A Summer Reading List for 'The College Dropout'

Good lawd. Do you know what it's like to defend an artist at nearly every turn, from his wardrobe choices to his artistic output only to have him spew the indefensible? Kanye West, whose upcoming 52-page "book" is titled Thank You and You're Welcome!, had this to say in an interview with the Reuters news wire this week:

"I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph. I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life."

Since his mother, the late Donda West, a university professor on English literature, isn't here to steer her son toward a book shelf (or even a Kindle!) and away from the Louis Vuitton store, I've taken it upon myself to compile a summer list to help relieve The College Dropout of some of his foolishness.

During my freshman year, I enrolled in a senior-level university course called the African Novel taught by Professor Janice Mays. In that class, Prof. Mays, a Rubenesque Southern black woman with majestic locs and a gap-toothed smile who wore caftans most days, introduced me to some of the texts that I've gone on to re-read since. In the words of Marvin, I say, "Here, My Dear":


Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Rap icons and Late Night band The Roots know about Achebe's 1958 masterwork and fellow rapper 'Ye should, too. Achebe shines a light on pre- and post-colonial life in Nigeria, focusing on Okonkwu, a champion wrestler and all-around Alpha Ibo male who gets driven into exile as missionaries and colonialists make their way in.

A Walk in the Night (And Other Stories) by Alex La Guma (1968). This book of short fiction is a South African gangsta tale of sorts that gets off to a quick start and never lets up. La Guma's Michael Adonis has just been fired from his factory job for going in on his white boss, after the supervisor unjustifiably accuses him of laziness. Adonis is furious, unemployed and descends into a Cape Town underworld populated by thugs, ne'er-do-wells, and prostitutes. La Guma, a political activist, wrote the book in secret while under house arrest.


The Group by Mary McCarthy (1963). The author's machete-sharp satire of New England society and the Ivy League follows a group of eight girlfriends just as they graduate from Vassar. It's 1933, and the ladies find themselves chafing against entrenched values about marriage, work, sexual pleasure, child-rearing. West seems fascinated with college life; he should be thoroughly entertained.

Nawaal El Saadawi's Woman at Point Zero. Set in the 1970s, a reluctant high-end prostitute, Firdaus, living in Egypt stages a one-woman feminist revolt that lands her on Death Row for killing a man. Offered a pardon, she declines, deciding instead to tell her incredible backstory.

Few authors courted controversy like James Baldwin did in his day. Kanye should appreciate the work of this kindred spirit and lion of 20th century American literature. Another Country (1962) tells the story of Rufus Scott, a self-loathing 20-something Harlemite and jazz musician, who commits suicide after he falls for a fragile, white Southern woman, Leona. The books spans New York, and 'Ye's favorite city, Paris, among other locales.