Make Believe: A True Story

by Diana Athill

Hakim Jamal was born in Roxbury, a black district of Boston, in 1933. At 27 he was converted by the teachings of Malcolm X, leader of the Black Muslim movement, Nation of Islam, and his life changed. He became an eloquent spokesman for the black urban underclass in America. Diana Athill met Hakim when she edited his book, and against all odds, they became friends, sometimes lovers. In Make Believe, Diana Athill describes, with her trademark unflinching honesty, her relationship with Hakim and his milieu, the devastation wrought on his personality by his background, his increasingly bizarre behavior, his descent into madness, and his murder in the early 1970s.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

135 pages, Paperback

First published January 14, 1993

About the author

Diana Athill was a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the greatest writers of the 20th century at the London-based publishing company André Deutsch Ltd.

She was born in Norfolk in 1917 and educated at home until she was fourteen. She read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and graduated in 1939. She spent the war years working at the BBC Overseas Service in the News Information Department. After the war she met André Deutsch and fell into publishing. She worked as an editor, first at Allan Wingate and then at André Deutsch, until her retirement at the age of 75 in 1993.

Her books include An Unavoidable Delay, a collection of short stories published in 1962 and two 'documentary' books After A Funeral and Make Believe. Stet is a memoir of Diana Athill's fifty-year career in publishing. Granta has also reissued a memoir Instead of a Letter and her only novel Don't Look at Me Like That. She lived in Primrose Hill in London.

Reviews

[Hugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curious little memoir which I find difficult to assess. I picked it up in a small independent bookshop just because it looked interesting, and I was aware of Athill's recent reputation as a grand old sage of the publishing world. It tells the story of her friendship with Hakim Jamal, a young writer and follower of Malcolm X who she worked with and who stayed with her in the late 60s, and his descent into madness, delusions of divinity and associations with dangerous friends that led to the murders of Jamal's white English acolyte and girlfriend, then of Jamal himself. The portrait that emerges is both warm and frightening, but Athill never quite loses her reserve.

[Frances Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was slightly strange to read a story that focused on a Black rights "extremist" with a poor background from Boston, USA, as written by an upper class white woman from the Home Counties who was living and working as a literary editor in London at the time their paths crossed. (She was editing his book and they fall into a bizarre, stilted romantic affair.)

While Athill herself handled that disparity with great tenderness and tact, I still finished the book thinking that something was lacking. Namely, you still only got her side of the story and there were so many other sides to be read in order to have a full picture. But it would have been naive of me to think that I would have got this from this book knowing the outcome of the story.

After recently reading a surprisingly uplifting article by Athill about how silly it is to fear death made me look at some of her books because she is an exquisite, forthright writer and Make Believe continued to prove that she has an excellent turn of phrase and is very capable at analysing herself, events that happen to her and the people who surround her. I loved the honesty in this book.

There was also much to open my eyes - the "free love" nature of Hakim's relationships with women, and how they all seemed to stand back and wait doe-eyed as he slept with other women, often in neighbouring rooms, and how unapologetically selfish Hakim and his lover Hale were as they leeched off one person to the next - and I will certainly look at Athill's other memoirs. My only wish was that I knew more from Hale's side of things as she seemed the most vulnerable, most deluded and ultimately the most tragic player in the whole story.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this author is like hearing her story across the table, while sharing a cup of coffee.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmm I'm not sure about this book. Athill's writing is a joy as always - clear and unfussy, and the honesty is there. But it's the man she's writing about that is leaving me feel drained and uninterested.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diana's friendship with Hakim Jamal, a follower of Malcom X

As usual, Diana Athill's writing is clear and no-nonsense. She never seems to be concerned that her stories might show her in a negative light - she just writes them. Hakim was an on again, off again, friend and occasionally lover. He actually believed that he was God, and it was interesting to read Diana's concern for her friend as he became more unstable.

A good read, but I enjoy the author's books that focus more solidly on her. Still worth a read if you're an Athill fan.

[Annikky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I always enjoy reading Athill and this was a good read, too - I just love her voice and straightforwardness. I have, however, enjoyed other books by her more than this one. Make Believe is probably most similar to After a Funeral, which I preferred. I think it's because Athill's relationship with Didi was deeper and lasted longer, the Hakim Jamal story is a shorter episode and therefore a little less deeply felt and not as insightful. Still fascinating, though.

[Emma Percy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting memoir on madness, racism and relationships in different forms. A quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[Secret List of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

About Hakim Jamal. Excellent prose about an intriguing relationship with a distorted man.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable book, about a man going into madness. Raw and honest.

[Katarzyna Bartoszynska · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Athill is not only a good writer, she also comes across as a smart, sympathetic, and uncommonly self-aware sort of woman. Thus, her graceful prose and keen observations are a pleasure to read, and the book feels both warm and intimate, like a really good conversation. 
That said, the contents seem more suited to conversation than a book. Chronicling her acquaintance with the increasingly mentally disturbed Hakim Jamal, Athill is basically relating what happened, without drawing much in the way of insight from it. This is not necessarily a bad thing -- when she does make a move towards more sweeping conclusions, it rings a bit hollow. One is left, instead, with the curiously cynical sense that rather upsetting trajectory of this man's life was bitterly senseless, and that there was not much that anyone could do about it. I was somewhat hoping for more of a thick description of that particular historical moment, and while there is some of that, the book seems much more personal.

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recieved it as a gitf, it's not something I would have choosed to read. But it was ok. I personally disliked the way in wich the writer talks about herself. Even though the book was about someone else, she did way too much autoreference.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5