- Canon confidential : a Sam Slade caper (The New York Times Book Review) -- Pt.IV "Race," writing, and reading : Being, the will, and the semantics of death : Wole Soyinka’s Death and the king’s horseman -- Introduction, Writing "race" and the difference it makes (Critical Inquiry) -- Preface, The image of the black in Western art, with David Bindman -- The signifying monkey and the language of signifyin(g): rhetorical difference and the orders of meaning (The signifying monkey) -- Reading "Race," writing, and difference (PMLA) -- Jean Toomer’s conflicted racial identity, with Rudolph P. Byrd (The Chronicle of Higher Eduation) -- \Pt.V Reading people : Both sides now : W.E.B. Du Bois (The New York Times) -- The prince who refused the kingdom : John Hope Franklin (Du Bois Review) -- King of cats : Albert Murray (The New Yorker) -- White like me : Anatole Broyard (The New Yorker) -- Bliss Broyard (In search of our roots) -- Elizabeth Alexander (Faces of America) -- Oprah Winfrey (In search of our roots) -- Pt.VI Reading places : Africa, to me (Wonders of the African world) -- Black London (The New Yorker) -- Harlem on our minds (Critical Inquiry) -- Introduction (Black in Latin America) -- Brazil : "May Exú give me the power of speech" (Black in Latin America) -- Pt.VII Culture and politics : 2 Live Crew, decoded (The New York Times) -- "Authenticity," or the lesson of Little Tree (The New York Times Book Review) -- The chitlin circuit (The New Yorker) -- Changing places (The New York Times) -- Forty acres and a gap in wealth (The New York Times) -- Ending the slavery blame-game (The New York Times) -- \Is he a racist? : James Watson’s errant, perilous theories (The Washington Post) -- Pt.VIII Interviews : An interview with Josephine Baker and James Baldwin (The Southern Review) -- The future of Africa : an interview with Wole Soyinka (The Root) -- A conversation with Condoleezza Rice : on leadership (Du Bois Review) -- A conversation with William Julius Wilson on the election of Barack Obama (Du Bois Review) -- A conversation with Isabel Wilkeson : on America’s great migration (Du Bois Review).