The extraordinary life story — filled with fresh, firsthand accounts — of one of America's most provocative filmmakers.

This new biography tells the cinematic story of the preeminent director whose pioneering films — from Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever to Malcolm X — helped transform the face of late twentieth-century America. Since bursting onto the scene in 1986 with the sexually provocative She's Gotta Have It, Lee has been one of America's most visionary and controversial cinematic figures. Film critic Kaleem Aftab chronicles Lee's explosive rise to stardom, exploring such important issues as Black Nationalism, Hollywood stereotyping, and the rise of a powerful black middle class. With Lee family interviews and the candid revelations of stars like Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Edward Norton, John Turturro, Rosie Perez, and Wesley Snipes, this book is the story of a visionary life in the cinema, telling us as much about Lee as it does about the past two decades of American social history. 40 photographs.

"The work of one of America's more important filmmakers is ill-served by this reverential biography. Aftab arranges the narrative around Lee's films, from breakout hit She's Gotta Have It (1986), through such cinematic touchstones as Do the Right Thing (1989) and Malcolm X (1992), ending with the flop She Hate Me (2004). The resulting string-of-boxcars structure is a little disjointed, but it keeps the focus on Lee's often controversial and politically engaged films and delivers a flow of moviemaking anecdotes that give a sense of the director's domineering, manipulative, charismatic personality. Unfortunately, this very authorized biography staggers under the weight of the many lengthy tributes to Lee's genius and his statesmanship as the standard-bearer of African-American cinema. Complaints are sometimes aired about the director and his movies (he does cop to allowing 'unreconstructed male chauvinism' to mar his films), but criticisms are quickly shouted down by rebuttals from Lee and a chorus of admiring actors and colleagues. Aftab's poorly organized text often feels like a collection of barely edited interview transcripts, with Lee and his friends' rambling on for paragraphs on end. The outcome is a sluggish, defensive biography of a man who deserves a more incisive treatment. Photos. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"[A]lthough the book has Lee's imprimatur, Aftab is not afraid to take issue with Lee....[A]n invigorating look back at the work of one of our least predictable, most important filmmakers." Booklist

"Kaleem Aftab...doesn't pull many punches in this sometimes laudatory, often blunt...assessment....Lee's yen for hot-button movie topics, his ability and eagerness to attract headlines and his early triumphs are all recounted in this brief summation of his storied career." Orlando Sentinel

This new biography tells the cinematic story of the preeminent director whose pioneering films — from Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever to Malcolm X — helped transform the face of late 20th-century America.

Spike Lee's films have won honors worldwide. Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, and 4 Little Girls have received Academy Award nominations. He lives in New York City.

Kaleem Aftab is the director of the TV and film production house lafamiglia and writes for the Independent, BBC Collective, and V magazine. He resides in London.