The Spike Lee Reader

Spike Lee's films have raised a multitude of questions about cinema, from attempts to outline the nature, or "essence," of a black cinematic aesthetics, to a revisioning of American film as a whole. They have sparked critical inquiries into the nature of genres, the role of the auteur, and the mechanics of an active text and an oppositional spectatorship. They have asked us to reconsider spectatorial pleasure; to revel in their polyphonic visual and aural fields. They consider not only race, but also the often blurred interconnections among race, gender, sexuality, and class. In short, they have encouraged, and, in some cases, forced us to interact with what's on screen and, perhaps more importantly, with each other, whether it be in the theater, the cafe, the classroom, or the street corner. Taken together, the essays in "The Spike Lee Reader" will spark dialogue and encourage a continuing consideration of the depth and complexity of Spike Lee's career. Contributors include Christine Acham, Toni Cade Bambara, Mark D Cunningham, Anna Everett, Krin Gabbard, Ed Guerrero, Bell Hooks, Michele Wallace and many others.