So Far, So Good

by Gil Scott-Heron

A collection of poems written by the progressive jazz artist, Gil Scott Heron. These works are very political in nature and comment on the current matters of interest during the period of the 1970s and 1980s. The artist shows himself to be a keen analytical observer of the society and its impact upon the people.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Gilbert Scott Heron was born in 1949. His mother was a librarian and his father a soccer player from Jamaica. In his youth Heron displayed both sporting prowess and academic ability (he won a place at Pennsylvania Lincoln University, like his role model Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance man). But he quit college after the first year to write his first novel, The Vulture (1970). While Heron was writing this the ferment of black politics and student radicalism was coming to a head, and his second novel The Nigger Factory (1972) reflects these developments.
Heron has been more adventurous in his work as a musician and rapper.

Reviews

[Scott Benowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much as Gil Scott Heron's styles of composing music were quite diverse, his poetry collections also reflect a diversity of styles which are not easy to define.
I have a suspicion that some of the poems which are included in this book are pieces which Gil Scott Heron had writing which he may have originally intended to incorporate into lyrics to songs, and then after he'd written some of these poems, he'd realized that these poems stand well on their own, so he opted not to compose music to accompany some of these poems.
The styles of wording that Gil Scott Heron had used when he wrote poetry is very similar to the styles of wording that he'd used when he'd written the lyrics to his songs. If you enjoy listening to gil Scott Heron's music, you'll also enjoy reading "So Far So Good".