The Autobiography of Malcom X as Told to Alex Haley

Author: Malcom X & Alex Haley

First line: When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home in Omaha, Nebraska one night.

Why you should read it: Malcolm X was an extraordinary man who led an extraordinary life. The book cuts through so many of the misapprehensions about his legacy; in his own words, you can learn how his environment and upbringing shaped him into the man known as Malcolm X and molded his philosophies, which evolved throughout his short life. Within the tragedy of his death, the book holds a message of hope.

Why you shouldn't read it: You are not open to other people's points of view and you are an extremely sensitive white man who doesn't want to understand how X came to the assertion, made repeatedly in chapters 10 through 16, inclusive, that the white man is the devil.