Panther

by Melvin Van Peebles

A college student doing research about the Black Panther Party for a thesis learns about the origins of the group, and a secret plot to flood the ghetto with drugs to politically neutralize the Black community

Genres: Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, The Story of a Three-Day Pass (1967), was based on his own French-language novel La Permission and was shot in France, as it was difficult for a black American director to get work at the time. The film won an award at the San Francisco International Film Festival which gained him the interest of Hollywood studios, leading to his American feature debut Watermelon Man, in 1970. Eschewing further overtures from Hollywood, he used the successes he had so far to bankroll his work as an independent filmmaker.

In 1971, he released his best-known work, creating and starring in the film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, considered one of the earliest and best-regarded examples of the blaxploitation genre. He followed this up with the musical, Don't Play Us Cheap, based on his own stage play, and continued to make films, write novels and stage plays in English and in French through the next several decades; his final films include the French-language film Le Conte du ventre plein (2000) and the absurdist film Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha (2008). His son, filmmaker and actor Mario Van Peebles, appeared in several of his works and portrayed him in the 2003 biographical film Baadasssss!.

Reviews

[Jordi Sellarès · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trobeu la ressenya sencera al seguent link:

http://especulacionsapeudepagina.blog...

Tan entretingut com necessari, tan ben escrit com, a priori poc pretensiós en la forma. Aquesta breu novel·la, amb curada edició, és una magnífica manera de conèixer la història dels Panteres Negres, de les seves esperances i lluita per la justícia, i de la guerra bruta del govern nord-americà i del fill de puta d'Edgar J. Hoover.

[Martinez Crowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first saw this movie when I was 7. Something that never understood until reading the novel was, Why didn’t Huey tell the party Judge was going undercover. With a lot more planning plotting and structure in that manner the Panther Party could have stayed ten steps ahead of the Pigs! Maybe even use Judge in a way to find out that the FBI and the CIA would drop drugs in the community and stop it before it happened. But now that I put eyes to the story the truth is there were too many Sabu’s and wanna be panthers who infiltrated the party and they never had the best interest for black people let alone their own neighborhoods and communities.
I also wonder what if they had just simply gotten that stop light when they first asked, something so simple.

[Anna]

Abandonat. M'agrada el tema però no m'ha acabat d'enganxar. Potser més endevant.

[Zach Werbalowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent reading right here, do yourself a favor.

[Albert Verdaguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Llibre sobre la història i fundació del Partit Pantera Negra per l'Autodefensa. Novela basada en la història dels seus protagonistes.

[Rasheed Abdullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My path to this book was not too strange even if it landed me on the wrong book. I watched the movie “Panther” by Melvin and Mario Van Peebles and loved it. In the ending credits I read that the movie was based upon the book by, I thought, Mario Van Peebles, so I purchased the book posthaste. After receiving the book I saw that the book was a “pictorial history of the Black Panthers and the story behind the film.” Clearly, the movie couldn’t have been based upon a book written about the story behind the film. That’s an infinite time loop of a conundrum. Obviously, I bought the wrong book, but I have it now so I may as well read it.

The book is broken in two halves. The first half is a brief history of the Black Panther Party written by Ula Y. Taylor and J. Tarika Lewis. It’s a sprint through the most important people, dates, events, and accomplishments of the BPP. There are plenty of other books that go into more detail, but the first half of this book will give anyone a strong cursory knowledge of the BPP.

The second half of the book is about the process of making the movie: Mario Van Peebles’ inspiration, the gathering of resources, and his commitment to the BPP story without compromising. It is a candid behind the scenes look at how movie making is done and what certain movie execs think.

In total I liked this book. The historical portion was informative, the exposition of the filmmaking was likewise, and the pictures were worth 1000 words.

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-83...

This book is a novel about the rise of the Black Panther Party by an insider. Though never officially a member, Van Peebles' film, "Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song" was the first movie to show a black man escaping from oppressors at its close, and as such, inspired Black Panthers to turn out in droves for its premier, making it a smash hit. Van Peebles' son, Mario, is also an actor and director (Carlito's Way, New Jack City), most recently of the movie, "BAADASSSSS!" which chronicles events from this period of his father's life. Watch that movie! Read this book!

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please read:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-83...

[Aran Solé Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molt bo, per conèixer una part de la història dels Panteres Negres, amb un toc de ficció.