Parallel Life, A

Parallel Life, A

Bonnie Greer

Award-winning playwright, author and critic Bonnie Greer opens her heart and her history in this beautiful, emotive and honest biography. From her early years in segregated, racist Chicago to the months in New York City that would lead to her first steps on British soil, Bonnie’s story is not only compelling and eye-opening, but an exquisite testament to one woman’s strength, determination and pride.

'In her book, Bonnie is open and honest about her upbringing, her sexual encounters, her struggle with an identity that was constantly quashed and a self-belief that was forever being challenged. She unveils secrets, personal angst and a hugely heroic battle to change what she was "supposed to be" to become what she wanted to be' Huffington Post

'Her narrative carries the reader along with its musicality and often jazzy sentences. We can hear Greer speaking and slip into her rhythms. Music, history, culture, politics, travel, she takes us on quite a journey. In 1967 she was honoured with the accolade, Best Conversationalist, in her high school graduating year. It's easy to see why' Independent

'It is the story of a journey deliberately and bravely taken against all expectations' Joy Lodico, Independent

'A lyrical, mannered memoir … Greer’s mellifluous work should introduce her to new readers' Kirkus Reviews

Price £: 
14.99
Hardback
Published: 
11 Jun 2014
ISBN: 
978-1909807624
Available from:
 
 
 
 
 

Parallel Life, A

Bonnie Greer

Award-winning playwright, author and critic Bonnie Greer opens her heart and her history in this beautiful, emotive and honest biography. From her early years in segregated, racist Chicago to the months in New York City that would lead to her first steps on British soil, Bonnie’s story is not only compelling and eye-opening, but an exquisite testament to one woman’s strength, determination and pride.

'In her book, Bonnie is open and honest about her upbringing, her sexual encounters, her struggle with an identity that was constantly quashed and a self-belief that was forever being challenged. She unveils secrets, personal angst and a hugely heroic battle to change what she was "supposed to be" to become what she wanted to be' Huffington Post

'Her narrative carries the reader along with its musicality and often jazzy sentences. We can hear Greer speaking and slip into her rhythms. Music, history, culture, politics, travel, she takes us on quite a journey. In 1967 she was honoured with the accolade, Best Conversationalist, in her high school graduating year. It's easy to see why' Independent

'It is the story of a journey deliberately and bravely taken against all expectations' Joy Lodico, Independent

'A lyrical, mannered memoir … Greer’s mellifluous work should introduce her to new readers' Kirkus Reviews

Price £: 
12.99
eBook
Published: 
15 May 2014
ISBN: 
9781909807709
Available from:
 
 
 
 
 

About the author

  • Bonnie Greer

    Bonnie Greer, OBE, is an American-British playwright, novelist and critic. She grew up on the South Side of Chicago, the eldest of seven children born to Ben – a Mississippi sharecropper, Chicago factory worker and D-Day veteran – and Willie Mae, who went to work at fifteen to support her family. Although she began writing plays at the age of nine, Bonnie initially set out on a legal career, the career of choice for a black girl coming of age in the Civil Rights movement. She decided to return to writing instead of pursuing the law and went on to study playwriting in Chicago under David Mamet and at the Actors Studio in New York with Elia Kazan.
     
    Bonnie has been a regular contributor to BBC2's ‘Newsnight Review’ and ‘Question Time’. She was a panel member on the show that also featured Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party. Commenting after the recording she called it ‘probably the weirdest and most creepy experience of my life’. The encounter formed the basis for her libretto for Errollyn Wallen's opera, Yes (2011), commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre.
     
    Her plays have been produced on BBC Radio 3 & 4; BBC 2; and in the West End. She has won the Verity Bargate Award for best New Play and has been shortlisted for the John Whiting Award. In 2010 Bonnie was named by the Observer as one of the 300 Public Intellectuals in the UK – the only female playwright – and was also awarded an OBE. She has been Deputy Chair of the British Museum, and has served on the boards of RADA, London Film School and Theatre Royal, Stratford East. Bonnie is currently Chancellor of Kingston University.

    Titles by Bonnie Greer