jachin_heckman's review against another edition
3.0
I read this for class, and thought it offered a interesting perspective on his life. It is fairly repetitive however, and while I am glad I read it I would not recommend it unless you were particularly interested in Frederick Douglass.
withtheclassics's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating look at the many different ways Frederick Douglass portrayed himself in the three autobiographies that he published over nearly fifty years. It's academic in focus, but quite readable and accessible to the non-academic reader. I would recommend having some familiarity with Douglass's life before reading this book (perhaps through one of his autobiographies - the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is good, and short). Levine's focus is not on the events of Douglass's life, but on how he presents those events.
I did feel like it got a little repetitive in places; not terribly so, but enough that I skimmed some passages.
I did feel like it got a little repetitive in places; not terribly so, but enough that I skimmed some passages.
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